Mental Health service users are widely understood to be at higher risk of physical illness compared to the general population both as a result of their illness as well as the side effects of medication. This includes increased risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, obesity and ultimately premature death.
This highlights a need for physical activity within the mental health population, who may not be able to access mainstream facilities. While there are other sports clubs and organisations in the UK that offer services for mental health few offer Parkour, which has been shown to enable practitioners to manage stress as well as alter their perception and relationship with the environment around them.
Free Your Instinct will help meet this need by providing weekly based parkour classes ( at no cost to participants) to help development of social interaction, benefits of physical activity, as well as management of symptoms. The Charity’s aims will also aid increased knowledge in the area of physical activity and mental health.
