Yoga Health Connect CIC (YHC) activities this financial year have included: Delivery of a person-centred mind-body yoga therapy service to the community in the Cardiff area through a National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All of £20,000 (project and reporting completion end of March 2026) working in partnership with local charity CCAWS (Community Care and Wellbeing Service). Creation of a comprehensive trauma-informed yoga therapy programme to support women who experience depression, stress and anxiety to improve their physical & mental health. Extensive monitoring and evaluation of YHC service provision, including interviews, focus groups and clinical monitoring tools (e.g. HADS and World Health Organisation Quality of Life (QoL) Measurement Scale). Collaboration with Cardiff University School of Health Sciences to further build the evidence base supporting good practice and research showing the impact arising from yoga therapy; including setting up a data sharing agreement so a MSc student could undertake secondary data analysis of YHC services. Extensive networking, partner collaboration and bid writing; including work towards a submission of a People & Places Lottery Grant application to deliver yoga therapy for mental health through integrated pathways in conjunction with NHS Wales and local Welsh charities who provide counselling and social prescribing services. Development of therapeutic yoga classes in the community including in conjunction with Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre, Canton Development of professional client templates and growth of project systems. Extensive networking with the community health sector The benefit to the community from yoga therapy programmes included: Yoga therapy as a somatic extension of counselling. Participants were able to integrate their cognitive insight with embodied awareness, describing counselling as focusing on thoughts/emotions whilst yoga therapy introduced body awareness and more experiential learning. improvements in symptoms and emotional regulation through yoga practices, including lower anxiety levels and reductions in depressive symptoms where people received both counselling and movement-based therapy. Participants reported feeling calmer, less reactive, and more grounded after sessions and described yoga therapy as helping regulate anxiety through breathing, grounding techniques, sensory awareness, and physical postures. Yoga practices appeared to interrupt escalating stress responses by shifting attention away from rumination and towards bodily awareness and present moment focus. The yoga therapy programme supported embodied self-awareness and enabled participants to understand their emotional responses. Yoga therapy encouraged participants to reflect on the importance of prioritising their mental and physical wellbeing, leading some to consider significant lifestyle or occupational changes. Participants also described the need for organisational support and longer interventions to sustain the positive changes to their mental health. Breathwork became a portable and accessible coping strategy and breath practices were widely used to manage stress. Reflective writing reinforced learning and nature-based activity provided an accessible environment for mindfulness and grounding, with participants reporting improvements in emotional wellbeing and self-understanding. The group structure and relational support fostered connection and validation. The therapeutic benefits of yoga were strongly linked to guided sessions, group interaction, and personalised support from the yoga therapist. Participants valued the sense of connection, routine, and shared understanding, which increased confidence and supported engagement with the practices. Quantitative data results from participants were clinically meaningful: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score: Anxiety mean change -2.33, Depression mean change -1.7. 73% of participants showed improvement in both anxiety and depression scores, with several individuals moving from the clinical range into borderline or normal categories. Scores across the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains showed overall improvement following the yoga therapy programme suggesting the outcomes may be associated with improvements in overall wellbeing, including physical functioning, psychological wellbeing, and perceived social support.

YHC undertook substantial consultation to understand the real health needs and challenges facing local communities in Cardiff and how local health organisations are responding to local demand. From March 2025 YHC engaged directly with over 224 local stakeholders, across 36 organisations including: Health professionals working within NHS and primary care settings Social prescribing teams and Community Connectors Third-Sector mental health practitioners Counsellors and psychotherapists GP Cluster leads and senior GP’s Academics and research leads at Cardiff University Community centre managers Faith-based community leaders Cardiff Third Sector Council [CS3C] Through attendance at local Healthy Living Events, consultations, meetings and outreach activity, YHC discussed potential interest in yoga therapy, therapeutic yoga and access to core YHC services. This volume of engagement demonstrated both appetite for yoga therapy and highlighted the extent of unmet needs of individuals suffering from mental health issues. Additionally, YHC spoke directly to 42 individuals regularly practising yoga/therapeutic-yoga who experienced ongoing mental health challenges and expressed interest in more structured therapeutic provision of yoga to support reduction in anxiety and depression. During the Lottery funded Awards for All grant, YHC worked with 20 women primarily from marginalised communities across Cardiff who had completed counselling through CCAWS and had trauma histories linked to domestic violence, war, bereavement, displacement or abuse. Programme-based relationships were based on trust, safety and cultural sensitivity. Participants reported feeling understood and respected within the therapeutic environment. This cohort continues to inform our practice. YHC consulted these 20 women who undertook yoga therapy through the Lottery funded Awards for All project. 11 provided detailed testimonies outlining the need for continuation and expansion of YHC services. Feedback significantly shaped the extension of course duration, the development of structured-progression-pathways and the inclusion of post-course resources. YHC shared project results and findings through several workshops and meetings with key health professionals and community organisations, leading to further consultation on project partnerships with: CCAWS; NHS C&VUHB Traumatic Stress Service; National Centre for Mental Health; Cardiff University; Cardiff GP Cluster Group leads; CS3C; Cardiff University Community Gateway Programme and the School of Healthcare Sciences; community venues including Grangetown Pavilion and Dusty Forge in Ely. It became clear that there is huge demand for talking therapy services in Cardiff in conjunction with mind-body-movement based work to bring long-term health benefits. All organisations were receptive to an increase in either yoga therapy or therapeutic yoga provision to work with their key client groups. This stakeholder collaboration informed the development of a Medium Lottery People & Places grant bid which was submitted at the end of March 2026 and YHC understanding of how yoga therapy and therapeutic yoga could support local stakeholder needs, issues and challenges.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration