Amy, Polly and Kelly, founders of Revive & Renew (reviveandrenew.co.uk) – business, wellness and personal growth retreats – had to cancel their residential breaks for 2020 due to COVID-19, so they decided to take them online.
“Lockdown gave us the opportunity to celebrate the available support and resources that the military community can utilise,” explains Kelly.
They hosted a series of Selfcare Sundays within their Facebook group and, with the generosity of wellness experts, provided a weekly opportunity for the community to find R&R time for themselves to learn resilience tools, personal growth methods, healing movement, breathwork, and finding joy with nutritional foods.
“Everyone’s wellness needs are individual and continually evolve, so it was important for the group participants to ‘take what they needed’,” says Kelly. “The success of the group has been bigger than we ever anticipated.”
Selfcare Sundays were open to anyone with a military connection who’s looking to improve their wellness and selfcare habits. There are currently more than 160 members.
Helen Atkinson, a teacher from Wiltshire and founder of Globally Wise, says: “As a teacher working from home who has been juggling home-schooling and my own three children, Selfcare Sundays showed me that I’m important, and it’s essential to take care of my mental and physical health. I’m trying to set new routines and build valuable personal time to focus on me.”
“There’s such a wealth of knowledge amongst our community and the Selfcare Sundays highlight that when you need help with your wellness you needn’t look far – many of the experts were from businesses owned by military spouses,” adds Kelly. “We’d like to thank all our experts who’ve donated their time to help us with this initiative.”
Selfcare Sundays have now evolved into a general wellness support group. Search Facebook for Wellness Support for the Military Community.