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Engagement Event: Pilates

Written by Clare Rashel, ABSS Parent Champion.

Introduction

ABSS used both consultation and co-production as methods of engaging with stakeholders, but the approaches differed significantly in the level of involvement and power sharing. Consultation involved seeking input on existing ideas or proposals and often also involved further collaboration to enhance delivery.

 

Co-production was a partnership approach where service users and professionals shared power and responsibility throughout the planning and delivery of services. It recognised people as assets with valuable insight and lived experience, and aimed to create more effective, inclusive, and relevant services.

 

This case study highlights how one parent, drawing on her personal experiences of disability and isolation, collaborated with professionals to co-design and deliver a well-received community engagement event. Her contribution illustrates the potential of real collaboration to shape services that genuinely meet the needs of local families, and also promote both physical and mental wellbeing.

Background

As a mother of three children and a person with physical disabilities, I often feel isolated. I was very ill and have a joint condition which meant I have been in a wheelchair in the past. I had a lot of physiotherapy which was based on Pilates exercise, and this enabled me to be more physically able. I continued Pilates courses privately which allowed me to be well enough to work.

I wanted to bring the physical wellbeing which I had gained from Pilates to others. I focused on the physical needs which had brought about my isolation and wanted to bring the health benefits of Pilates and the social connections of a group to improve the health of other isolated parents.

As a collaborative event, the others in the working group reminded me of the mental health aspects as well and so we worked together to incorporate as much mental wellbeing as physical wellbeing into the Engagement Event session.

Process and Involvement

The people in the core working group were me, the perinatal mental health team and the engagement team. We met, communicated several times, and collaborated as much as we could, to discuss the session and the funding constraints. Between us we designed the session and found the people we wanted to bring to the session, finding a time and place everyone was available to attend, which was the most difficult part.

 

We were also limited by my health and my young child who attended meetings with me. The session became multifaceted, as it had physical aspects, mental wellbeing, information sharing and a creche too.

 

We found speakers from local health services such as Everyone Health and Yoga4All, the perinatal mental health team, the Pilates instructor and I spoke as well from a personal viewpoint. The Pilates instructor had experience in joint and physically limiting health conditions and spoke about how Pilates helps with other physical conditions. I spoke about the Advantage card which gives discounted access to Southend Council leisure services.

 

The engagement event was co-produced as much as possible. Because of time constraints some aspects were less co-produced and were more like consultation. For example, I would have loved to have had more input into the design of the flyer, but in collaborating we did work towards the spirit of co-production.

Outcomes

We received a very positive response to the session and a wish for multiple sessions. The best way to show this is from some quotes from attending parents:

 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Pilates Event. It was very thoughtfully planned, from the instructor, the goodie bags, speakers then pastries & coffee. I came away feeling very relaxed, a desire to start up Pilates and learnt more about what’s available within Southend and ABSS community.”

 

“It was perfect, so needed locally, something for parents to relax, unwind and enjoy, whilst knowing that their children are safe, well cared for and entertained. I had never tried Pilates before and really enjoyed it. This would be perfect as a regular group within Shoeburyness. I also really enjoyed hearing from Everyone Health, Yoga4All and The Perinatal Mental Health Team and what they had on offer. The pastries and fruit were a lovely touch and end to a very relaxing session.”

 

As a collaboration it was very successful; it did what it set out to do within the timeframe we had and the financial boundaries. It was a long process and involved many agencies, the majority managed to attend, and the session attracted enough parents.

 

Everyone’s input was valued, and it made the event very rich and full.

Learning and Recommendations

There were only a few things I would have liked to make this an even more successful engagement project. It would have been an amazing introduction to regular sessions with a mixture of Pilates and wellbeing. This was discussed in the meetings however the funding and capacity was not available. The perinatal mental health team already run a ‘cuppa and chat’ and the ‘wellbeing walk’, and did discuss with their management the possibility of doing this too.

 

Another option would have been to link to an already running Pilates group of some kind, but we could not find anything suitable within the time frame.

 

There was definitely a need for more time, as co-production always takes longer than you think. When carrying out co-production, what we want to do and what we can actually produce rarely meet, but we got as far as we could with what we had, and we had a productive and successful collaboration.

 

A recommendation for any co production or collaboration is to ask: “What if this is successful and we want to do more?”

Conclusion

This example demonstrates the reality of co-production in practice: from shaping the concept through to delivering the event, the parent’s lived experience directly influenced the design, content, and tone of the session. Although time and funding constraints limited full co-production, the collaborative approach created a meaningful and accessible opportunity for parents to co-design and connect, learn, and care for their wellbeing.


Participant feedback showed that the event was both needed and appreciated, and the experience highlighted key lessons around planning for sustainability and ensuring enough time for genuine co-production to flourish. This case study reinforces the value of embedding collaboration as well as co-production and co-design within programme delivery – not only as a principle, but as a practical method for building more responsive and empowering services.

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