A NEW organisation has been launched this week out of the ashes of Age UK Dudley’s popular Springboard activity centre.

After Dudley Council's funding cuts led to the over 50s centre being closed down in December, Springboard’s former assistant co-ordinator Sandy Jones decided to dig into her own pockets to set up a replacement group.

Under the name Bounce Back – to Health and Happiness, the new program will pick up where the Springboard centre left off.

Sandy, Bounce Back’s managing director, said: “We knew we couldn’t allow it to be the end. So I decided that I would put my own money into starting a new group on our own.

“The response we’ve had from all of the Springboard members has been brilliant. It was horrible telling them all that the centre would have to close, but they were really understanding.

“One of the more personal reasons for me to carry on is that there’s people here who, without the group, would have become isolated, lonely and stressed and I would have been willing to give up my redundancy pay to not let that happen.”

The Bounce Back program will be run out of two venues, Quarry Bank Community Centre and St Paul’s Community and Learning Centre in Brierley Hill, rather than at the Springboard’s former Waterfront-based home.

Almost all of the activities, classes, staff, volunteers and the 700 members have moved over to Bounce Back, which will run on Mondays and Tuesdays in Quarry Bank, and Wednesdays and Fridays in Brierley Hill.

Sandy, who will be assisted in running the program by fellow Springboard staff member Fran Cartwright, added: “I’m so glad that we have been able to keep all but two of our classes – the Zumba and Tai chi sessions – and that’s only because we’re not currently planning the run on a Friday, but if we have enough support for them as well as a number of other classes then we’ll see what we could introduce.

“I’m still of working age, but Fran and many of our dedicated voluntary staff are retired and they have all come over to our new group. Without the strong team we’ve built we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this.”

Bounce Back opened its doors for the first time on Monday (January 9), with dozens of people queuing up at 9am to be the first to see what the new program has to offer.

Lorraine Williams, aged 60, who has been coming to the exercise for all class for the past three years, said: “We were absolutely gutted when we were told Springboard would have to close. Everybody was devastated.

“To me it’s not just an exercise class, the social aspect is the reason we came back week after week. We have all become very good friends and if it wasn’t for the group I don’t know what we would have done.

“What Sandy and Fran have done is absolutely amazing and we owe so much to them. This new group will be a success because of them.

“Everyone who used to go to Age UK will now come here and that is because of the community feeling. The name and location might be different, but the heart is still here.”

Although the program has got off to a positive start, Sandy knows that to keep the group afloat for the future, she will need to find other methods of funding.

She said: “Obviously to continue I’m going to have to find funding as I can’t keep on paying for everything out of my own pocket.

“But we are looking at various avenues we could go down, including community grants, small business grants, or even attempt to become a community interest group or gain charitable status.”

She added: “We’ll just have to see where things go.”

For more information, including details and costs on all of the classes and trips that Bounce Back are holding, call 07491 312825 or email bounceback2017@hotmail.com.