om actions
W
hen there’s a good cause at its heart, then yoga
becomes even more powerful. That’s why we
love the work of Yogacycle.
Nope, it’s not anything to do with yoga and
cycling, it’s an innovative enterprise to help the
homeless, a growing problem on the streets of Britain today.
Yogacyle is a not-for-profit recycling initiative, set up by Jennie
Keighley in 2016, that distributes second-hand yoga mats to
homeless people for them to sleep on.
It’s a brilliant idea that has already helped scores of people,
mostly around the north-west of the country, where Keighley
herself is based.
“Most yoga mats are made from similar materials to camping
mats and can provide invaluable insulation from the cold ground,
particularly through the tough winter months,” she tells OM.
“Unlike cardboard, which is what many homeless people use as
their bed, yoga mats don’t soak up water and don’t fall to bits in the
rain. They can be used night after night and can become a treasured
possession to someone that doesn’t have much.”Community appeal
And it’s something that the entire yoga community can help with.
For the past few years, visitors to the OM Yoga Show (in London,
Glasgow and Manchester) have been kindly donating their old yoga
mats to the initiative – 254 of them to date!
Keighley and her team have then been handing these out directly
to homeless people in city centres throughout the UK. She says she’s
incredibly grateful for all mats donated so far.
“I’ve been pleased to see people still using their yoga mats months
after I’ve given it to them, which, for me, shows that the concept
works,” she says.
Some of the mats have also been donated to animal rescue
shelters, who use them as bedding for their four-legged residents.
One charity said they find them useful to line the floors of the pens
of geriatric dogs that would otherwise struggle to walk on the tiles.
With the winter months coming up, and with demand for new
yoga mats seemingly on the rise, make sure you recycle any old,
spare mats locally where you live.Jennie Keighly will be collecting old yoga mats for the Yogacycle
initiative at the OM Yoga Show in Manchester next year. Contact her
at: [email protected]MATS FOR BEDS
Where the OM Yoga Show mats have gone so far:LOCATION NUMBER OF PEOPLE HELPED
Manchester 71
Liverpool 15
Birmingham 14
Leeds 23
Preston 38
Blackpool 11
Lancaster 5
Animal rescue shelters 45TOTAL 222
She still has 32 mats left to distribute, which are expected
to be on their way to Newcastle and Glasgow very soon!Worldmags.net