Former Centrepoint resident now Dance and Yoga practitioner, Jamie Hurley, has opened up her dance therapy workshops to the young people in London.
Jamie’s dance therapy company Moving Upwards, provides workshops which combines dance, meditation, yoga and self-reflective exercises. Her sessions have been running at Centrepoint hostels since 2020, with sessions paused during pandemic lockdowns.
The upcoming workshop, will be held free of charge on Saturday (18 June), 1-3pm at Pure Dance Studio, Liverpool Street, London. In this workshop, Jamie will lead participants through a series of exercises designed to help young people step into their truest most empowered self.
28 year old Jamie was referred to a Centrepoint hostel when she was just 16, after her brother called social services as their mother was battling addiction. Jamie experienced periods of sofa surfing, sleeping rough on the streets and staying in a tent. Jamie found that dance has always been a form of liberation.
Jamie has since moved on from Centrepoint, completed her Masters in Dance and delivered a wide range of workshops and sessions through her programme Moving Upwards.
Speaking about why she decided to create Moving Upwards and her latest workshops, Jamie said: “I was an ex-resident and felt like this is something that I would have benefitted from, when I was in this situation.
“It’s about helping the young people find their own path in life and drop into their bodies and understand how to heal emotional trauma. How to look after their mindset, especially now it’s so important. The cost of living is going up, the world is more stressful. Especially in London and in the cities, the chaos is amplified.”
Commenting on a previous Moving Upwards workshop in 2021, a Centrepoint resident said: ”I loved the way this workshop allowed me to reflect on my life, and Jamie is a very attentive workshop leader, she is friendly, I really recommend this workshop to other young people to help them let go.”
To book your place to this FREE event or to find out more, please contact Jamie through her Instagram: @movingupwards2020
Last year, the number of young people facing homelessness rose for a fifth consecutive year to nearly 122,000. London, as a region, still has one of the highest counts of youth homelessness – last year 15,200 young people in the capital were facing homelessness. Centrepoint warns that rising bills and prices and the recent Universal Credit cut could mean this number rises even further.
For more information on Centrepoint and to donate to the charity visit centrepoint.org.uk
