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Flourish Centre offers wide range of activities

KATIE INGRAM SOUTH SHORE BREAKER katieyingram@gmail.com

At the Flourish Centre in Bridgwater, the possibilities are endless.

Officially known as Flourish 55+ Health Active Cooperative, Flourish is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization for those aged 55 and up.

“They can come in here, have a place to relax, exercise,” says manager Mary-anne Fiander. “It's good for their health. It's good for their mind, their body. It is just so good for them.”

Events and activities include card games, ukulele lessons, yoga, live music, kayak guides, reflexology sessions, nutrition sessions and aromatherapy wellness.

Flourish is not only a place to learn a new skill, play a game or take a class; it's also somewhere for members to maintain and form friendships.

“It's the kinship; that's what I hear from a lot of people that are here now: ‘We enjoy coming here, even if it's for a coffee in the afternoon,'” says Fiander. “Sometimes elders, older people, just need to get out and have a place to go and they don't want to go to the mall.”

This has become more important, especially during this latter half of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen more people move to Nova Scotia. According to statistics from the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors, the amount of people moving into Nova Scotia from other provinces was up 58 per cent from 2020. Additionally, Statistics Canada's 2021 census reported a 17.1 per cent change in the amount of residents age 65 and up from 2016.

“There's a lot of people migrating here,” says former manager Chris Andrews. “They are migrating from B.C. and Ontario, and they're used to having a spectrum of services and they're not finding it in rural Nova Scotia. So, they're saying, ‘I'm going to help build it. I want to do yoga. I want to do Zumba. I want to have a chess game.' It's a cooperation between the locals and the newcomers; it's an alliance.”

While Flourish was active before the COVID-19 pandemic, having been founded in 2015, the past two years have shown how important it is in other ways.

“Flourish has been like a Godsend for me with COVID and everything and staying home and not getting out.

Then I heard about this place, and I came out; I just love it,” says volunteer and member Carolyn Lohnes.

Lohnes favourite days to go to Flourish are Fridays and Saturdays.

“I love coming on Friday evenings because I love playing games and cards,” she says. “I love the music program on Saturday afternoon; I've never missed a session … we have house band that comes and they are so good.”

Despite having an older target audience, Flourish is welcoming to those of all ages. Andrews says they have younger people, known as Friends of Flourish, come in to do sessions, work, or to take part in activities. One member, she says is a young mom who does technical work for the centre.

“The benefit for her is that her little son gets some kind of pseudo grandparents,” she says. “She gets some time with grownups; it's just awesome.”

The Flourish Centre is located at 678 Lahave St. in Bridgewater. For more information, visit flourishcentre. ca, search the Flourish Centre Bridgewater on Facebook or phone 902-527-7697.

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2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

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