The impact of the Virtual Village Hall on health and wellbeing

At the start of the pandemic, Royal Voluntary Service designed the Virtual Village Hall, a free online activity hub and community to help people stay mentally and physically active, socially connected and having fun, as well as supporting them to better manage their health, including long-term health conditions.

The Virtual Village Hall offers 12-15 live activity sessions every week via Facebook, YouTube or X, formerly Twitter, and an extensive archive of 2,000 sessions to view on demand on YouTube and the Virtual Village Hall website. Content is updated regularly. All sessions are hosted by expert tutors and presenters, including some well-known faces. Activities include gentle exercise and dance classes (including adapted and seated sessions), yoga and meditation, cooking, crafts, creative writing and more. We also offer regular special feature days/weeks with themed sessions, for instance, Eat Well Week (healthy eating), Mindspace Week (mental wellbeing), Men’s Health Week and World Menopause Day.

It’s a friendly, welcoming community and followers are encouraged to chat with tutors, the Virtual Village Hall moderators and each other in the comments during sessions.

The Virtual Village Hall is open to everyone and can be used by health & social care professionals to support patients, clients and residents, for instance, in GP surgeries for social prescribing, on hospital wards and in residential care settings. It’s free to join and take part, with no sign in or subscription required. Where activities require equipment, ingredients or materials, these are low-cost and easy to source.