Image credit: Anthony Shintai, One Dance UK and Dance Mama
DANCE MAMA MOVES
-
WITH
SURREY SPORTS PARK & THE UNIVERSITY OF SURREY
Movement classes for postnatal mums
in locations in Guildford
supported by Sport England 2025-26
As seen on BBC's The One Show supporting Angela Rippon's 'Let's Dance' campaign
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
MEET ONE OF OUR PARTICIPANTS, CATHERINE
2026/27 Programme
📣 Funding Success 🎉 We are thrilled to announce, thanks to The National Lottery, we have been awarded Awards for All funding for Dance Mama Moves Surrey 2026/27! This will enable us to build on the important work that we have been delivering in partnership with Surrey Sports Park, University of Surrey from September 2026.
We will continue delivering free access to our specialist perinatal movement and wellbeing programme, currently supporting 100+ perinatal women in Guildford. This funding will enable a further 36‑week delivery period September 2026 - July 2027 to the current year. Our programme offers four free, weekly, in‑person classes (including babies), Pregnancy and Postnatal Yoga (Atma Alchemy), Postnatal Dance (two levels) with Laura Harvey and Lucy McCrudden and free swimming for expectant mothers. Sessions include thirty minutes of facilitated social time with refreshments, creating space for peer connection, informal support and signposting. We help vulnerable women to access specialist support early, reducing barriers and improving wellbeing across the perinatal period.
“Tension, strain and previous injuries cropped up postnatally, but Dance Mama has kept me moving in a positive way accounting for all of these so I can rebuild my physical strength safely.” - participant
TO BOOK ON: Email activewellbeing@surreysportspark.co.uk
2025/26 Programme
Completes July 2026
Supported by Sport England #MovementFund our perinatal activity programme, including Dance Mama Moves with Laura Harvey, strengthen and stretch with Lisa Upton Atma Alchemy in partnership with Surrey Sports Park, Surrey University has been delivered across the 2025-26 academic year to approximately 120 women.
🤰🏽 This enabled us to build on the existing provision pioneered by the wonderful Carly Pearson, Active Wellbeing Manager at Surrey Sports Park, working together to enable continued free access to a pre and postnatal fitness programme at locations in Guildford.
- This activity provides expectant and new mums and their families with a pathway to physical activity which will positively impact their mental and physical health.
- With specialist delivery we are creating activity that would otherwise not be accessible to our target group.
- We create wonderful, supportive communities.
“[Dance Mama Moves] has been really helpful for my mental health as well as my bond with Milly.” - participant
TO BOOK ON: Email activewellbeing@surreysportspark.co.uk
VOLUNTEER CALL-OUT
Are you experienced with caring for babies and children?
Do you like being active?
We are looking for volunteers to support families with newborn babies and young children within some of our weekly classes (dance and stretch) taking place in Guildford. Experience with babies and young children is essential, interest in being active is encouraged and training will be given.
TIMETABLE AND SESSION EXPLAINERS
Autumn Term 2026 Information coming soon
The 2025-26 timetable below is a guide
TO BOOK ON: Email activewellbeing@surreysportspark.co.uk
Not sure about dancing pregnant or postnatally?
The Active Pregnancy Foundation has brilliant resources about staying active pre and postnatally. We contributed to this great information resource giving you a good understanding of how you can take part and continue dancing.
Visit our Resources page to see how we work with Active Pregnancy Foundation.
Lucy (left) and Laura (right) have developed this unique programme through their extensive dance careers and lived experience. They deliver the dance classes in the programme. (Click on their names to find out more about them).
🎧 LISTEN below to Laura talk about why she loves delivering our Dance Mama Moves sessions on Before the Applause podacast 👇
ABOUT OUR TEAM
Dance
Strengthen & Stretch
Lisa Upton Founder of Atma Alchemy delivers our relaxing and calming yoga-based sessions for pre and postnatal Mums and their babies.
Find more about Lisa here.
RESEARCH
Our perinatal dance programmes are created combining our lived experience, professional knowledge in world class dance and health programmes, backed by evidenced-based research, primarily advice in Active Pregnancy Foundation and the Institute of Health Visiting's This Mum Moves (which we deliver awareness-raising sessions about), combined with the knoeledge base in Dance Mama's Research Advisory Group as well as Lucy McCrudden's PhD studies at Canterbury Christ Church University.
Lucy McCrudden has presented at many international conferences including International Parenting and Dance Network, Canterbury Christ Church University, Texas Tech University (TTU), National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science and Critical Dance Pedagogy Network.
She has also presented specifically about how we use recorded music at as well as Royal College Music's Music and Parental Wellbeing Alliance (image below).
Demi Burchett, Surrey University has also studied Dance Mama Moves Surrey participants for her undergraduate degree, and is part of our Research Advisory Group.
