Two National Lottery funded Slough community groups catering for the young and the old have turned to technology to keep going during the COVID-19 crisis.

Apna Virsa based in Church Street runs fitness classes and socialising opportunities for isolated older people.

It aims to explore, share and celebrate South Asian culture with the larger community.

While Beat Routes is a charity based in Rayners Close, Colnbrook bringing creative music and arts sessions to young people.

Both organisations have had to shut their venues during the current lockdown.

Seema Kamboj, project lead at Apna Virsa, said: “This situation has put people more at risk of social isolation and vulnerability.

"It is more important now than ever before to engage them, provide support, keep them motivated and keep their social connections going. We have been busy teaching our members how to use Zoom, YouTube and WhatsApp and it has really made a difference to them.

“We see our role as ensuring that they maintain their mental wellbeing and know they are still a part of the community and have not been left behind and forgotten.”

Dedicated staff at Beat Routes have moved all workshops, apprenticeship and mentoring sessions and classes to an online platform.

Every weekday evening, Beat Routes delivers one-to-one sessions, rapping tutorials via Zoom or online collaborative song-writing and jam sessions. Songs written during these sessions are then performed online to bring together the young regulars.

Visual arts classes via Zoom let young people talk about influential artists and use whatever materials may be lying about the house to create homemade pieces of art. Online choir groups, spoken word events and mentoring sessions are also planned - thanks to a £250k grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.

Head of National Lottery regional funding Helen Bushell said: “The charities and voluntary sector organisations we fund like Apna Virsa and Beat Routes, are playing a vital role in their community.

"We are incredibly grateful for their efforts and are doing everything we can to make it easy for them to adapt to the unprecedented times we are all finding ourselves in.”