Darkside Rising CIC

Darkside Rising CIC We seek to challenge the perception of female strength, resilience and power through innovative physical training and educational arts projects.

We have been working on a piece of research titled: 'How do women living with cancer and neurological conditions get the...
04/08/2025

We have been working on a piece of research titled:

'How do women living with cancer and neurological conditions get the information and advice they need?'

We conducted 13 interviews with women who are living with and beyond cancer, as well as women with life-changing neurological conditions. We inquired about their experiences at diagnosis, during treatment, and in the aftercare phase. We also explored their information needs and asked whether those needs were met.

Our findings highlight that a more comprehensive approach to patient information and support would be beneficial. By raising awareness we can hopefully enhance the overall care experience and contribute to the well-being of women living with and beyond cancer, as well as those with life-changing neurological conditions.

This video features quotes from interviewed women to inspire positive change.

This research was funded by the National Institute of Heath and Care Research (NIHR) and created in collaboration with the University of Lincoln.

Thank you for taking the time to watch 🩷

We conducted interviews with 13 women who are living with and beyond cancer, as well as those with life-changing neurological conditions. We inquired about t...

Community perceptions of trauma informed care: what does it mean and how is it experienced?We've developed a small co-re...
06/03/2025

Community perceptions of trauma informed care: what does it mean and how is it experienced?

We've developed a small co-research group at Darkside, in order to to understand community perceptions of trauma informed care. This represents an exciting opportunity to inform our work implementing trauma informed physical activity, and also inform the teaching and syllabus within our new Training Centre, which offers accredited Active IQ personal training qualifications.

Participation in this research involves a conversation, approximately 45 – 60 minutes in length, either 1:1 or in a small group.

Trauma is an emotive topic, and we are not directly asking you about your experiences of trauma. Instead, we are interested in your perceptions of trauma-informed care. That being said, some sensitive topics may be explored and so please only take part if you feel comfortable to do so.

You do not need direct experience of trauma informed care in order to take part.

For more information please contact Shantelle on [email protected]

This research activity was funded through the ICS Research Engagement Network (REN) development programme, managed, in Lincolnshire, by Lincolnshire Voluntary Engagement Team (LVET) and Lincolnshire Community Foundation (LCF) on behalf of the REN programme partners.

Welcome to the March edition of Shantelle's research journey 💜
06/03/2025

Welcome to the March edition of Shantelle's research journey 💜

25/02/2025

Do you love fitness and want to make a real difference in people’s lives? Join Be Great Fitness and help bring movement, energy, and fun to care homes!

🔹 Role: Part-Time Fitness Instructor 💪
🔹 Hours: 14 hours per week ⏳
🔹 Training Provided – No experience? No problem! We’ll teach you everything you need to know 🎓🏋️
🔹 Must Drive 🚗 – Travel between care homes required (mileage compensated!) 💰
🔹 Engaging & Fun Environment – Make exercise enjoyable for older adults! 🕺💃
🔹 Competitive Pay 💷 – Get paid to do what you love!
🔹 Great Team Support 🤝 – Join a passionate and friendly team!

👉 If you’re enthusiastic, caring, and ready to make an impact, we’d love to hear from you! Apply today! 📩

As promised, here is the expanded description of Shantelle's photo elicitations of her research process so far. Enjoy! ...
20/02/2025

As promised, here is the expanded description of Shantelle's photo elicitations of her research process so far. Enjoy! 💜

Time for a quick update from Shantelle's Fellowship 🐈‍⬛Here's the next photo elicitation from my research process. I'm ...
08/02/2025

Time for a quick update from Shantelle's Fellowship 🐈‍⬛

Here's the next photo elicitation from my research process. I'm writing more about each of the photos, and what they mean to me, ready for a new research page on the website. In the mean time, I like how each person viewing this will come to their own ideas and perceptions on what these photos convey.

A massive thank you to everyone who has taken part in the research so far. I will be organising some more interviews soon, and talking about the initial analysis. I'm also spending a lot of time thinking how the findings can be integrating into the new Training Centre and our teaching of student physical activity instructors 🩶

We are proud to have such inspirational women as part of our community 💜
04/02/2025

We are proud to have such inspirational women as part of our community 💜

“There are other organisations across the UK offering physical activity to women living with and beyond cancer. However, we feel that our point of difference lies in our culture as an organisation, empowering women to step beyond social expectations.” Shantelle Svarc, Co-Founder at Darkside Rising CIC.

Today is and we’re looking back at Darkside Rising CIC, which received £46,500 in funding for its Strength in Cancer project, which provides adapted strength training sessions for Lincolnshire women living with and beyond cancer.

The team at Darkside Rising point to strength training as essential for the development of muscular strength, balance and bone density, and are eager to illustrate its benefits to specific side effects of cancer treatment, such as lymphoedema and fatigue.

If you work for a community organisation in Lincolnshire who would like to integrate physical activity into their work, ...
27/01/2025

If you work for a community organisation in Lincolnshire who would like to integrate physical activity into their work, drop Belle an email on [email protected] for our funded training opportunities!

In preparation for the Community Training Centre launching in March, we are now an Active IQ Approved Centre! Active IQ is one of the UK's leading awarding organisations for the active leisure and wellbeing sector and is regulated by Ofqual.

We will be delivering their Level 3 Diploma in Gym Instructing and Personal Training, with additional modules in trauma-informed care, reflective practice and optional Darkside placements in our specialist adaptive strength training and physical activity programmes ❤️

With thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund and in partnership with the University of Lincoln, we are delighted t...
10/01/2025

With thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund and in partnership with the University of Lincoln, we are delighted to offer our Level 3 Diploma helping you to upskill your staff and volunteers in physical activity.

We want to help you deliver physical activity in your communities, by providing you with the tools you need to enhance the services you already provide.

Contact Belle Hunt for more information
[email protected]

16/12/2024

As we work to secure funding for next year, we've collected some feedback from our Strength in Cancer and Women's Health Project participants. Here's just a fraction of their words 😍🏋️‍♀️💞

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Darkside Rising CIC
Lincoln
LN2 4SY

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Darkside Rising CIC

Darkside Rising CIC is the non-profit arm of Darkside Training, a women only strength training gym in Lincoln. Darkside Training donates their dedicated gym facilities as in-kind support to allow Darkside Rising to provide low cost or fully funded strength training sessions to women at risk of mental health problems or women who would otherwise not be able to access this vital and transformative training.

We seek to challenge the perception of female strength, resilience and power through innovative physical training and educational arts projects. We will do this through grant funded projects which stimulate a social conversation whilst improving women’s physical and mental health.

Darkside Rising will be primarily grant funded for the delivery of women-led and health-focused projects. We will also conduct fundraising activities at the gym to ensure the continuation of these projects, and to support women who cannot afford the full training fees.

Most ladies train in the same session each week, once per week for 90 minutes, capped at 4 ladies to ensure that they receive plenty of personal attention and coaching. They each work to their own individual programme of strength and technique and have a coach dedicated to supporting them.