They turned down £200,000 from TV’s Dragons Den. But, as Cathy Spencer reports, the founders of Yogabugs are happy to go it alone.
As four-year-old Eve Eccles uses her foot as a phone to call Space Command she giggles, enjoying the new game. She has no idea she is actually doing yoga.
Yogabugs, is the latest activity for all children wanting to improve health and fitness. As well as being fun, classes improve children’s co-ordination and balance, build strength and stamina and promote healthy sleeping patterns.
Eve Eccles, from Compton, says: “I really enjoyed pretending to be a gorilla today, and a giraffe standing tall to eat the leaves from the tops of the trees.
“I also learned to snap like a crocodile. Last week was funny. We got to use our legs as butterflies and our feet as telephones. I love Yogabugs and want to come everyday.”
Eve is the latest convert to Yogabugs, which hopes to follow in the footsteps of Tumbletots as the latest multi-million business tapping into the concern of parents to keep their children active.
Dragons Den member Richard Farleigh, an Australian multi-millionaire, offered the company’s founder Fellena Lindsell and executive Lara Goodbody £200,000 for 30 per cent of the business - 10 per cent more than they were willing to give away.
Viewers of the latest BBC2 series, in which business hopefuls tout for investment, watched them turn down the offer and walk away.
They are now building the business up, with classes in Wolverhampton being used as a test-bed.
Fellena, who started the business with help from her family, said: “Children in Wolverhampton can reap many rewards from practising yoga. Breathing exercises improve concentration and energy levels, relaxation techniques clear the mind, allowing for better memory retention and postures help recharge a weak immune system.”
Eve’s mother Kate said: “I have never seen my daughter so happy.
“It’s brilliant to see her enjoying herself so much and getting fit at the same time.”
Yogabug sessions take place at Newhampton Arts Centre, Christ Church Infant School in Whitmore Reans, The Drive School in Tettenhall and Surestart in Wednesbury.
As the youngsters lie on the floor with lavender bags on their eyes visualising a sunny beach, teacher Georgina Evans talks about the classes.
“In the Yogabugs sessions we go on exciting adventures, which incorporate traditional yoga postures,” says Georgina, 25, from Goldthorne Park.
“Each week I teach a different adventure, from the boy who lost his belly button to going on safari in Africa. My favourite is a trip to the moon where we put our foot to our ear to talk on the telephone to space command.”
Georgina is qualified as a Yoga, Yoga’d up and YogaBugs Teacher, and teaches youngsters in schools and centres across the city.
She is mother herself, looking after three children, and understands the demands of modern parenting.
It is Georgina’s goal to get Yogabugs into all the schools in Wolverhampton. She also teaches Yoga’d Up, a class for eight to 12-year-olds which follows on from Yogabugs.
Paul Cochrane, head of The Drive and Lower School Tettenhall College, says several children have moved on to Yoga’d Up. He says: “The children really enjoy the stimulating and exciting activities.”
For more information, visit www.yogabugs.com or call 07918 655203.
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