Hi! I’m Victoria Cunningham and I am the Founder of Stretch & Play. I am a trained youth worker and SYT (Senior Yoga Teacher, equivalent to E-RYT) yoga teacher who is responsible for all Stretch & Play’s training programmes.
In addition to my academic qualifications (we’re talking an MA Honours in English Literature and Sociology from the University of Glasgow and an MSc in Marketing from the University of Strathclyde) and yoga certificates I hold qualifications in community development, conflict management, facilitation skills and community drama, all of which equipped me wonderfully to create and develop Stretch & Play.
Stretch & Play started life as a limited company and registered charity where, from 2006 to 2009, I received support from various funders including the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace II) through Craigavon Local Strategy Partnership; UnLtd – the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs; Invest Northern Ireland Social Entrepreneurship Programme and Community Foundation for Northern Ireland’s Difference Makers Programme to train Facilitators and deliver bespoke classes for groups such as:
- An Munia Tober Belfast Travellers Support Group
- Chrysalis Women’s Centre, Craigavon
- Colin Youth Development Centre, Poleglass
- Gaelscoil, Strabane
- Girls’ Friendly Society
- Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown
- SELB Library Service
- Splash Surestart, Portadown
- St Oliver Plunkett Guides, Lurgan
- Southern Health & Social Care Trust
- Ulster Cancer Foundation
- VOYPIC – Voice of Young People in Care
These groups were all Northern Ireland based and I wanted the whole world to experience these transformative tools. Which is why, in 2012, I moved into consultancy and Stretch & Play evolved into two distinct strands: professional development training for Yoga & Pilates Instructors with Stretch & Play Pilates & Yoga for Kids! and consultancy based work in schools through Stretch & Play Tools for Teachers training courses.
In addition to my work with Stretch & Play I run StretchBodyMind and train people throughout Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to become Active IQ Level 3 Certified Pilates Matwork Instructors or 200-hour Hatha Yoga Teachers.
