Pause and Breathe opens new premises in Bo'ness

Susie Hooper and Phil Blackburn have managed to find new premises in Bo’ness to run their martial arts and well-being classes.

And they have also managed to secure funding to continue free well-being sessions at The Place to Pause and Breathe at 83 Broomhill Road in Bonnybridge every Friday morning.

Originally funded through Falkirk's Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund, that block of 44 sessions came to an end on Friday, March 22.

However, Susie has been successful in sourcing funding to offer a further 20 free sessions which will begin in June. Until then, sessions will continue every Friday from 10am to 11.30am on a donation basis.

Susie and Phil met on Match.com eight years ago, bonding over their shared passion for helping people on the road to better health.

At that time, Susie was a social worker and Phil had been running his martial arts club, Kuroyaki Ryu (Blackburn in Japanese), at Bo’ness Recreation Centre for more than 30 years.

Susie set up Pause and Breathe in 2017 to offer mindfulness classes; Phil came on board in 2019 to teach Qi Gong. In July 2020, they registered Pause and Breathe as a community interest company in a bid to make mental health and well-being accessible to all, with all profits ploughed back into the business.

The couple cemented their partnership when they married on the Isle of Mull on June 2, 2022.

Like many, Phil was gutted at the end of January when Falkirk Council announced the rec centre would be closed on May 3.

Susie said: “He’s run classes in Bo’ness for more than 40 years; he eventually leased the combat zone at the centre from Falkirk Council and had it kitted out and painted, with help from the Falkirk community payback order team.

“He was disappointed, shocked and a little bit anxious about the future when the closure announcement was made as the rec centre had been his base for so long and all his equipment was stored there.”

However, after class one Friday night, Phil and two of his instructors drove round Bo’ness looking for new premises and struck lucky.

Susie explained: “They saw premises were empty above Aryan’s Fast Food in North Street. He popped into the takeaway and asked if it was available. They took him upstairs to have a look and he took the lease right away as it’s perfect – it’s a great space.”

The rec centre Combat Zone closed on Friday, March 8, and on Monday, March 11, the new dojo – The Place for Martial Arts and Well-Being – opened, with the community payback team once again painting the premises to help Phil.

As well as classes on a Friday for juniors from 6.30pm to 7.15pm and seniors from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, from April 17, sessions will be held on a Wednesday from 6.30pm to 7.15pm for juniors and 7.15pm to 8.30pm for seniors.

Pause and Breathe has also been able to rent out the space for taekwondo, judo and Thai boxing classes – giving them an income to cover costs – with hopes of more instructors taking advantage of the space in future.

Susie added: “Both our premises are available to hire for health and well-being classes, martial arts and training events. Any profit we make is ploughed back into the company so it’s a way to make an income to cover our own lease costs. We’d be delighted to hear from anyone who would be interested.”

To find out more about classes, visit www.pauseandbreathe.co.uk and for hire enquiries email [email protected].