Groups and Events

Building Connections Starts at BALANCE!

BALANCE Group Picture

BALANCE offers a wide variety of groups and events so that our clients can seize opportunities to connect with others in the community, stay active and learn new skills.

Register for groups and events

To register for ongoing and upcoming groups and events, please contact BALANCE at 416-236-1796 ext. 0 or send an email at info@balancefba.org.

Learn more about the many activities we offer!

Wellness

Sharing Space Support Group: The Sharing Space Support Group (SSSG) is year-round, professionally facilitated group counselling for adults who are blind or living with sight loss. This group address’ life challenges specifically for blind people, whether big or small, in a safe and supportive group experience. Our Sharing Space Support Group is facilitated by a registered Social Worker with lived experience.

Strength and stability: The classes safely focus on the muscle groups that encourage mobility and support daily living to help promote physical independence. Balance, flexibility and endurance will be incorporated into many of the exercises inherently.

Musical Theatre Movement Workshop: The dance-based fitness class will work every major muscle group and allow for modifications for all levels and abilities. Classic tunes with a musical theatre theme will bring you and your muscles back in time as we show tune it up together!

Skill Building

Stay Safe! A Comprehensive Self-Defense Workshop Series for Blind and Partially Sighted Adults: This course aims to encourage honest discussions about personal safety and violence. It covers the basics of self-defense, and includes additional skills like verbal de-escalation and practicing evaluative techniques in threatening scenarios, while also exploring topics such as violence against the blind and partially sighted, challenging vulnerability and responding to disablism/ableism. 

Communication is Key!: This course aims to reduce communication-related stress and provides opportunities to practice and build skills in a safe setting. Participants learn assertive communication, self-advocacy strategies, active listening and how to give and receive feedback; you will be able to apply your new skills in your everyday life and more actively engage in the activities that are important to you.

Arts & Leisure

Clay Workshop: This workshop will help you explore variety of hand-building techniques and create your own masterpieces. The sessions will also include variations on surface decorating and glazing techniques. This will give you a chance to either learn as a beginner or build on previous experience in forming pieces with pinch pots, coils, and slabs. At the end, you will get to make functional objects such as bowls as well as sculptural pieces like wind chimes and more.

Good Vibrations Vocal Workshop: In Good Vibrations you will begin to understand how the voice works, recognize your own vocal potential, relax and open your breathing, feel the joy of sound vibrations and even speak a little Shakespeare. This workshop is for all levels but will focus on the fundamentals of breath, resonance, speech and freeing your unique voice. And, it’s fun!   

Let’s Get Quizzical! Trivia Nights: Need we say more? These evening trivia nights always mean tons of fun, friendly competition and the chance to win a small prize!

Technology

Beyond Siri: Getting the Most from your iPhone: This class is for both those who are new to iPhone, as well as those looking to improve their knowledge and use of the device. The purpose of these sessions is to provide a setting in which uncertainty regarding the use of or changes to specific apps can be discussed in greater detail. Each session will feature a different topic, with some classes being repeated periodically.

Watch this space, our Facebook and Instagram pages, or newsletter for more info!


You can ensure that our groups and events are always running for those who need them.

Learn more about how, on our Donate Now page.


Some of our Past Programming Partners include…

 

Common Boots Theatre Logo
ROM logo
Life Literacy Canada
The MET logo
high park nature centrelogo
Opera Atelier Logo
Community Foundations of Canada Logo