Self Defence Class

 Bender Defenders: Self-Defence Workshop 🤸 

"Bender Defenders" is a self-defence workshop designed specifically with the LGBTQ+ community in mind, focusing on empowering participants with practical, accessible techniques to improve their confidence, awareness, and personal safety. 💪✨

Open to all UAL Halls residents 🏡 – you don't need to live at Portland House to attend. Everyone living in UAL Halls is welcome!

Come and learn the basics of self-defence with Bender Defenders!

 What to expect:

🌳 Outside on Portland green, to make the most of the weather 🤞🏼

🤸 A warm-up involving games and exercises to get your body moving and your heart rate up

⚖️ A short briefing on the law surrounding self-defence

🥊 Learn practical self-defence techniques and have the chance to practise them

🗣️ Discuss de-escalation strategies and practise techniques for using your voice with confidence

👊 Finish with more punching drills and physical movements!

 What to bring:

Please wear clothes you can comfortably move in and bring a bottle of water. 💧 If you have any access needs, health conditions, or injuries, please let the facilitators know before the workshop starts.

About Bender Defenders

Bender Defenders takes a holistic view of self-defence, recognising that keeping people safe means more than avoiding danger in the moment—it also means creating community systems that help people heal from the long-term impact of hate crime. 🤝

The workshop approaches self-defence from a compassionate, trauma-informed, and community-led perspective. Participants are taught simple, effective strategies for using physical techniques to help keep themselves safe. 🌈

Bender Defenders believes that queer and trans people already possess a wide range of self-defence skills. Through collaboration and shared learning, participants are encouraged to build on those strengths, leaving the workshop feeling more confident, empowered, and connected. ✨

The event will be taking place on Portland House Green, if you are not an Portland House resident, please do ensure to sign in at reception.

The countdown begins to your Halls Life! 👀 Stay tuned for tickets going live on the 13th August at 9am 🕘