Free Men’s Yoga in Sunderland, Every Week

If someone had told you a few years ago that a room full of Sunderland blokes would be turning up every week to do yoga, you might have laughed. But that’s exactly what’s happening, and it’s free.

Free yoga for men, every week

Thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, Space now runs free yoga sessions for men every week, in partnership with Wellness Space at the North East BIC.

No membership. No cost. No catch. You don’t need to be flexible, you don’t need the gear and you don’t need to have done it before. You just need to turn up.

The sessions are part of Creating Spaces, our National Lottery-funded project that has supported over 2,000 men since July 2025.

When: Alternating between Friday & Sundays at 6:45pm
Where: Wellness Space, North East BIC, Sunderland SR5 2TA
How to join: SPACE NORTH EAST — Wellness Space

Something for every man

We’ve built Space so that whatever you’re into and wherever you’ve come from, there’s a way in. Some men walk. Some talk. Some want to hit something.

Yoga is part of Space to Move, our programme to get men moving, and it sits alongside our free men’s boxing sessions. The two work as a pair.

Boxing is explosive. It’s about getting the anger and frustration out of your body in a healthy way, with gloves on and people round you who get it.

Yoga is the other side of that. It’s about looking inward. Slowing your breathing down. Mindful movement, stretching, balance, and switching off for an hour.

Most of us carry stress in our bodies whether we realise it or not. Boxing helps you let it out. Yoga helps you let it go. Plenty of our lads do both.

Free for you. Not free for us.

Here’s the honest bit. The yoga is free for you, but it isn’t free for us.

We’re a male suicide prevention organisation, and we’re a social enterprise. That means we work hard to create services for people and businesses across the North East, from our coffee to our workplace wellbeing, and we channel every penny of profit into free services for men.

So when you buy a coffee from us, or your workplace books us in, you’re helping pay for the next man’s place on the mat.

Space: Buy a coffee, be part of the story.

What the lads are getting from it

We’ve watched yoga do things for men that we didn’t fully expect.

Men who came along not knowing a soul now have a group of mates they see every week. Men who couldn’t touch their knees are getting closer to their toes. They’re getting stronger, feeling calmer in their heads, and learning a skill they never thought they’d try.

One of our regulars told us his arthritis doesn’t affect him on the stairs any more. He puts that down to coming to yoga, week in, week out. That’s not a fitness stat. That’s a man’s everyday life getting easier.

Never done yoga before? Good.

Most of the men in the room had never done yoga before their first session. Nobody’s watching how far you can stretch. Go at your own pace, take a break whenever you need, and wear something comfortable you can move in.

Quick answers

Is the men’s yoga in Sunderland really free?
Yes. It’s funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and by the profits from Space’s coffee and workplace wellbeing work.

Do I need any experience?
No. It’s for complete beginners as much as anyone else.

Where is it?
At Wellness Space, inside the North East BIC in Sunderland.

Is yoga the only thing Space offers?
No. We run free sessions for men six days a week, including walking groups, peer support groups, boxing and workshops.

Come along

Your first session is the hardest one to walk into. After that, it’s just your weekend.

Find out more at thisisspace.co.uk & SPACE NORTH EAST — Wellness Space