A MAN who used tai chi to recover from a leg amputation is passing on his skills to fellow residents.

Phil Sheridan has received funding through regeneration project Keighley Big Local to get his tai chi and Qigong sessions off the ground.

His road to running Monday evening classes at Dalton Mill began when he fell in love with martial arts while watching the adventure series Kung Fu on TV in the 1970s.

He said: “My experience and skills in the martial arts helped me survive a near fatal road accident in 2002 that left me with multiple injuries including the amputation of my right leg.

“I adapted the exercises and practice of the martial arts and tai chi to support my recovery, and that is perhaps the key inspiration for this class in Keighley.”

Mr Sheridan has become one of the first residents of the ‘Keighley Valley’ area to receive cash from the Big Local Star People Awards scheme.

People living in neighbourhoods between Stockbridge and Ingrow are spearheading a ten-year regeneration project using £1 million of lottery money.

He has teamed up with Andrea Worley to run the Monday evening classes at her AW Dance studio in Dalton Mills, only a stone’s throw from his house in Riverside.

Big Local co-ordinator Shaun O’Hare said: “The Star People Award is something I am very keen to promote to other residents in the area.

"It recognises passion, enthusiasm and a commitment to gaining new personal skills which will benefit the whole community. Let's have more residents recognised for the Star People they are.”

Mr Sheridan said the emphasis of his classes would be an introduction and ongoing teaching of the health aspects of Tai Chi and Qigong.

“I aim to offer people, young and old, able or disabled, the opportunity to practice these wonderful easy-going exercises that over time will build strength, develop balance and coordination, and promote relaxation and wellbeing," he said.

"The exercises support recovery from injury and illness, and for people with long-term health conditions helps with their self-management of those conditions. People can perform the exercises from a standing posture or seated.”

Mr Sheridan is a tutor at the University of Leeds’s School of Medicine, he also runs an independent consultancy business, and facilitates poetry workshops.

The sessions run on Monday evenings from 7.30pm to 8.30pm and cost £5 each. Visit philip-sheridan.com or call 07528 959091 for further information.