Indian head massage, homeopathy and other alternative treatments are to receive a boost in Kingston, thanks to a funding grant from the National Lottery.

The Kingston-based Natural Health Awareness Association (NHAA) has been offering taster sessions to raise awareness of holistic therapies and remedies since it was launched in 2004, but has been limited in how many workshops it can run due to tight budgets.

But NHAA chairman Iram Rafiq hopes the £4,900 Awards for All grant will allow the group to give residents a greater insight into the world of alternative treatments.

She said: “We’re very excited and pleased to get the grant. We’ve been a bit limited with what we could do with taster sessions so far, but now we can make people aware of a much wider range of things.

“Currently we offer 15-minute sessions on things such as Indian head massage, which is very popular, but with extended workshops we can help people to take away some self-help tips they can use at home.”

Mrs Rafiq formed NHAA in September 2004, after training as a homeopath and discovering there was a need to raise awareness of using alternative therapies to help people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

• Call 07725 909377 or visit nhaa.org.uk for more information.