LONG dark winters seem to bring with them one health complaint after another, from the common cold to horrendous hangovers to the post-Christmas blues.

As the festive decorations are taken down, people go back to work, break their new year's resolutions, put on weight, and, just to put the icing on the cake, catch a nasty cold.

Sounds familiar? Well, don't fret - there is an alternative. Complementary therapies are rapidly growing in popularity as a way to fight back against winter health woes.

WholeHealth, based at The Fold at New House Farm, Bransford, near Worcester, is leading the way in Worcestershire and is just about to host its first seminar. Called Whole Health Through The Seasons, the seminar, at 11am on Monday, January 14, brings together the work of the centre's seven therapists.

The two-hour event aims to provide advice on how to stay healthy through the winter by demonstrating the advantages of therapies such as homoeopathy, Shiatsu massage, aromatherapy and acupuncture.

Jane Cox, who is responsible for holistic massage and craniosacral therapy at WholeHealth, said the new year was a good time for people to examine their health and improve their overall quality of life, especially after people have overindulged on food and alcohol over Christmas and new year.

Jane, also a director at The Fold, said: "In mid-winter, when the sun is at its lowest we naturally want to curl up and hibernate, it's the time when strange bugs and viruses infiltrate our immune system and we become more prone to colds and flu. Shutting down and curling up can lead to pain, stiffness and immobility, even depression, and it's easy for our system to be thrown out of balance. A massage can help to relieve pain and encourage mobility, while homeopathy, herbal medicine and acupuncture can help fight disease.

"All complementary therapies can help people feel better about themselves and if people feel better about themselves it follows that they will recover from illness more quickly and are less likely to become ill or depressed in the first place."

Jane, a qualified nurse who worked in accident and emergency at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, said holistic therapies were rapidly gaining respect, complementing the work of hospitals and doctors rather than existing as an alternative to them. Jane said she had herself relied on the advice and treatments of her colleagues to help her through the menopause, alongside conventional medicine.

WholeHealth is part of The Fold, a not-for-profit social enterprise set up seven months ago at converted 17th and 18th century barns to "improve the health of individuals, communities and the planet".

It is made up of eight studio workshops, the EcoCafe and WholeHealth, the complementary therapy centre. The conversion work was gone using reusable and ecologically-friendly materials.

A wood chip biomass boiler and solar panels are used to heat the buildings and all the wood used in the building has come from managed forests.

The project has been the dream of its directors, Jane Cox, husband Will Tooby and Tom Jardine for the four years and has blossomed thanks to support from Defra's England Rural Development programme.

Will, who runs the organic farm on the site, uses produce from his family farm at the EcoCafe.

WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE?

Acupuncture

A technique of inserting and manipulating filiform needles into acupuncture points on the body with the aim of restoring health and well-being for treating pain and diseases. Acupuncture is thought to have originated in China and is most commonly associated with Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

Homeopathy or homeopathic medicine

A holistic system of treatment that originated in the late 18th century. The name homeopathy is derived from two Greek words that mean like disease'. The system is based on the idea that substances that produce symptoms of sickness in healthy people will have a curative effect when given in diluted quantities to sick people who exhibit those same symptoms. Homeopathic remedies are believed to stimulate the body's own healing processes.

Craniosacral therapy

Biodynamic craniosacral therapy is a gentle form of bodywork using a very light touch. It is based on findings about the body's subtle physiology made by osteopaths in the US nearly 100 years ago which showed that every cell in a healthy body expresses a rhythmic tide-like ebb and flow.

Aromatherapy

A form of complementary medicine that uses volatile liquid plant materials, known as essential oils and other scented compounds from plants for the purpose of affecting a person's mood or health.

Shiatsu

Meaning finger pressure', Shiatsu originated in Japan, many centuries ago, as a form of acupressure, and uses varying rhythms and degrees of pressure to balance the life-energy that flows through specific pathways (meridians) in the body.

Wholehealth

WholeHealth is based at New House Farm, Bransford, Worcester.

The telephone number is 01886 833922 to book and the website address is www.thefold.org.uk.

Tickets for the seminar cost £5 and include light refreshments.