What does Active Cheshire Do?
As the lead body for physical activity and sport in Cheshire and Warrington, it is our job to engage, educate, enable, inspire and influence the local community as well as a wide range of organisations, stakeholders and partners locally, nationally and even globally to change.
In fact, most of what Active Cheshire does is to do with change. Changing hearts and minds, encouraging behavioural change, changing attitudes and mindsets, changing habits, even changing ourselves as a charity to adapt to the changing needs and challenges in an increasingly inactive society.
We have an inclusive approach, which means our reach is everyone. All age groups, genders, ethnicities, backgrounds and circumstances whether or not they are active or non-active – across the general public and organisations of all sizes and sectors.
Our work has numerous and wide ranging benefits for the individual, community and society in general. Greater social inclusion, closer communities, improved individual confidence and reducing inequalities faced by sectors of the community to access a broader range and reach of facilities on their terms, to encourage activity without prejudice or ‘preaching’.
The result of our work is to change people’s behaviour and habits towards being active, in order to improve their overall wellbeing and to live healthier, happier, more enriched, longer lives – that as a consequence are more productive and prosperous.
How do Active Cheshire do this?
First formed in 1989, Active Cheshire now take a whole system approach to work with a diverse range of organisations to have a positive impact in all walks of life; ensuring people can embed activity into all aspects of everyday life – at home, school, in the workplace and everywhere in between.
Our Strategy.
Active Cheshire are working to a Blueprint to tackle inactivity, co-designed in partnership with our taskforce and over 300 key stakeholders, working to a simple, but ambitious 5 year plan and with a 20 year vision.
In January 2017, a group of partners from education, planning, business, health, transport and leisure, came together as a Physical Activity Task Force, to assess how we might approach the problem locally. The Blueprint document sets out their ambitions to embed physical activity into all aspects of everyday life, focusing on a small number of key interventions that we believe will affect local habits.
The simple, action-centred approach will require the support of ‘whole system’ partners across multiple sectors. Their input will add value to the hard work and dedication of existing physical activity and sports providers.
The Blueprint draft, first launched at the Part of the MOVEment 2 Conference in October 2017, sets out a collective ambition for Cheshire & Warrington, who are stepping up efforts to tackle physical inactivity locally focused on supporting people to become happier, healthier, more prosperous and likely to live longer through physical activity and sport.
The Blueprint.
We work to a Blueprint to tackle physical inactivity that has been inspired by a local MOVEment group; co-produced by a dedicated taskforce and cross-sector partners. The Blueprint document sets out a whole system approach to tackling physical activity and targets 5 key pillars – Active Design, Active Kids, Active Workplace, Active Minds, and Activators.
The 5 Pillars.
- Active Kids (0-11) – starting life well with daily active habits at home and in school
- Active Design – building physical activity into the design of homes, towns and major infrastructure to encourage movement and play
- Active Workplace – increasing the health and productivity of employees
- Activators – educating and empowering community leaders, allied health professionals and frontline community workers to promote active lifestyles consistently through ONE YOU
- Active Minds – improving mental health and quality of life to prevent and alleviate mental illness through physical activity
Who does Active Cheshire work with?
As an organisation Active Cheshire works across the whole of the market partnering with a diverse range of organisations to have a positive impact in all walks of life; ensuring people can get active at home, school, in the workplace and everywhere in between.
Active Cheshire work with public health, local businesses, local government, education, environment, infrastructure and transport partners to name a few.
We want to make sustainable physical activity accessible to all by changing the way people think and their habits, as well as providing opportunities and helping people realise that any physical activity, not matter how small, is a success.
Our Approach.
Active Cheshire’s maxim is to inspire and engage to encourage greater collaboration and coordination between partners to tackle physical inactivity locally. We want to encourage a change in the behaviour of local people of all ages, enabling physical activity to become part of their everyday habit.
We champion and support a range of simple affordable and fun interventions including active travel, workplace health, school sport and community games.
Active Cheshire is all about working with everyone who delivers opportunities directly to local people, driven by local needs and ambition. We are here to support, as well as providing insight, brokerage, knowledge and expertise to anyone working in physical activity and sport in Cheshire and Warrington.
Investment.
We invest in a whole spectrum of physical activity and sports interventions delivered by a range of public, private and voluntary sector providers.
Invest focus:
- in local physical activity projects, driven by the needs and ambition of the region
- our surplus as a charity to tackle inactivity, health, mental health, gender, social and economic inequalities
- on behalf of national, local, public and private partners
Insight.
With unrivalled knowledge and understanding of the local community, market and culture, we can help you to maximise the impact of your work or investment.
We also offer powerful insights into consumer trends and innovative behavioural change models.
We can assist with:
- primary research, including community or stakeholder consultation
- secondary research, gathering, analysing and drawing conclusions from existing data and intelligence
- design and evaluation of programmes and interventions
- strategic planning, site-specific or region-wide, including feasibility studies, master-planning and strategic needs assessments
- business planning, to ensure that your facility, business or initiative is viable and sustainable
Information, advice and guidance.
Our team has a wealth of experience in research, health, behavioural change, economic development, social enterprise, marketing, sport and leisure markets.
We form part of an England-wide network which provides access to the very latest innovations and case-studies.
Together we offer a cohesive range of support including:
- help to identify and secure funding
- advice on developing a viable programme, facility or business
- guidance to improve quality, accessibility or safeguarding standards
- support to create or strengthen your governance structure
Influence.
We are well connected locally with established relationships amongst Cheshire & Warrington’s most influential leaders.
Our influences reach across the entire local market, providing access to public, private, education, health, voluntary and outdoor networks.
We are well respected amongst our national sporting partners including Sport England, National Governing Bodies of sport and wider national partners.
We are well placed therefore to offer:
- Efficient brokerage
- Access to networks, expertise and experience
- Escalation or exposure of an idea or issue to decision-makers
We pride ourselves on offering high quality, affordable and accessible services. As an independent social enterprise, we charge for some services. All surpluses achieved are reinvested into front-line services.
The Sectors we cover.
- Public
- Private
- Education
- Voluntary
- Great Outdoors
- Physical Activity
- Health
Active Cheshire Service Summary.
- Insight
- Investment
- Brokerage
- Equipment (Inflatables and Other Physical Activity Equipment)
- Expert Knowledge
- Consultancy
- Projects
- Reports
- Bid Writing & Development
- Marketing Support (Online and Offline)
- Training & Development Opportunities