Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Active Gloucestershire on progress of its ‘We Can Move’ project which the Council agreed to fund for five years (2021/22-2025/26).

72.1          Attention was drawn to the Active Gloucestershire ‘We Can Move’ presentation, circulated separately.  The Community and Economic Development Manager advised that the Council had agreed to provide funding support to Active Gloucestershire’s ‘We Can Move’ project for five years from 2021/22 to 2025/26 and he introduced the Chief Executive from Active Gloucestershire who would be  giving a short presentation and answering questions.

72.2          The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire explained that the case for sport and physical activity was very clear and had been proven to change lives, not only from a medical perspective, but it did require behavioural change and therefore was inherently complex and challenging.  The positive impact which physical activity could have on mental health meant that it was very important for deprived and new communities - this was particularly relevant to Tewkesbury Borough given the significant population growth in the area .  The ‘We Can Move’ programme had come about as a result of his predecessor joining Active Gloucestershire and the realisation that the approach being taken, based on helping the already active get more active through direct delivery of programmes, was not working.  The potential for grassroots participation in sports had not been realised following the 2012 Olympics and this had sparked a period of change during which Active Gloucestershire had worked with Sports England, NHS Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire County Council and district authorities to redefine its role and support the county’s approach to sport and physical activity.  The Integrated Care Board and Health and Wellbeing Partnership Board, along with Active Gloucestershire, supported ‘We Can Move’ with training, resources and learning to assist voluntary and professional organisations.  ‘We Can Move’ became the movement to inspire, connect and enable individuals, communities and organisations across Gloucestershire to help the least active to move more.  The key values were to be brave – the best way to see if something worked was to give it a go; be curious and listen hard – gather learning, insight and data and look to understand the experiences of those with perspectives furthest from your own; stand shoulder to shoulder – ask for help when you need it, offer it when it would be useful and be prepared to grow ideas together; find the energy – focus on strengths, emphasise the positive and gently challenge the negative; and, build relationships of trust – invest in others as much as in getting things done.  He went on to give examples of initiatives where ‘We Can Move’ had made a significant contribution, the first of which was a countywide yoga programme for schools which had targeted those who were not interested in school sports – typically there was a drop-off in school sports participation in girls aged 14.  Active Gloucestershire had worked with Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning to develop a yoga programme with an expert yoga teacher which was provided to teachers to deliver in schools.  An unintended consequence was that teachers had really enjoyed it and had started to practice yoga themselves.  They had found that the eight week programme was not enough so this had been extended to 26 weeks.  The second example was the Fall-proof campaign which was about behavioural change aimed to reduce the prevalence of falls in older adults – 29 groups had used the campaign resources in Tewkesbury Borough with over 500 packs being distributed and partnership working had taken place with GPs at The Mythe Medical Practice. This had started to generate more demand for strength and balance classes as people became more aware of the project.  Evaluation and monitoring was really important and an evaluation framework had been developed for that purpose – this formed part of the national Sports England evaluations.  In terms of what this meant for Tewkesbury Borough, there were a number of different programmes for children and young people with a pilot around creating an active school programme.  Cheltenham Borough had ‘Move More’ which covered part of Tewkesbury Borough and would be expanded to the remainder of the borough going forward.  There was access to funding with £200,000 obtained over the last two years and a further £40,000 recently being secured and £5,000 specifically for providing resilience advice to organisations.  If any community organisations were struggling financially and had a line of sight to physical activity, he encouraged them to come forward so Active Gloucestershire could help to make their case.  Significant investment of £740,000 had been secured for school facilities for sport or physical activity and he would like to see some of the money spent in Tewkesbury Borough so he urged Members to come forward with suggestions.

72.3          A Member indicated that he was a school governor in Innsworth and Sportily was the main organisation he was aware of in terms of delivering sports and physical activity initiatives.  He questioned what ‘We Can Move’ had delivered in the Tewkesbury Borough area and whether they worked with Sportily.  In response, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire advised that they tried to work with as many partners as possible.  ‘We Can Move’ worked on the basis of a universal, proportionate approach whereby the money went to where it was needed most; however, Active Gloucestershire would like to do more work in Tewkesbury Borough and he would be happy to speak to the Member outside of the meeting.  The Member asked whether Active Gloucestershire got involved with the provision of infrastructure for other organisations to deliver what was needed in the area and the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire confirmed that was exactly the type of thing it did by working in a strength-based way with the community in order to achieve sustainable outputs.

72.4          A Member thanked the Chief Executive of Active Gloucestershire for his presentation and enthusiasm and she questioned how much funding had gone to Tewkesbury Borough.  In response, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire advised that applications for £20,000 funding to organisations had been approved for Tewkesbury Borough which he recognised was not enough; however, he stressed that, once the money was spent, they could ask for more so people should not feel they could not ask for the full amount.  The national grant programme had been opened up and Active Gloucestershire provided support with applications – traditional clubs had been discouraged in the past but since the pandemic they were no longer self-sustaining.  A lot of the work done by Active Gloucestershire was about making connections within the system so if Members could help with that in any way it would be appreciated.  The Member asked how many communities had benefited from the single payment and if there was a specific reason why the £11,000 had not been granted.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire advised that one of the two organisations had not been funded due to a request for further information.  In that case, all funding had to be signed off by Sports England.  The average amount of funding received by an organisation was £2,500 – during the pandemic this was £1,500 which indicated that need was greater now.  The Member asked whether unsuccessful organisations were signposted elsewhere and the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire confirmed that, depending on the circumstances, a different funding route would be suggested.

72.5          A Member asked whether there was interaction with planning authorities about how to improve design as a lot of inequalities were as a result of where people lived and proximity to facilities etc.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire indicated that they did not have as much contact as he would like.  In his opinion, there was value in being brave and trying new things, for example, closing roads around schools so children had to walk.  A Member indicated that this was being trialled in three schools within Gloucestershire.  In response to a query as to how Tewkesbury Borough Council and its Members could work better with Active Gloucestershire, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire indicated that he would like to talk to Members more often, not necessarily via the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and he suggested it may be beneficial to hold a less formal session for Members to meet other partners and see how they contributed.  Another Member felt it would be helpful for Members to receive more communications from the Community team about the ‘We Can Move’ project given that the Council was contributing financially.  The Community and Economic Development Manager advised that campaigns were shared on social media and via Member Updates but he accepted these were not as frequent as they could be and he undertook to share more information following the meeting. 

72.6          In response to a query regarding the line of reporting, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire confirmed it was an independent charity and its strategy had been approved by Gloucestershire County Council – ‘We Can Move’ reported to the Health and Wellbeing Board which was part of the Integrated Care Partnership.  A Member indicated that she ran a youth club in the most deprived part of the borough and she asked if Active Gloucestershire did any work with youth clubs and if training was provided for staff to deliver programmes.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire confirmed that they did work with youth clubs but their role was more about enabling organisations to do things as opposed to delivering it for them.  A Member noted the earlier comment about the difficulties with ensuring that girls at school stayed active and she asked how Active Gloucestershire engaged with hard to reach groups such as people who were unable to afford yoga classes etc.  She indicated that when she had lived in Leeds, a campaign had been targeted at deprived areas which focused on encouraging people to be more active in their daily lives, for instance, getting off the bus a stop early.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire agreed there was great work being done in other areas, such as Leeds, and University College London was developing strategies in line with that theory which could be adapted for different parts of the country.  He recognised there had not been enough focus on young people and ensuring physical activity and sport was systematically embedded but this was in the action plan for the current year.  A Member noted that The Mythe GP Surgery had been specifically referenced in the presentation and she asked if other GP surgeries were engaging.  In response, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire explained that having a primary healthcare provider who understood the benefits of sport and physical activity made a big difference - The Mythe GP Surgery was a real champion and there were a few others dotted across the county but they were still in the minority and he was keen to see more on board.  In response to a query as to whether Active Gloucestershire was in touch with the Council’s Community Funding Officer, the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire confirmed that they were.  Another Member noted that there had been a lot of references to elderly and young people but no mention of those in the middle who would be the next in line to experience health problems and he asked how Active Gloucestershire targeted the working age population.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire advised that it was harder to obtain funding for that group as they were not seen as a significant risk.  There was an active businesses programme which targeted people in work and covered things such as sustainable transport – an active businesses group had been implemented pre-pandemic targeting the area between Cheltenham and Gloucester which aimed to reduce car travel.  Active Gloucestershire also supported a number of organisations such as Health and Hustle.

72.7          A Member asked whether Active Gloucestershire helped to make connections in communities, for instance, providing assistance with advertising.  The Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire explained that they ran online advice clinics each month where his colleagues would be able to answer this in more detail.  The Member asked if Active Gloucestershire would be willing to attend Parish Council meetings and the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire indicated this may be possible as a pilot but there were only 20 people in the team so he needed to be mindful of resources.  He was aware that a lot of Parishes in Tewkesbury Borough had Community Infrastructure Levy money to spend so that was potentially an area where Active Gloucestershire could work with them.  In terms of funding, a Member queried if there was someone who represented Tewkesbury Borough to ensure it received its fair share and was informed there was a relationship manager for each of the six district authorities in Gloucestershire.  The Member asked if there was any sports which people were encouraged not to do, for instance, which could cause injury or damage later in life, and the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire advised that Sports England stated that the benefits of participation in sport or physical activity at any age outweighed the risks.

72.8          The Chair thanked the Chief Executive for Active Gloucestershire for his enthusiastic and enlightening presentation and it was

RESOLVED          That the progress of the Active Gloucestershire ‘We Can Move’ project be NOTED.