One of the first campaign storytellers I met was Bob, a local resident living with a heart condition who stays active by riding his electric bike. My gut feeling was that Bob’s story might not resonate with people living in the more deprived wards of the borough, those most affected by health inequalities. However, relying on gut instinct alone, should not be the only approach, especially when utilising public funds and designing a campaign to meet the needs of local communities. I felt we needed evidence to support our understanding of the borough and effectively shape the campaign.

Attending the BwD Comms, Insight, and Engagement meeting organised by the ICB proved extremely beneficial. Informing the group of the forthcoming campaign and the potential challenges we faced opened up new avenues of collaboration. Following this meeting, the CEO of Healthwatch BwD generously shared profiles for every ward in the borough, providing qualitative insights and deepening our understanding of the challenges faced by the residents.

Additionally, our council’s public health data analyst supplied a comprehensive health profile spreadsheet and met with us to explain the data. We simplified all of this data and insight to support us with campaign delivery, by creating a RAG table that prioritised wards, their most prevalent health conditions, demographic information and local storytellers.

This table guided our campaign delivery. It determined which adverts were shared where, which storytellers would feature on specific bus stops and billboards, who we’d target on social media, which posters to print, and which stories to advertise in magazines. This data-driven approach at ward-level helped to make the campaign more relatable and successful, as it reflected the needs of our residents.

Furthermore, we utilised data and insights from the We Are Undefeatable ‘Bridging the Gap’ report (April 2024), which highlighted the public’s trust in the NHS, GPs, and healthcare professionals as sources of physical activity advice. However, these professionals expressed a need for more easily accessible and printable resources as well as increased knowledge of local facilities and services. In response, we created a Moving Medicine resource pack, which was distributed to all GP surgeries in the borough to support local health and social care professionals to better understand physical activity for people living with health conditions. We also provided professionally printed posters which could be displayed in the waiting areas.

Through the We Are Undefeatable in Blackburn with Darwen campaign, we’ve learned several valuable lessons which we feel can be applied to other public health communication campaigns. The significance of using data-driven insights, tailoring campaigns to local needs and collaborating with others across the local eco-system are all critical factors in achieving success.  By doing this we can create more effective campaigns and make a lasting impact on public health outcomes.

You can explore the We Are Undefeatable in Blackburn with Darwen campaign by visiting this webpage.

If you’d like to gain firsthand knowledge on transforming your own health campaigns to better serve targeted communities, join us for an insightful webinar on January 29th – book on to secure your place.

The post Using Public Health Data to Shape Effective Comms Campaigns appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

The day offered a fantastic opportunity for attendees to share knowledge, connect and learn from each other, whilst our presenters got us thinking differently, shared learning through personal experience, and inspired us with their stories of change.

Watch as our keynote speaker Dr Hussian Al-Zubaidi shares his highlights from the day:

If you didn’t manage to make it to the conference you can find out all about it here

Shoutout to our presenters!

A huge thanks to all the amazing speakers who shared their knowledge and experience on the day.

To help continue your learning journey, we’ve put together some of the resources from the conference, including posters and presentations, videos of seminars and insights from our speakers here.

Take a look and share them with your network!

Do you want to stay connected?

Why not join our research and learning community of practice online catch up on December 11th at 12.30 – Subscribe to our newsletter and keep an eye out for the calendar invite in the coming weeks.

Thank you once again for being a part of our Curiosity Conference. We can’t wait to start planning the next Collab!

The post Curiosity Conference 2024: Reflections and Resources appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

Together an Active Future and the We Are Undefeatable national team joined forces to invite local community groups and partners for a day of celebration and connection. Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers FC, provided the perfect backdrop to share inspirational stories of local people who have embraced physical activity to improve their health and wellbeing.

We have embraced the opportunity to work together with partners across the borough to localise the campaign by featuring Blackburn with Darwen residents and signposting to local services. From boxing and wild swimming to cycling and walking, these inspiring individuals showcase the diverse ways to be active, regardless of your condition.

The day showed the power of community connections and created a space where attendees could see and feel the tangible difference their work makes. Storytellers from the campaign shared their lived experiences, highlighting the positive impact that physical activity has on the management of their health conditions.

Alison Whittaker-Stewart, TaAF Physical Activity Campaigns Lead, said:

It was fabulous to see so many people from different sectors in the room, enthused and committed to support the campaign and help make it a success.  The storytellers were truly inspiring and reminded everyone of the collective strength that resides within our communities. It’s also showed the transformative power of collaboration and how together, we can create a culture of health and well-being in Blackburn with Darwen. Let’s make physical activity accessible for all and show that indeed, we are undefeatable!

Doing things differently:

• Local Storytellers: We’re putting the spotlight on everyday people in the Blackburn with Darwen community, such as Chris who lives with Parkinson’s disease and moves more through walking football and support from Mind2Muscle. Their relatable experiences will resonate with others facing similar challenges, making the message more impactful locally.
• Targeted Approach: Data is king! We’ve used public health data to identify the most relevant stories for different areas, ensuring the campaign speaks directly to each community within the borough, and targeting different long term health conditions, based on their prevalence at ward-level.
• Empowering Professionals: We know healthcare professionals play a vital role in encouraging physical activity. We’ve shared resources including We Are Undefeatable’s recently published ‘Bridging the Gap’ report and the Moving Medicine Packs to equip them with the tools to effectively communicate the benefits of staying active to their patients, and we want them to utilise the campaign as a central resource to support their patients to move more
• Collaboration is Key: We can’t do this alone! We’re calling on all community partners to join forces and spread the word. Share our social media posts, utilise the campaign assets in your communications, and let’s create a movement together.

Peter Dutton, Activation Manager at We Are Undefeatable, said:

Our aim is to influence change and collaborating with local partners during the planning of this campaign has been crucial to its development and to support our aims of tackling inequalities in Blackburn with Darwen through physical activity. This campaign has been shaped using population health data at ward-level, and stories will be shared within the most relevant community groups. We Are Undefeatable are excited by the impact that this innovative place-based campaign activation can have, and we hope to share our learnings from this collaborative system-led approach with others.

It’s now important for us to keep momentum after this launch event to have the greatest impact on the lives of people living with health conditions in Blackburn with Darwen.

Looking to get involved? Keep an eye out for the inspiring stories of our local storytellers, launching soon on the BeWell website and follow TaAFTalks and Blackburn with Darwen Council’s social media pages and share the campaign message across your own communication channels and websites!

The post A Day of Inspiration: Together an Active Future launch “We Are Undefeatable in Blackburn with Darwen” appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

The strategy highlights how the places and spaces we use for sport and physical activity and our participation are threatened by the effects of climate change. It explains the steps we can take to help prevent the effects of climate change.

In light of this, we wanted to share what a few of our workstreams have been doing to utilise the green spaces in their places, to not only be more sustainable but also ensuring physical activity is accessible for all within those spaces.

Read the full report: ‘Every Move – Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan’ – May 2024

Green Social Prescribing: Connecting people to nature for better health

In Blackburn with Darwen, our ActiveBwD team are working to create better connections between people, community groups and agencies, in the form of green social prescribing. Though our TaAF approach, we are supporting our ActiveBwD team to integrate the health and wellbeing and social prescribing teams within Blackburn with Darwen to help more people engage in nature-based activities and improve their mental and physical health.

Green Social Prescribing is a powerful approach that encourages people to engage in nature-based interventions and activities, with the aim to improve both mental and physical well-being. At the heart of this practice are Social Prescribing Link Workers, who connect individuals with community groups and agencies.

In March, our ActiveBwD team brought together local partners from various backgrounds to unveil the Active Outdoors Hub in Witton Park. This included representatives from local authorities and organisations involved in physical activity within green and blue spaces.

Watch the short video below to get a feel of how the launch went on the day!

This hub, once a neglected cycle centre, is now a vibrant space where people can connect, explore, and benefit from the healing power of nature. Since the launch, the Hub has been used on a regular basis by a range of partners for delivery of sessions and support for clients.

Collaboration with Social Prescribers has been the key element for their recent success. By raising awareness about the services in Blackburn with Darwen and creating a robust signposting strategy, they have ensured that service users receive the right support through connected services.

Learn more about Green Social Prescribing 

Let Me Move: Creating inclusivity for physical activity in outdoor spaces

Let Me Move is a collaboration between Together an Active Future (TaAF) and Activity Alliance, to better understand disabled peoples’ barriers to physical activity in outdoor places and spaces, and to co-design the solutions.

Research conducted in the Activity Alliance Annual Disability and Activity Survey in 2022-23, tells us that disabled people are half as likely to see ‘people like me’ both playing and working in sport and activity and that they prefer being active in outdoor spaces.

By assembling a diverse group of individuals with lived experience, along with their allies, and through shared knowledge, the team aims to:

• Learn: By listening to each other’s experiences, they’ll gain valuable insights into the challenges faced by disabled people.
• Co-Design Solutions: Armed with this knowledge, they’ll work together to create practical, inclusive solutions that break down barriers and promote active lifestyles.

Read more about this workstream and meet the team behind this work here.

Remember to sign up to our Newsletter to keep up to date with all our latest stories, updates and learning opportunities.

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Research conducted in the Activity Alliance Annual Disability and Activity Survey in 2022-23, tells us that disabled people are half as likely to see ‘people like me’ both playing and working in sport and activity and that they prefer being active in outdoor spaces.

By assembling a diverse group of individuals with lived experience, along with their allies, and through shared knowledge, the team aims to:

• Learn: By listening to each other’s experiences, they’ll gain valuable insights into the challenges faced by disabled people.
• Co-Design Solutions: Armed with this knowledge, they’ll work together to create practical, inclusive solutions that break down barriers and promote active lifestyles.

We are also creating a recruitment process which recognises and values the diverse skills and experience of disabled people and reflects this through paid opportunities. We are thrilled to introduce two passionate new members of the Let Me Move team, Joe and Bradley.

Meet Bradley Wilson

Hello my name is Bradley, I am a very supportive, kind and caring person, who volunteers my spare time supporting others with  learning disabilities.  I have volunteered for over 10 years with various organisations and have created my own networking group called ‘Spring into Phab’; this group is for people with learning disabilities to meet and attend organised events. This year we were nominated for the Ribble Valley Business awards – I am a huge advocate for allowing people with disabilities the same opportunities, social inclusion and accessibility.

I have strong skills in networking, building relationships, organising events and social media.

Wherever I go people know me, as I am a person you will not forget; I enjoy building rapport and socialising.  My current role is with Pathways Associates supporting and delivering training to care providers, covering relationships and autism awareness courses.

Meet Joe Skinner

Hi all, I hope you’re all doing good! My name is Joe Skinner and I’ve recently become part of the TaAF Let Me Move team. I’m very much looking forward to working on this fantastic project to create an inclusive environment for those with additional needs within the physical activity sector. As someone who uses an electric wheelchair and has cerebral palsy, I know first-hand the positive impact getting outdoors and being active can have on your physical and mental well-being, which is why this project is so important.

Through my role with TaAF, I will call upon my seven years of experience in coaching sports to those with additional needs, as well as my experience in campaigning in a personal capacity for a more collaborative approach to addressing inequalities within society. The reason I use the word “collaborative” is because this approach is key to achieving change in any line of work, but particularly within this field. Networking and working with a team of people with varied skill sets and lived experiences is something that I thrive upon, as it is a really good feeling when people come together!

In addition to my background in coaching, I will also look to utilise the fact that last September I obtained a multimedia sports journalism degree. I will use this experience to help highlight the wonderful impact physical activity can have on us all.

For more information or to connect with our work, please contact: rachael.mchugh@blackburn.gov.uk

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200 participants took on this unique opportunity to connect and learn together, discussing topics like strategies to combat inequality, innovative approaches to community development, and the power of collaborative leadership.

This short video, captures the atmosphere and connectiveness experienced on the day – hear from a few of our key speakers and workshop facilitators.

Shared Resources and Soapbox Talks

From personal anecdotes on what leadership and the future looks like to exploring the ideas around speaking the truth and taking the consequences – our soapbox talks were truly a crowd pleaser with something for everyone.

We’ve created a playlist, giving you access to all the soapbox talk in full to watch again or even better why not share your favourite ones with colleagues and keep the conversations going! Catch up on all the Soapboxes Talks here.

The Interactive Discovery Zone also proved to be a fantastic place for participants to think differently about the way they lead in a fun and practical way.

Want to do something similar within your teams? Check out the toolkit of resources used on the day here.

Key Learning and Feedback

”Thought-provoking” and ”inspiring” were the two thoughts that stood out when we asked participants to describe the day in one word.

This Col/Lab was just that, a collaboration of thoughts, ideas, learning, and connections. It showed what can happen when we embrace different ways of working and the importance of taking the opportunity to invest in yourself and others to develop the leaders we want for the future.

Our hope is that participants left this event feeling brave, ready to challenge and create change in their places.

For those that missed this event, we have a Leadership Series full of webinars and workshops for you to get involved in, don’t miss the opportunity to connect and learn together!

Keep updated with the latest TaAF Leadership events here.

The post How we created great connections at our Leadership Col/Laboratory appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

The network is made up of 130+ individuals across different organisations, united by a common passion, Health & Wellbeing in Rossendale. Together they aim to “Connect for a better Rossendale” to improve opportunities within the area; including physical activity and mental wellbeing priorities.

Over the years the network has collectively hosted a series of ‘Big Connect’ events to focus attention on their collaborative priorities, including Mental Health, Schools, Young People, Sports Club Awards and more. In November they hosted their ‘Big Connect: Get Rossendale Active’ event; a Physical Activity conference organised to commence discussions, share ideas and start to form objectives that would enable the development of the Rossendale Physical Activity Strategy.The conference opened with a ten minute movement group exercise delivered by Rossendale Leisure Trust’s Project Officer – intending to introduce chair-based physical activity suitable for the office. The exercise session was followed by inspirational talks from guest speakers and a presentation showcasing where the borough currently stands in terms of active lives data. It ended with seven round table group discussions.

Following the conference, there will be a series of networking sessions held to deepen the conversations about physical activity, with topics including:

• What should we be doing more of to move to physical activity being part of people’s daily lives?
• How can we use the available insight to ensure that we create the right activities for the people of Rossendale?
• How should our network work closer to break down barriers for target groups in Rossendale?
• How will we know we are making good progress? What does good look like?
• How do we use the communication methods available to us to better embed physical activity into people’s lives?

The sessions will further inform the strategy objectives and how they can work collaboratively to deliver the Rossendale Physical Activity Strategy in 2024.

Teamwork and collaboration with the council and other community groups has supported and empowered us to be all we can be.

Jackie Shove, The Village People Community Group Crawshawbooth

How connected is Rossendale Connected

TaAF wanted to understand the impact of the Rossendale Connected Network and how they could improve to spark a true movement into Rossendale communities. Using a diagnostic tool designed by Innovisor Inc. we were able to map out how ‘connected’ Rossendale Connected is.

This research is informing decisions within the local authority to ensure this network is sustained for the future and opening up new conversations with the Rossendale Connected Community.

Learn more about Rossendale Connected and their work with TaAF in our latest Staying Curious Report to Sport England.

Sign up to our Newsletter below as we share our stories every week sharing the impacts made within our places.

Please feel free to share with us your thoughts and comments below.

The post Get Rossendale Active: The Big Connect Physical Activity Event appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

One GP Practice reflecting TaAF’s ethos and practices around behaviour change is Barrowford Surgery, who have repurposed their consulting room and created a health and wellbeing room for staff. This is a great example of how using space differently and changing ways of working can create significant change no matter how big or small the practice.

In this video, staff at Barrowford Surgery share how these changes have had positive impacts to their health and wellbeing:

Barrowford Surgery is a great champion for the Active Practice programme and through sharing their progress, we hope it will inspire others to follow their lead. It is not easy to try and motivate people to change behaviours and to make changes to the culture but activating local champions and building relationships is essential to progressing change.

As health champion I have noticed a massive increase in my colleagues mental health and well being since the gym came in to play. We’ve had nothing but good reports from them stating how this has helped them.

– Reception Manager at Barrowford Surgery

Learn more about Creating an Active Practice in Barrowford Surgery.

If you’d like to find out more on how to become an Active Practice, click here.

Sign up to our Newsletter below as we share our stories every week sharing the impacts made within our places.

Please feel free to share with us your thoughts and comments below.

The post Barrowford Surgery: a small practice making big impacts appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

As a resident of the valley, Matt experiences some of the barriers of living and working in a rural environment first-hand. Over the last two years has listened to a large number of people and partners and one of the outcomes is the creation of a Play Library.

We’d like to introduce Matt to you who’ll explain how the Play Library was established and the impact it has had.

Dunsop Bridge is quite an isolated village with a half an hour drive to the nearest towns of Clitheroe and Longridge. With the exception of a playing field there were no public facilities the community could access to be more active, no team activities or clubs existed. There is no shop in the village nor are there any sports shops in the nearby towns so accessing physical activity sessions and sports equipment isn’t easy! Our geography, distance to facilities, time to travel and cost of fuel are some of Dunsop’s residents biggest barriers to being active.

The village has been declared as the official centre of the British Isles by Ordnance Survey. Despite being surrounded by thousands of acres of countryside, public access to this green space is limited as the land is owned by a few land owners including The Duchy of Lancaster and United Utilities.

Doing things differently 

The idea of a play library progressed from a conversation with the Parish Council about the playing field. We discussed how we could increase its appeal and use to secure its longevity. Initially our blue sky thinking was heading the direction of organising a community festival focussed on health and wellbeing. I wasn’t sure that a one-off event would be successful in encouraging and enabling the community to be more active long-term and there was already a number of established annual events held locally.

The Chair of the Parish Council also asked me if I could obtain funding to purchase a new line marker to create a pitch to play on. I successfully sourced this piece of equipment on mutual agreement and this arrangement triggered a change in my thinking.

The playing field with just one set of goal posts wasn’t an enticing space for people to be active but add a ball and games equipment it would be a safe place to play! I had an idea, to try and test a Play Library; a collective resource of games and sports equipment which the whole community could access anytime. We’d need a shed where the equipment could be stored but if this could be positioned on the playing field it would also meet the success factors of the Parish Council. This wouldn’t be as labour intensive as organising a festival either. I’d never heard of a similar initiative but small communities often share resources, have honesty boxes in exchange for goods – I was confident this could work.

I shared my idea with the Parish Council. Initially it was met with some skepticism but fortunately my three main contacts supported me. My next task was to find funding to make the idea become a reality.

Finding funding:

During partner meetings I starting sharing the Play Library idea and mentioned I was looking for funding. Following the meetings The Parish Council, Together an Active Future and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty got in touch to inform me about The Lancashire Culture & Sport Fund. The fund has been developed to support culture and sport projects in communities with the aim of improving people’s health & well-being and cultural experience. I arranged to meet the funders, thankfully they backed the idea and commented that similar schemes had been successful in the past.

The fund was a Crowd Funding campaign. I completed a form, detailing costs for all the items I wished to purchase for the Play Library. The most expensive cost was the shed to store everything! I then created a page on the Crowdfund platform and got to work on promoting it!

My target was to raise £1185 in three months. I felt this was achievable and am thrilled to report that the campaign was a success, raising £1214 from 22 donors, including £600 from Lancashire County Council.

Communication is key

Once the campaign was live, I had to let people know about it! I had to help people understand what a Play Library was and more importantly how it could benefit them and their families. I shared the opportunity using a variety of communication channels:

• Social Media Marketing – The most digitally engaged residents are members of the ‘Active Hodder’ Facebook group. I created social media posts with a link to the crowd funding page. However social media marketing doesn’t reach as many people as you’d like in an area of limited signal!
• Email Marketing – Emails were sent to local businesses
• Word of Mouth – Talked about the initiative with my clients and chatted to people in the village.
• Printed literature – Flyers were displayed and available to take in the Slaidburn Village Store, Puddleducks Cafe and Village Halls.

In addition, the Play Library campaign was featured in the ‘Active Hodder’ Newsletter which I created. The quarterly newsletter is a popular way for people to find out hyper-local newsletter and is available from the GP surgery, Cafe and Village Halls.

Outcomes:

The shed was erected and now stores; football nets and balls, a cricket set, an orienteering kit, multi-use play equipment and litter-picking

 equipment. For security, I’ve put a combination lock on and informed all the village residents of the code. To kick-start people using the equipment I have organised an informal bi-weekly kick-about and weekly rounders games.

To date, we’ve held four rounders sessions, with each being well attended (14-10-20 & 10 people). People seem to be really enjoying the

 sessions and I have a feeling that this is the start of something great.

Local children have used the litter pickers, footballs, frisbees and cricket set. I’m delighted that the Parish Council have since added more games and equipment to the shed.

I’ve found the process of applying to the Lancashire Sport and Culture Fund relatively straight forward and would encourage anyone to give it a go.

To find out more detail about the process, I’ve created a video.

The post Let’s Play: The story of the Active Hodder Play Area in Dunsop Bridge  appeared first on TaAF - Together an Active Future.

Watch the 1 minute overview below:

You can find the full report here: Staying Curious: TaAF Report April – September 2023

Stories of significant change

This year our workstreams have been experienced high activity levels and we are so proud of the opportunities they have created to increase physical activity across their localities. Here are a few examples of this work referenced in our report, showing a change, a success or impact in a place, system or behaviours.

Barrowford Surgery – a small practice making big impact.
Through our Creating an Active Practice workstream in Pendle, we have seen how small changes can make a big difference when investing in local assets and co designing physical activity behaviour changes across and the positive impacts to health and wellbeing for staff at this practice. Learn more here

Over 200 Leaders in Lancashire are focusing on Strengths.
Our Leadership workstream’s strengths-based coaching programme has seen increased engagement from leaders across organisations. Since its first course has created a ripple effect into our Schools Middle Leader Programme, Madrassah workstream and locality networks. Learn more here

Doing things differently: Our approach to research and evaluation

All this great work across localities and workstreams has been evidenced through research and brought to life using our Learning Cycle and Evaluation Approach.

Embedding an evaluation for learning approach requires workstreams to consciously explore a cultural shift based on a collaborative, systematic, long-term mindset that will enable a more fundamental change.

2024 – our next steps…

In 2024 we’ll see partners being invited to participation workshop as part of our research process, the research is co-produced and developmental for all colleagues working in the place and we will be sharing and engaging with all this knowledge and learning through our curiosity cafes. We have seen fantastic outcomes for place-based change so far this year and we are looking forward to what the New Year brings within our work to increase the opportunities for people to be more active across Pennine Lancashire.

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