Move More Sheffield Strategy 2021

A five year physical activity strategy for Sheffield 2021-2026

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The development of this strategy was led by: Dr Anna Lowe

National Centre for Sport & Exercise Medicine, Sheffield

Tom Hughes

Yorkshire Sport Foundation

Dr Helen Quirk

NIHR School for Public Health Research, post-doctoral launching fellow at The University of Sheffield

Dr Catherine Sheffield Hallam University Homer The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine - Sheffield is a vehicle for improving the health and wellbeing of people in Sheffield through physical activity. It provides governance for Move More, founding partners include: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust Sheffield Children’s Hospital Foundation Trust Voluntary Sector in Sheffield Sheffield City Council Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group

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Sheffield Hallam University The University of Sheffield The English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry South Yorkshire Housing Association Sheffield City Trust

Vision

Mission

Creating a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield

Sheffield working together to enable everyone to move more

Section 1

Section 4

Creating a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield

Priorities for action

Section 2

Section 5

Move More core principles

Evaluation and learning

Section 3

Section 6

How will change happen?

What does this mean to me?

A quick note on terminology; the terms activity or simply movement are used to refer to all kinds of physical activity, including sport, planned structured exercise and informal, incidental activity.

The term system is used to describe the wide range of factors that influence physical activity; this is described further in the strategy.

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Forewords We are so lucky to live in a city where there are so many parks and greenspaces that offer something for everyone. The hills, the greenery, the sense of community and opportunity to explore new places - it’s what we love about Sheffield.

Nur Ali Community Engagement Coordinator ShipShape Health and Wellbeing Centre

I have seen how physical activity can transform people’s lives. Not just individuals, whole communities.

It brings people together and allows different organisations to work together.

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In my role I wear lots of hats to ensure the people in our local community are supported. It is the role of people like me, and the role of organisations based at the heart of communities, to support their communities to become healthier, happier and more connected. We understand our areas and communities like nobody else and we know the challenges that people face every day. When we work with and within our communities, we find ways of bringing activities to them, giving choice and making movement the easy option. Whether that’s Bollywood dancing, birdwatching, chair-aerobics, work in the house or playing games as a family.

I have seen how physical activity can transform people’s lives. Not just individuals, whole communities. It brings people together and allows different organisations to work together, share and learn from each other.

Our response to COVID-19 has highlighted the impact we can have when we work together. We’ve learned how movement can be done anywhere, by anyone and how it can be fun despite huge challenges being faced by many.

Let’s grab this opportunity to take the positives as we move forward and build on the sense of community we have created. Let’s bring whole families and communities together in movement. Let’s reimagine what is possible, and most importantly, let’s make it fun!

There’s lots to love about Sheffield; the creative and independent culture, the fact that communities are at the heart of the city and the strong influence of nature – wherever you are.

Kate Josephs Chief Executive Officer Sheffield City Council

Being active is part of the solution to many of the challenges we face.

Making it easier for people in Sheffield to move more will improve health at scale, bring communities closer together, support the economy and reduce our impact on the environment.

It’s an immense period of change for Sheffield and this brings with it big challenges, but also, big opportunities.

The impact of COVID-19 cannot be overstated, and recovery will take a long time. COVID-19 shone a light on long-standing inequalities in our city and addressing these will be a central focus going forwards. As we emerge from the pandemic, we need to embrace brave new approaches that seek to create the conditions for good health for future generations.

Being active is part of the solution to many of the challenges we face. Making it easier for people in Sheffield to move more will improve health at scale, bring communities closer together, support the economy and reduce our impact on the environment.

It is a good time to make bold changes that prioritise the wellbeing of Sheffield residents, and also support bigger, global challenges such as climate change. I hope to see Sheffield lead the way in its mission to become net zero by 2030.

The Move More strategy gives us a framework for collective action. It puts communities where they should be, right at the heart of the action. The strategy sets out flexible principles that will guide how we work together, including working with - and really listening to - communities. The strategy paints a picture of how enabling everyone to move more can contribute to creating a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield. I believe that we can achieve this vision and I’m looking forward to working with partners across the city to make it happen.

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Welcome Move More is the physical activity strategy for Sheffield.

Enabling everyone in Sheffield to move more makes an important contribution to achieving the long term vision of creating a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield.

Since the launch of the first Move More strategy in 2015, there has been great progress across the physical activity system in Sheffield, with many reasons to feel incredibly proud. Some of the key highlights are shared here. In the next phase of the Move More journey, the aim is to build on these solid foundations, strengthen networks and increase impact.

People across Sheffield and beyond have come together to create this strategy. This process has renewed the sense of shared purpose and has clarified the collective action needed to achieve the vision of a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield. There is more information on how this strategy was developed, including the people, documents and insight that shaped it here.

The strategy aims to do THREE things

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Share the vision of physical activity helping to create a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield

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Bring people together with a shared purpose

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Share core principles and areas of priority that will help to guide and align collective action.

Creating a more active Sheffield is everyone’s business and this strategy is relevant to everybody in Sheffield. This strategy primarily aims to support individuals, groups and organisations that have a role in shaping the physical and social environment in Sheffield, and also partners who have the reach and relationships with the people and communities who will benefit from change.

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Section 1 Creating a happier, healthier and more connected Sheffield Sheffield is special Sheffield is special. The hills, the history and the sense of community. Sheffield is a city built on character and spirit and we like to do things our way. It is England’s greenest city and with one third of Sheffield in the Peak District National park, it is The Outdoor City. Sheffield is called the world’s biggest village, neighbourhoods and communities really matter; they are what make the city move.

At the heart of Sheffield however, there is a contradiction; stark disparities exist between neighbourhoods in terms of living conditions, health outcomes and life chances. Enabling people to move more as part of everyday life has a key role to play in addressing these inequalities.

There is a well-established and vibrant physical activity scene in Sheffield including a wealth of community organisations, physical activity providers, community groups, clubs, facilities and venues. Sheffield has a rich sporting heritage, as City of Sport there is a network of world class facilities, including the world’s only Olympic Legacy Park outside of a host City, that champions the ambition of Sheffield becoming a healthier, happier and more connected city. The Olympic connection also includes the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM). The NCSEM was established in 2012 and is a vehicle for improving the health and wellbeing of people in Sheffield through physical activity.

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The NCSEM provides a platform and the governance for Move More. Founding partners of the NCSEM in Sheffield include:

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust Sheffield Children’s Hospital Foundation Trust Voluntary Sector in Sheffield Sheffield City Council Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group

Sheffield Hallam University The University of Sheffield The English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry South Yorkshire Housing Association Sheffield City Trust

Sheffield has a proud history of being a City of Sport. Throughout the late 1980’s the investment in the World Student Games and elite and community leisure and entertainment facilities heralded an exciting period of growth and confidence for the City. Thirty years on, despite a proud history of investment in the 1990’s and subsequent facility developments, investments in green spaces, parks and woodlands, physical activity levels are still not at the level to support improved population health and wellbeing in Sheffield. There remain some significant barriers to addressing inequalities in supporting people to move more.

Lisa Firth Director of Culture, Parks and Leisure Sheffield City Council

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Tackling these issues is difficult; as is achieving the right balance of elite achievement to cement our reputation as a city of sport, with reducing health inequalities – yet we must achieve both for Sheffield. I know that changing behaviour and achieving our goals cannot be achieved alone and this is where Move More can make a real difference by using a whole system approach to enabling and embedding physical activity into the lives of ALL Sheffield residents. Through this multi-partner approach, I believe we will create a culture of physical activity that will contribute to Sheffield becoming a happier and healthier place to live. As Sheffield City Council’s Director for Culture, Parks and Leisure, and as a Sheffield resident, I am exceptionally proud to be a part of this partnership.

Sheffield beyond COVID-19 2020 was a stark reminder of the fragility and importance of health. Across Sheffield, many lives have been lost to COVID-19, leaving families heart broken. Whilst many have been affected, the impact hasn’t been experienced equally. The pandemic has reinforced and exacerbated health inequalities in Sheffield with the most disadvantaged areas being disproportionately affected.

The pandemic has also had a major impact on the economy, businesses have closed and jobs have been lost, highlighting economic injustices alongside health inequalities. Health and the economy are intrinsically linked and the health-enhancing role of physical activity has perhaps never been more important. Enabling everyone in Sheffield to live healthy, active lives is an important part of the city’s recovery. Building physical activity into everyday life, over the months and years ahead, will support recovery, build health resilience and help to create a more inclusive and prosperous economy for the future.

Health Inequalities There are significant disparities in ‘healthy life years’ across the city. The gap between the number of years someone can expect to live in good health in the most affluent parts of Sheffield, compared to the most disadvantaged, is approximately 20 years. There are similar disparities affecting groups with specific shared characteristics, such as people from Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee backgrounds, or people living with learning disabilities.

Everyone has a right to the highest attainable level of health and it is simply not fair that life chances and health are largely determined by the conditions into which a person is born, grows, lives, works and ages. Achieving equity in health means trying to close avoidable gaps in health status and health services between groups of different levels of social advantage. It requires priority being given to improving the health of the most disadvantaged and tailoring approaches to the specific needs of different social groups.

Evidence shows that it’s much easier for some people in Sheffield to be active, than it is for others. This isn’t about motivation or willpower, it is determined by factors such as geographic location, age and health. Being active can mitigate against some of the impacts of disadvantage (for example, poor mental health, or chronic stress) and physical activity can contribute to Sheffield’s aspiration to eradicate the gap in healthy life years between rich and poor within a generation. Vibrant and healthy communities produce skilled, happy and productive people, leading to a stronger economy, which benefits everyone. Everyone in Sheffield should have the same opportunities to experience the benefits of active living. These opportunities cannot be limited to those in the most affluent areas of the city.

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Joel Brookfield Strategic Lead Local Delivery Sport England

Looking back on the last few years Move More has been highly influential in emerging place-based, whole systems approach to physical activity. As stubborn levels of inactivity persist and inequalities widen we have to embrace the complexity required to respond to this challenge. That means looking at each place as a unique ecosystem which will hold the key to meaningful change. National programmes often sound good in theory but can’t easily unlock the barriers that exist at a local level. Topdown interventions rarely lead to sustainable change. We realised that we needed to work across and influence all layers of the system in a place. For Sport England this meant having a different conversation and relationship with places like Sheffield and also investing and working through new partners in a different way.

About physical activity Guidance from the Chief Medical Officer recommends that everyone should move often, everyday and do a mixture of general activity and also specific strength and balance exercises.

But many aspects of modern life make movement less likely; sedentary jobs, the types of transport on offer and even entertainment options all reinforce inactivity.

The conditions that currently exist in Sheffield mean that it is much harder for some people to be active than it is for others. Approximately one quarter of Sheffield residents do fewer than 30 minutes of moderate activity each week; that is less than 5-minutes per day. For more information on activity levels in Sheffield, see the Move More Index here.

Everyday activity needs to be designed back into Sheffield life, regardless of whether it’s walking to the shops or climbing trees, gardening or Zumba classes, a kick around in the school yard or the Boccia world championships. It doesn’t matter whether you call it exercise, sport, physical activity or movement; it all matters and it can all contribute to making Sheffield healthier, happier and more connected.

Moving more is a powerful way to protect our physical and mental health, but the positive impacts of activity go much, much further...

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Benefits for individuals

Benefits for communities

Physical activity improves mental and physical health, increases immunity, improves physical function and quality of life at every age and every stage in life. When people are active it helps them to start well, live well and age well.

Physical activity promotes social cohesion; it can make places safer by reducing crime and antisocial behaviour. It is a powerful way to connect people, it builds social capital within communities.

Benefits for the economy

Benefits for the environment

Physical activity helps create healthy workforces, it increases productivity and growth and ultimately reduces health and social care costs.

More people walking, cycling or wheeling means cleaner air and safer roads. Reducing car usage supports the decarbonisation agenda and makes an important contribution to planetary health.

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Section 2 Move More Core Principles A number of core principles and ways of working underpin this strategy. They capture what partners across Sheffield believe is really important in making Sheffield, healthier, happier and more connected. The principles have been tested out and refined through the strategy development process. The aim of the core principles is to guide the ways in which partners work to increase activity across Sheffield. The principles are not prescriptive; they are flexible and practical ways of working that can guide collective action.

1. Thinking big in Sheffield Many different factors influence activity levels, these include policy factors, environmental issues, social and cultural influences alongside individual factors. There is clear evidence that simply telling people to move more isn’t enough. Approaches that aim to reshape the local environment, the culture, leadership and the whole system and make movement an easy option are needed. This is what’s meant by a whole system approach to physical activity and this has been the approach in Sheffield since 2015.

This approach moves away from silos and isolated, short-term interventions and instead focuses on working with stakeholders across the system with a shared purpose, to identify, align and review a range of actions to tackle inactivity. This core principle is about accepting that there is no silver bullet that will make Sheffield more active. It requires partners to recognise that their own contribution, however big or small, is part of a much bigger, complex and ever changing

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system. In order to increase activity, partners need a shared sense of purpose and an alignment of resources so they can work together to reshape the system in Sheffield.

2. Putting people and places first Individuals and communities are unique, as are the experiences that shape them and the challenges they face. The most successful agents of change are people with lived experience of the challenges they seek to address. Working with people and communities across Sheffield to develop a deep understanding of issues and co-produce solutions is an important way of working. Working with, and not ‘doing to’ is a core Move More principle.

3. Prioritising Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Move More is committed to upholding the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. Equality is about removing barriers and making sure people from all sections of the community have fair and equal opportunities. Diversity is about respecting and valuing people’s differences and treating them in an appropriate way. Inclusion is about making sure that people feel comfortable to be themselves and feel that they belong.

Everyone has responsibilities in respect to protected groups including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation which are specified in legislation. Working towards upholding these principles and supporting others to do the same in physical activity work across the city is a core Move More principle.

4. Focusing on where need is greatest Being active can mitigate against some of the impacts of disadvantage and can therefore contribute to Sheffield’s aspiration to eradicate the gap in healthy life years between rich and poor, within a generation.

Approaches to enabling physical activity in Sheffield should be proportionate to the level of need across the city. Barriers to activity are complex and interrelated; a core Move More principle is that of a targeted approach focussing firstly on selected communities that experience the greatest disadvantage within the city, and secondly, the groups of people who face the greatest barriers to being active in Sheffield.

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5. Going where the energy is Within the targeted approach, the ambition is to work with and through Sheffield’s network of partners to create an environment that makes movement easier for everyone, wherever they live, learn, work and play. However, it won’t be possible to do everything, and trying to do that, might risk achieving nothing. A core Move More principle is to build on what’s strong, by consistently looking for energy and readiness to change within the system.

6. Collaboration, Collaboration, Collaboration The vision can only be realised through collaboration between people and organisations across the city. Forming, maintaining and strengthening relationships between people and organisations will enable a coordinated and coherent approach. Connecting isolated initiatives into the collective, city-wide approach will build and maintain momentum.

This requires a commitment to creating and maintaining connections with others, this takes time and energy and can be difficult to prioritise when time and resources are limited. However, upholding this principle will reduce silo working and therefore gaps and duplication, this will ultimately enable greater collective impact.

7. Enabling leadership everywhere Physical activity leadership is needed across all sectors, within all organisations and at every level.

The physical activity agenda is incredibly broad, with many stakeholders from many different sectors from town planning to early years care. The partners and assets involved are varied too, from large anchor organisations to small community groups. Moving beyond hierarchical models and enabling leadership and power to be distributed across the system will be critical to success.

Recognising, embracing and nurturing physical activity leadership, wherever it occurs, is a core Move More principle.

8. Learning what works Whole system approaches are complex and can be unwieldy, it is important to build-in robust mechanisms for reflecting on activity, learning from experience and monitoring progress. All physical activity initiatives and services will generate knowledge and insight and this needs to

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be captured and fed back into the system. This core Move More principle involves prioritising reflection and making time for learning, whilst still doing and moving forwards. Evaluation shouldn’t be viewed as ‘extra work’, it needs to be a central part of the approach.

9. Staying open to change The long term vision is for a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield. This won’t change, but the nature and focus of the work undertaken across the city to achieve this will need to flex and adapt as the system changes. This might be because new evidence comes to light, or, because the system itself is constantly changing and it requires an approach that reflects this.

Staying agile and comfortable with iterative working is a core Move More principle.

10. Being mindful of environmental impact Some challenges are so big and so important that they should be visible everywhere. The physical activity industry, like every other industry, has an impact on the environment. It is a core Move More principle that all approaches to enabling activity in Sheffield are mindful of their impact on the environment and take steps, where possible, to lessen negative impact. This might be something as simple as reducing use of single use plastic cups at a coaching session, right through to supporting city-wide active travel opportunities.

We are proud of the comprehensive strategy to improve physical activity levels. It has always truly been a “whole system” strategy; whilst we are all clear about the goal and the importance of it, we are also clear that there is no single or simple answer and many people and agencies have many different contributions to make.

We are clear there isn’t a single point of control but in our Move More strategy we have tried to make clear the benefits of more physical activity to different agencies and sectors and the benefits to individuals themselves.

Greg Fell Director of Public Health Sheffield City Council

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The murder of George Floyd in 2020 shook us all. As the CEO of South Yorkshire Housing Association and strong supporter of Move More I know we can do so much more to ensure our resources are open to all sections of the community. Whether it’s opening doors to our Boards or leadership positions, or ensuring we co-design services with all sections of the community, we have to find better ways of working in the future.

Tony Stacey Chief Executive South Yorkshire Housing Association

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Inequalities in health became even more visible during the pandemic. Physical activity is one of the best ways we can address this. This new strategy aims to tackle his head on. We are not primarily trying to help the fit to get fitter. Instead, our work is about encouraging all of us to make the most of Sheffield’s wonderful resources. Let’s get excited about this together.

Section 3 How will change happen?

Sheffield working together to enable activity, will have a collective impact greater than the sum of individual impacts. This is because the approach will be coordinated and coherent; everyone is pulling in the same direction.

Move More work to date suggests that these four pillars of action will continue to contribute to creating positive change in Sheffield. A more detailed theory of change model can be viewed here.

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Connect

Amplify

A coordinated approach will reduce silo working and create productive, inclusive networks.

Coming together with the shared purpose will amplify impact and grow momentum.

Learn

There is a small team, made up of people from different organisations across Sheffield, whose time is dedicated to Move More. Their job is to act as catalysts within the system and to stimulate change, they are referred to in this document as the Move More core team.

The Move More core team has an important role in creating opportunities and coordinating activity, they facilitate city-wide physical activity meetings, support networks and drive Move More forward. However, this alone will not create the change needed to achieve the vision; everyone has a role to play and it involves thinking differently and acting differently.

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Section 4 Priorities for action Six priority areas for action were identified through the strategy development process. These are areas that are amenable to change, where there is readiness for change and areas in which change could have the greatest impact.

The six areas are all interconnected, complex systems can’t be divided up neatly, and much activity will go on across and between the areas. They serve as a flexible guide for focussing efforts and energy over the next five years.

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The priority areas come together around local communities; each area is described in more detail below. Systems are dynamic and unpredictable, and the approach will need to respond as new information and unexpected opportunities arise, so these are likely to change over time.

Each area of action will be supported by the Move More core team, who will facilitate network development and create opportunities for collaboration. The Move More core team will publish an annual action plan containing more specific, co-produced priorities, enabling collaborative action to be responsive to changes happening in Sheffield.

1. Communities The ambition is that all communities in Sheffield can experience the benefits of physical activity in a way that works for them, this will contribute to creating vibrant, healthy communities across Sheffield. This applies to communities that are bound by geography or communities that come together because they share something important, such as heritage, religion or a health-related factor.

Communities are at the heart of our city and they are at the centre of this strategy. Health grows in the places we live, work, learn and play and through the relationships we form. Communities have a vital contribution to make to increasing physical activity levels and general health and wellbeing. Community life, social connections and having a voice in local decisions are all factors that underpin good health.

The communities with the lowest levels of physical activity often have the highest burden of disability and poor health. This is especially true in communities where there are significant inequalities in health. Physical activity can be a powerful force for good in communities, in shaping mental health, reducing antisocial behaviour and in bringing people together. The assets within communities, such as the skills and knowledge, social networks and community organisations, are the building blocks for good health. The most successful agents of change are people from the communities themselves.

2. Education The ambition is that all educational settings value, and benefit from the synergy between physical activity and learning . Ultimately, every learner in Sheffield should have the opportunity to enjoy activity in a way that supports their education, their social, emotional and physical development and their health. This includes all formal education settings from early years, through to Higher Education.

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Debbie Mathews Chief Executive Manor and Castle Development Trust

Manor Castle Development Trust is happy to be a partner in the Move More strategy because it recognises the importance of communities in supporting each other to make changes that improve their lives, the lives of their families and friends and the wider community. It recognises people’s life experiences are not all equal and that we have to address inequalities in order to work WITH people and support people to take control of their own lives and health. We know from experience of delivering health and wellbeing activity for 24 years that moving more has a positive impact, not just on a person’s physical health, but on their mental and emotional wellbeing. We still have a long way to go in the communities we work in, to reduce the health inequalities and increase the healthy lives, this strategy is another step in the right direction on that journey.

The years spent in formal education have the potential to shape many lifelong behaviours, educational settings are a key mechanism for supporting the development of healthy habits. The number of children meeting the recommended amount of physical activity drops by 40% as they move through primary school. Entrenched inequalities are evident early in life and persist across the educational continuum.

As part of the Active Schools and Pupils theme in the Move More Strategy 2015 – 2020 strong networks were forged between education partners. Collectively, this network has positively influenced the physical activity agenda, particularly in primary school settings. There is an opportunity to build on this foundation and emulate it across other educational settings.

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Cameron Connor Year 11 Student Forge Valley School

Kate Cox Head of Physical Activity and Sport Sheffield Hallam University

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School sport and physical activity have been vital in shaping the person I am today. I have benefited from improved physical fitness, improved cognitive function, better sleep quality and better mental health. It is crucial that every young person has the opportunity to take part in physical activity. School sport is a great method of engaging young people, it provides an introduction to sport in a safe environment led by an expert using specialist equipment . I still remember this introduction to sport and physical activity as being a life-defining moment, it gave me opportunities to be involved in leadership, both on and off the pitch, and have helped me gain new skills which are preparing me for my future.

Throughout the student lifecycle, Physical Activity and Sport can play a critical role in shaping the overall student experience; whether that’s contributing to greater educational attainment, developing valuable employability and life skills or enhancing both mental and physical health of our students. Sport and Physical Activity can also be a driver to attract students and retain them in this great city, as well as allowing them to give back and support the wider Sheffield community through a range of volunteering, student placements or workforce initiatives. This impact also extends to our staff teams and community users through our facilities and services.

We believe Physical Activity and Sport has the power to Transform Lives and through the Move More strategy we share a vision for a happier, healthier, more connected place to be; we are committed to playing our part in making this happen.

3. Health and Social Care The ambition is for physical activity to be embedded into Health and Social Care pathways, structures and processes so that ultimately, it becomes ‘business as usual’. This covers all aspects of healthcare delivery and also covers social care, which has a critical role in supporting people to stay active and independent.

Sheffield has a high proportion of people who are living with one or more long term health conditions. The figure is approximately 100,000 and this is higher than the national average.

Long term health conditions can impact on every aspect of peoples’ lives making work, relationships, hobbies and family life difficult.

Physical activity has a critical role in preventing and managing long term health conditions.

A more active Sheffield would enable people to enjoy more years of life free from pain and disability, and could help people with existing conditions to manage their symptoms. People have many touch points with healthcare during their lives, these interactions are important opportunities to support people to be more active and therefore improve their quality of life. Too many people in Sheffield experience poor health, targeted approaches are needed that provide people with the right support and have a focus on where need is greatest in the city.

Kirsten Major Chief Executive Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

As Chief Executive at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals I recognise that physical activity is key in improving people’s mental and physical wellbeing, it prevents many health conditions and also helps self-management. Our organisation has a critical role to play in supporting the Move More vision of creating a healthier, happier and more connected city through activity. We want to further our work to embed physical activity into clinical pathways, consider the role it plays in supporting workforce wellbeing and also think about our role as an anchor organisation and how we can contribute to citywide developments such as active travel.

The strategy gives us a mechanism to work collectively and collaboratively with partners across Sheffield, so that our efforts are coordinated and therefore amplified.

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4. Active travel The ambition is for walking and cycling to be the preferred mode of travel for short journeys in and around Sheffield. To achieve this, walking and cycling need to be made more convenient, more accessible and more acceptable for everyone in Sheffield. Public transport needs to be the main source of motorised transport and car use needs to be made more difficult, for those who do not have mobility issues.

Getting around is an important part of everyday life. Choosing active ways of travelling from place to place can increase physical activity levels and improve physical and mental wellbeing.

Prioritisation of active travel can also reduce over-reliance on motorised transport, contributing to improved air quality and a reduction in road injuries. Around 40% of current car commuting trips are less than 1 km in length, people living on lower incomes are more likely to live in high traffic areas and urban centres which discourage walking and cycling so they are affected disproportionately. The culture in Sheffield is car-centric; this simply has to change. Sheffield must become a place where active travel is an easy and safe option for everyone regardless of their age, ability or where they live, work, learn, visit and play.

This change will have numerous benefits for communities with safer and more pleasant streets, better air quality, lower carbon emissions, lower noise pollution and reduced congestion, all of which are priorities for Sheffield. To enable this to happen, car-use must be de-prioritised and the safety of people walking and cycling must be the number one priority as detailed in Sheffield City Region Active Travel Implementation Plan.

Dame Sarah Storey Active Travel Commissioner Sheffield City Region 24

One third of households in South Yorkshire don’t have access to a vehicle, so prioritising active travel is also a matter of social justice. By enabling, not just encouraging, people to be active for their everyday, short journeys, or as part of a longer journey using public transport, we are ensuring that everyone has the same access to opportunities, which includes addressing health inequalities. Active travel enables children to become independent travellers sooner and gives disabled people and those with additional access needs more freedom. By designing the places where people live, work and play, to be accessed more easily on foot, with a mobility aid, by cycle, or by other non-motorised means, it becomes easier for everyone to find time to be active.

5. Sport The ambition is to have an inclusive, city-wide sport offer that enables everyone in Sheffield to experience the joy and benefit of sport. Sport means many different things to different people, it can include participation in formal or informal sport, spectating, volunteering or being part of the extensive sport workforce.

Sport is a powerful force for good, it brings people together, connects communities, instils important values and inspires people. Sheffield has a proud heritage as a City of Sport and sport plays an important role across our schools, parks, venues and facilities.

Deep disparities exist in participation in sport, evidence suggests that non-white, ethnic groups are the least likely to engage in sport and much more must be done to rectify this. Participation is substantially lower amongst people with learning difficulties compared to those without a disability. Approximately half of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people say they would not join a sports club; twice the amount of heterosexual counterparts.

Sport is important across the life course, the social connections it creates help children to develop social skills and help maintain vital social networks in later life. Sheffield partners need to work together to ensure a continued sport offer that is inclusive and inspiring. One that engages people across the lifecourse, offers a range of levels from new-comers to seasoned professionals and welcomes people back into sport after transitions such as having baby, retirement or periods of ill health.

Shauna Coxsey MBE Professional Climber 2021 Olympian

Climbing has been a part of my life since I was 4 years old. It has taken me to places in the world I never imagined and has created lifelong friendships.It has even led me to represent my country at the 2021 Olympic Games. My lifelong passion with the sport began with a simple desire to play and move around. I believe that climbing can be an accessible and inclusive activity.

As children, we tend to climb in playgrounds and climb trees, as we become an adults, we tend to stop that but really there is no reason to stop climbing and exploring. After all, you never know where it can take you! Sheffield is a fantastic place to climb. We have access to excellent indoor climbing facilities across the city as well as having the Peak District on your doorstep where you can meet friends, keep moving and most importantly have fun!

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6. Environments The ambition is that everyone in Sheffield can enjoy being active in local places and spaces regardless of their ability or location in the city. Places need to feel safe and welcoming, with something for everyone. Environments is a broad term, it refers to anywhere in Sheffield where people are active or could be active. This includes parks, green spaces, town centres, sports facilities; it is the natural and built environment around us.

I have been supporting individuals to learn to ride and develop their skills to cycle more, improving confidence and exploring local routes from their doorsteps. My involvement has motivated them to purchase their own bikes and be more active by cycling to the local supermarket and enjoying a ride around a local park. I often lead group rides to Ecclesfield and Rother Valley with families and friends, it is great to do activities with likeminded people. It helps to learn new skills, increase knowledge of different trails and to explore.

Yvonne Witter Senior Health and Wellbeing Worker Darnall Well Being

I enjoy the outdoors and am always motivated by Move More Month in June to increase my time getting out and doing more to enhance my health and wellbeing. I think that the Move More strategy will help to develop relationships that enhance more collaborative work in the community.

The links between health and the built and natural environment are well established and the role of the environment in shaping the social, economic and environmental conditions that influence health is increasingly recognised. Sheffield has a wealth of places and spaces in which people can be active. An amazing 73% of people in Sheffield live within 500 metres of woodland, yet only 32% of people in Sheffield report using outdoor space for exercise or health reasons.

Many parks and exercise facilities are used much less by people who experience disadvantage, and more work is needed to understand, and meet their needs.

Outdoor spaces became even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic when our physical activity opportunities were limited, and anxiety levels were high. The environment in which people live is inextricably linked to health across the life course. Prioritising environments

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that encourage people to be active can stimulate many other benefits, such as reduced traffic congestion, the revitalisation of local shops and services and increased community cohesion and social interaction.

Sue Lee Chair of Step Out Sheffield A Ramblers Wellbeing Partner

Step Out Sheffield volunteers lead walks at 28 different locations across the city every week. We welcome all levels of ability and we provide a weekly activity in their local area, we are able to engender community engagement, and introduce people to local walks they may not have discovered for themselves, whilst improving their wellbeing. We now recognise that the social aspect of our walks is extremely important and our volunteers work hard to welcome new walkers, ensure they are comfortable with the pace and length of the walk and to encourage them to socialise with other walkers.

As a volunteer, I enjoy watching new walkers gain in confidence and self-esteem as they gradually integrate into their group.

I have watched long-term friendships blossom and grow and observed the physical and mental health benefits that walking at a comfortable pace with a group of like-minded people can bring.

We are lucky in Sheffield because we have access to so many green spaces, but I am concerned that, for all sorts of reasons, many of our parks and greenspaces are currently undervalued and underused. Move More helps to bring together networks of people who all believe that this is important. It gives us a way of working together to ensure that people across the city can enjoy and benefit from walking in our beautiful parks and greenspaces.

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Section 5 Evaluation and learning

Capturing progress Becoming a city that enables everyone to move more will take place in an ever-changing system.

It will take time, and pinning down the precise causes of change will be virtually impossible. For this reason, it is important to focus energy on creating the conditions that enable that change.

This requires a short term focus on the ways in which people are working together in the mission of enabling everyone to move more.

Stories inspire others Capturing stories of change and success will inspire others to join in and take action. Stories will be captured about specific communities and programmes that amplify the Move More message and grow momentum around movement in the city. Capturing how relationships are built among growing networks of community groups, clubs, volunteers, facilities, venues and anchor organisations, through stories and experiences. These stories will capture and communicate the connection and coordination that is critical in achieving the vision.

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Stats influence others Meaningful change takes time, and detecting and measuring change is challenging, but monitoring progress is essential. The Move More Index will continue to inform the approach along with other credible national data sets. Monitoring the reach that Move More has across the city as well as tracking all the funding bids that Move More supports, will contribute to understanding impact.

Opportunities to collect data at scale will be fully utilised, for example when delivering mass-participation events.

Stats and impact measures can influence across organisations and sectors and will help to refine the approach. The Move More core team will track impact, by gathering both inspirational stories and influential statistics from across Move More networks and by sharing an annual progress report.

Creating a learning mindset It is important to understand what works and what doesn’t work and explore what factors helped or hindered progress. Reflection and learning will be embedded within every aspect of Move More activity. Fostering a learning mindset among the growing network of community groups, clubs, volunteers, facilities, venues and anchor organisations which will involve celebrating and sharing when things go well and learning and trying again when things go wrong.

Is the whole system approach working in Sheffield?

The ‘whole’ of the collective activity across the city, is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. At a system level, it is important to understand how the system, as a whole, is changing, what are effective ways of working, and how and why changes have happened.

Accepting the complexity of this, an approach is needed that is adaptable to the changing landscape, and can be refined along the way. Academic partners at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre will support the formulation of an appropriate framework for evaluating Move More as a whole system approach.

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We all want a simple answer to the question “are we moving more” as a result of the work we are doing in Sheffield. This is because the benefits of a more active population are substantial, and we want to know and share how to achieve them. The challenge is that increasing activity at population level is complex, involves multiple, dynamic and inter-related factors that each have greater or lesser influence over how much we move depending on the context in which we live and work.

Prof. Rob Copeland Director of The Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre Sheffield Hallam University

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This means it’s impossible to single out one intervention or programme and say ‘that made the difference’ or ‘this caused that’. Moreover, we need to move away from this way of thinking, embrace the complexity and look at how we understand value.

Interpreting ‘what is working’ through a different lens. This is why adopting a systems approach to understanding the impact of Move More is so important. Instead of trying to control or account for all the complexity, our approach to evaluation will be about finding ways to better understand the value of what we are delivering. Creating plausible lines of argument from stories, narratives, experiences and other forms of data to increase our confidence that we are influencing chosen areas of our local system, in the intended direction through productive relationships that help people move more.

Section 6 What does this mean to me?

Move More is the physical activity strategy for Sheffield. It sets out a clear, shared vision and mission which unites people with a shared purpose. The core principles can guide individual and organisational action and the priority areas will help to coordinate and align approaches. All of this, in time, will contribute to creating a healthier, happier and more connected Sheffield.

Move More is only as strong as its networks; success will depend on people and organisations, big and small, across Sheffield working together. Achieving the Move More vision is not the responsibility of single organisations, leaders or groups, it is a joint endeavour and everyone has a role to play.

There are lots of ways to find out more and to get involved:

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Share and discuss this strategy with colleagues and teams Share your thoughts on what it means for you on social media Request some copies of the printed summary

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Connect with Move More networks across the city Check out the information on the website Look out for the first annual Move More action plan coming soon

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A five year physical activity strategy for Sheffield 2021-2026 Designed by Nifty Fox Creative, 2021.