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Annual Report 2021 - 22

Contents

Chair's Introduction

CEO's Introduction

What We Do

Our Values

Systems

Open Data

Social Prescribing

Better Health Staffordshire

Opening School Facilities

Active Environments

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

School Games

Primary School Support

Children and Young People Active Lives Survey

Workforce and Training

Communities and People

Cornerstone

Tackling Inequalities Fund

Mental Health

Governance and Finance

Chair's introduction

Malcolm Armstrong Chair of the Board of Trustees Together Active

This will be the last time I will

I am hugely grateful to our Senior

introduce the Annual Report of

Independent Director, Kimiyo

Together Active as, after a four-year

Rickett, who has led the Board's

tenure as Chair of the Board of

work in financial management. It is

Trustees, I am stepping down.

very satisfying to stand down knowing we will still have a

I begin my review by thanking all

balanced budget in five years'

those who have supported me in the

time. Thank you Kimiyo and other

role. In particular, members of the

members of the Board who have

Board, Jude Taylor as Chief

supported our sub-groups, notably

Executive and Jane Kracke as Chief

the work of the Governance and

Operating Officer. We have faced

Finance groups and the

and overcome many challenges over

outstanding work of the newly

this last year, not least of which has

established Equality, Diversity and

seen us become successful in

Inclusion subgroup ably led by

achieving our funding guarantee for

Toyin Higgs.

the next five years from Sport England. This was a great achievement and reflects the confidence that has been placed in us as an organisation.

This all demonstrates the

As we move back towards the new

commitment of the Board to

normal, we will make a huge

excellence and the willingness of

contribution to improve the

members to give freely of their time to

wellbeing of many of the most

help the staff team achieve the goals

deprived areas of our County and

set out in our annual delivery plan. All

City by working in a multi-agency

this work has been greatly assisted by

way.

the insight work of our local authority partners through the Physical Activity

There is always more work to be

Leadership in Staffordshire (PALS)

done, but looking ahead I am

group.

confident that Together Active, along with its new Chair, will

It has been a huge privilege for me to

continue to prosper, energise and be

observe the work of the growing team

a catalyst for positive change. I

of staff, and also observe their

know it will continue to strive to

progress as both individuals and as a

build a stronger, safer and more

group. Together Active would be

equitable society through physical

nothing without you. Thank you very

activity and sport.

much indeed for supporting and living our values. There is no doubt that this

Good luck to the new Chair, the

has been another varied year with

Board and the Team in the year

several manifestations of COVID.

ahead.

Who knows how many more there are to come? The team have gone to great lengths to identify and support various clubs, groups and organisations to survive, develop and grow.

I have loved working with you.

! u o y k n a Th 5

CEO's introduction

Jude Taylor CEO, Together Active

This has been another year shaped

We have lobbied for its inclusion in

by the pandemic. The impact on the

prevention and early intervention

health and wellbeing of society has

strategies, and as a result attitudes are

been far reaching. While as a sector

slowly changing.

we have innovated and adapted, there is no doubt our infrastructure

We have sharpened our focus,

has been adversely affected, and in

redoubling our commitment to our

turn our communities have become

priority groups. We’ve taken the time to

less active.

listen and understand, undergoing community consultation in our most

That said, physical activity has never

deprived wards and increasing our

been more needed. We find

insights into the barriers to

ourselves in a period where we have

participation.

the opportunity to shape the recovery agenda and policy for the better. As an organisation we are starting to find our voice. We have been relentlessly banging the drum for the importance of physical activity and sport in health, in education, in planning, and in social care.

We have delivered our biggest

The staff team continues to amaze me.

programme of insight-led grant giving,

They are fierce advocates, supportive

distributing over £380,000 of Sport

colleagues, and committed individuals

England monies to tackle inequalities

all whilst juggling the ever-growing list

and support community infrastructure

of responsibilities brought about by the

throughout the pandemic. We have

pandemic. Thank you for all that you do.

successfully designed and commissioned a series of community

Finally, we couldn’t reflect on this year,

youth interventions, which have been

or any of the three years before it

hugely impactful in improving mental

without stating our heartful thanks to

health and tackling anti-social

Malcolm Armstrong as he departs as

behaviours.

Chair. Malcolm, your dedication and resolve during your tenure has been

We continue to challenge ourselves to grow and improve, as illustrated by our work around equality, diversity and inclusion. This work

exceptional. Your impact on this organisation cannot be overstated, and you will always be fondly remembered as our founder.

has started at home, aspiring towards being an accountable, inclusive organisation which is reflective of the communities we serve. We achieved the RACE CODE accreditation, testament to our leadership and governance arrangements in relation to racial inequalities. Testament - not to a job done, but to our commitment and desire to be better.

r a e A y , D I V CO

y b d e shap ined f e d not ! t i by

e d u J 7

What we do Together Active is a network of local agencies committed to working together to increase the number of people taking part in physical activity and sport. We are part of an England-wide network of 43 Active Partnerships and are currently funded by Sport England, along with some of our Local Authorities and our two Universities. Our Step Up Strategy runs from 2021 – 25, and focuses on four key areas: 8

Systems Bringing communities, Local Authorities, providers and health services together to tackle the complex issues around inactivity, obesity and poor physical and mental health.

Active Environments Working with partners to develop new ways to enable increased access to the local environment, engaging communities and encouraging increased physical activity in nature.

Communities & people Social prescribing will be a priority for us, supporting health professionals through training, informing and digital technologies to confidently refer patients into physical activities locally.

Information, Advice & Guidance Supporting our networks to signpost into physical activity, reach new participants, operate efficiently and effectively and have the tools, skills and knowledge to be able to run safe, inclusive, impactful activities.

Active Environments

Strategic Priorities

Systems

Provide strategic leadership and advocacy to the sport and physical activity agenda locally.

Influence policy and decision makers to prioritise active travel, accessibility and physical activity in place and space making.

Work specifically within obesity, mental illness and ageing systems to ensure physical activity in considered within prevention and treatment pathways

Campaign for active design guidance to be integrated into all planning policies and new developments

Continue to make the case to retain and grow investment into physical activity.

Improve access to community assets particularly for people in our priority audiences.

Resulting in Strong strategic leadership which ensures that physical activity becomes a core feature in local policy and practice.

Our physical environments being places where being active is the easy, attractive, safe choice.

Underpinned by impeccable corporate governance which has equality, diversity and inclusion at its core

Communities & People

Information, Advice & Guidance

Fund and support well placed partners and community organisations to deliver physical activity interventions to our priority audiences.

Use digital tools and campaigns that empower and support people with health conditions to be more active.

Support and facilitate the learning and development of our volunteer and professional workforce to create a more accessible and sustainable sector.

Use open data and Active My Way to support individuals into physical activity.

Support the recovery of community and public leisure provision during and following the pandemic.

Act as an expert advisor, connecting to funding, disseminating guidelines and sharing best practice.

Resulting in A diverse workforce creating appropriate pathways into physical activity and deliver safe and effective targeted activity.

Together Active being a trusted source of information, advice and guidance for residents, volunteers and professionals.

Underpinned by impeccable corporate governance which has equality, diversity and inclusion at its core 11

Our values We believe in the power of physical activity and sport. We know that even small changes in activity levels can have a big impact on people’s health and wellbeing. We understand that the people who would benefit most are the least likely to take part. Physical activity changes how we feel, it connects us, and adds healthy years to our lives. We want everyone in Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent to have the opportunity to experience this. It’s a big job. Underpinning everything we do is our organisational DNA, our values.

We are focused. Everything we do will help people be more active.

We are inclusive. We leave nobody behind. We do not accept that characteristics like age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or income should determine your access to activity.

We are engaged. We listen first. We always seek to understand.

Our values

We are relentless. We are passionate about the importance of sport and physical activity.

We are collaborative. We never go it alone. We work to develop collaborations that are capable of sparking change.

We are effective. We will demonstrate the impact of our work using clinical, economic and social measures and support our partners in doing the same.

Systems

Strengthening the connections between physical activity and other key policy areas or systems is absolutely crucial in enabling more people can feel the benefits of an active life. Over the last 12 months we have

The emerging Integrated Care System for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire has presented us with a unique opportunity to shape the local health landscape and we are currently involved in four strands of work: VCSE alliance

focused our efforts on the local

Musculoskeletal Health

health and planning systems.

Mental Health Transformation Children & Young People

Learn about the new Integrated Care System

Learn about the Mental Health Transformation

Open data

Our journey with open data over the past couple of years has been tumultuous. While we still fiercely believe in its benefits, driving adoption of this new way of working has been beset with challenges.

Clubs and groups will be able to reach new participants and be more streamlined in how they manage their bookings.

The pandemic meant the focus of Sport England and sports clubs was on survival rather than growth, and we continue to deal with the ramifications of that.

We are in regular conversation with Sport England and the wider Active Partnerships network about how we turbocharge open data uptake. Some of the wider issues require a collective effort, such as working with platforms to incorporate open data as standard.

Technological challenges have meant we've spent a lot of time fixing and improving systems along with our partners, and resource in general has been an issue.

We also need that louder voice to advocate for open data across the network, demystifying the process and encouraging NGBs and local authorities to invest in the technology.

However, we are beginning to make some progress. We know how revolutionary open data will be for physical activity, enabling more people to find activities near them faster, easier and more conveniently.

Wholesale change is always a challenge, but we are at the forefront of this new way of working, and that's where we intend to stay. .

Active My Way continues to develop, both in functionality and in content. We have implemented a number of updates of our activity finder, improving the user experience, the look and feel, and they quality of the data it pulls through. We have also curated new videos, information and guidance for an increased number of physical and mental health conditions to support healthcare workers signposting their patients into physical activity. We are currently working with other Active Partnerships to look at opportunities to build the Active My Way brand beyond Staffordshire.

We continue to develop our training opportunities to increase awareness of Active My Way and how it can be used as a tool in the context of healthcare, particularly in relation to social prescribers, and are aiming to have additional online learning opportunities incorporating open data and Active My Way alongside behaviour change and motivational techniques by Autumn 2022.

Take a tour of Active My Way

www.activemyway.org 17

Social Prescribing Expansion into delivering a Physical activity Social prescribing has nowadvocacy been for health recognised as atraining key measure in professionals connecting communities and enabling people to lead healthier lives. The NHS Long Term Plan cites it as a key component in developing Universal Personalised Care, with plans to reach almost one million social prescribing referrals in the UK by 2023/24.

As recently as February 2022, a debate was tabled in Parliament to discuss the benefits of social prescribing on population health and wellbeing: the debate can be viewed HERE NICE have also recently recommended considering exercise alongside medication to manage pain. This is all due to come together in the Health and Care Act, which emphasises the importance of personalised care. A crucial part of creating these personalised care plans will be access to physical activity. 18

course raisewill theplay a Active MytoWay confidence and know-how of we significant role in the way link workers socially interact with to the healthcare system, providing prescribe activitysocial prescribers and link workers with an accessible resource to help motivate and guide their clients into activities and sports which are suitable for them. .

We have spent the last year developing our relationships with stakeholders in this area, in particular Support Staffordshire and the National Association of Social Prescribers, as well as forums such as the West Midlands Social Prescribing Physical Activity Group.

We have also been developing the website, improving its functionality and developing new resources for healthcare professionals. We are now developing plans to build on our library of resources so that the site becomes a valuable tool for those working directly with clients We have been training the next generation of healthcare professionals through the Clinical Champions programme and developing the knowledge of those who function as social prescribers in other settings, such as Resident Assistants in Staffordshire and Keele universities. Equipping them with behaviour change and motivational interviewing techniques alongside tools like Active My Way enables them to support students with physical activity and create plans to make positive lifestyle changes.

Learn about Social Prescribing 19

Better Health Staffordshire Whole systems approach to obesity

Together Active continues to work alongside a range of partners on a whole systems approach to support healthy weight and tackle the causes of obesity. Now branded as Better Health Staffordshire the national ‘Better Heath’ branding allows partners to amplify campaigns locally and utilise a known national brand that may already be familiar to Staffordshire residents. The aim of Better Health Staffordshire is to create a system network where partners and communities work collectively, over the long term (10-15 years), to develop, implement and evaluate a shared vision and actions which tackle the causes of obesity and promote a healthy weight and an active lifestyle.

Workshop delivery and engagement Towards the end of 2021 we supported the effective delivery of eight workshops on the topic of obesity prevalence and the consequences of living with obesity. Almost a hundred people attended in total from the three pathfinder districts (East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase and Staffordshire Moorlands) and from county wide representation. A further eight follow up workshops on whole systems approaches were delivered with seventy-four participants. Poll surveys indicated an increase in knowledge, confidence and understanding ranging from 72% to 83% across participants from both workshops.

People First Language refers to putting an individual before the medical condition that is being discussed. For instance, you could say ‘a person living with obesity’ as opposed to ‘an obese person’ or any other critical labels. A new Open Data Officer is now in post at Together Active to support local clubs and organisations in the three pathfinder districts to increase awareness and accessibility to local physical activity opportunities. People First Language Online mapping process Better Health Staffordshire and the partners involved will actively avoid using language that has the potential to perpetuate weight stigma, disordered eating and health inequalities. We recognise that anti-obesity language and campaigning can be stigmatising, and we will take every step to minimise the risk of Better Health Staffordshire contributing directly or indirectly to appearance-based personal dissatisfaction and weightbased discrimination.

A range of stakeholders have been contributing to an online tool which is being used to identify population level factors that drive obesity. Local communities will also be invited to identify local causes of obesity through a Citizen’s Inquiry programme. This local insight will be used to develop a high-level system map for Staffordshire and encourage us to think beyond traditional individual behaviour change approaches. 21

Opening School Facilities

Together Active joined the Opening School Facilities initiative in Phase Two of the programme which centred around creating and increasing sport and physical activity opportunities for pupils that were on Free School Meals (FSM) and / or SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). We funded a total of 19 schools with grants of £10,000 each: 12 schools in Staffordshire (£120,000) 5 Primary (1 Special) 1 Middle 6 Secondary (4 which include a Sixth Form and 1 Special) 7 schools in Stoke-on-Trent (£70,000) 3 Primary 4 Secondary

Over 60 activities were delivered, for 4000+ pupils and nearly 20 for communities (500+ people). Activities ranged from traditional individual and team sports to health and wellness movement like dance, yoga and Pilates, as well as forestry and outdoor activities. In contrast with providing new experiences through the medium of cycling, spinning, scooting, dodgeball, fencing, and sensory sessions. We also funded 11 schools £500 each to support with accessible equipment such as boccia and new age kurling sets to expand the range of inclusive equipment available.

“What has taken place has been amazing! We received team teaching in fencing and how to use these games in other areas of the curriculum as well as supporting staff with training in Ultimate Frisbee to broaden the activity offer.”

“Not only has this significantly impacted our pupil's physical activity levels, their social, mental health and wellbeing is being supported through the expanded extracurricular programme.”

“It has allowed students to access a completely new activity to our 'normal' offer of extra-curricular sports. It can help channel aggression, improve focus and develop many aspects of health and fitness.”

Active Environments

In Uniting the Movement Sport

Together Active are working

England says, “the places and

collaboratively towards making the

spaces around us can have a

physical environment a place where

positive or negative impact on

physical activity is the easy, safe

whether, how, when, and where we

and attractive option.

move." This includes promoting cycling, walking and wheeling, supporting They define these spaces in three

communities to access assets like

broad categories:

green spaces or local school facilities and advocating for active

Dedicated sport and physical

design into planning systems.

activity facilities: i.e. pitches, courts, pools and leisure centres.

We provided advice and support to Public Health and the Connectivity

Other community spaces: i.e.

teams at Staffordshire County

parks and open spaces,

Council (SCC) on an Active Travel

community centres and schools.

Social Prescribing bid and £40,000 has been allocated to SCC to

The wider built environment: i.e.

develop a feasibility bid for full

streets, housing estates, and tow

funding.

paths.

We provided responses to Local Plan consultations in Cannock Chase, Stoke-on-Trent, NewcastleUnder-Lyme and South Staffordshire. In these responses we consistently advocated for the inclusion of Sport England Active Design principles; adherence to DfT local transport note (LTN) 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design which provides guidance to local authorities on delivering high quality, cycle infrastructure; and the inclusion of access to informal green space in developments (not just formal pitches and facilities) using Natural England’s Accessible Natural Green Space Standards.

Cannock Chase Wayfinding Project A year ago, we successfully bid for £200,000 from Sport England for a wayfinding demonstration project which will provide a legacy from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 mountain biking event at Birches Valley, Cannock Chase Forest.

Together Active project manage the programme through monthly steering group meetings which includes our partners Staffordshire County Council, Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles, Cannock Chase Council, Hednesford Town Council and Cannock Chase AONB Partnership. The project’s aim is to connect local people in Hednesford to the greenspace on their doorstep, adopting a co-production approach and delivering wellbeing outcomes. There is a digital arts element which will link into the Cannock Chase Can app (created by Cannock Chase Council) Local artists will be commissioned to engage with local communities to co-design rest stops as waymarkers and creating locally themed content which can be accessed via QR codes embedded in the bespoke rest stops. The project has been scoped and planned and contracts agreed. A full route and accessible route have been finalised and an evaluation plan is in place. Delivery and local engagement work can now get underway. 25

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Together Active has pledged to

We have also developed and

become the most equitable

consulted on a framework for

organisation we can be. As part

making organisational decisions

of our journey to embed the

which embed equality, diversity, and

highest standards of equality,

inclusion in everything we do. This

diversity and inclusion (ED&I)

includes Leadership and

across the organisation, we set

Governance, Policy and Procedures,

up an Equality Diversity and

Business Operations and

Inclusion Group which was then

Communication and Engagement.

formally adopted as a sub-group of the Board.

But an inclusive culture must sit at the heart of everything we do. A

Together Active is one of only

delivery plan will set out how we will

four Active Partnerships to

implement the ED&I Framework. We

undertake the process to become

are also in the process of

an early adopter of the Race Code

developing an ED&I Advisory group

Equality Mark which was then

and an inclusion network as we

officially awarded to us after a

strive to reach out to communities

rigorous audit and interview

to listen and learn from people with

process. We now have a two-year

a variety of lived experiences of

action plan to deliver before the

discrimination, exclusion, negative

Race Code Equality Mark is

stereotyping or just plain ignored.

reviewed In May 2024. 26

Read our ED&I Framework

EDI discussion with Toyin Higgs and Jude Taylor

This is just the start of the

Equity and equality are at our

process, but we have clear

core, and we are determined to

intentions about where we want

ensure everyone who works for or

to get to. We are learning,

with us or engages in our

developing and seeking

services feels welcomed,

understanding so that we can be

supported and included.

allies to the cause. 27

School Games Academic Year 2020-2021

Academic Year 2021-2022

The latter part of academic year

At the start of academic year 2021-

2020-2021 continued with the virtual

22, we were still very much in

approach to School Games that we

uncertain times and the pandemic

as an Active Partnership along with

was still affecting how we delivered

School Games Organisers (SGOs,

our programme and the ability to

who manage the district School

bring schools together from across

Games programme) in Staffordshire

the County.

and Stoke-on-Trent had created and developed due to the pandemic.

However, we did not want to lose sight of the opportunity to still drive

A virtual ceremony was held at the

forwards our School Games

end of the academic year to award

direction of including all young

County winners of our virtual

people and really targeting those

competitions based on results

young people that are most in need.

submitted by each local SGO. This also included video messages of

For the first time in 2 years we have

support from sporting stars

held a face to face County School

streamed on our @StaffsSG Twitter

Games Final in Sportshall Athletics

feed.

which saw over 600 children in Year 3-8 participate. We also welcomed back working in partnership with Stoke College and Stoke 6th Form College to provide 40 leaders for the event.

Pilot Projects

As part of this they used existing local youth voice forums in Key

Each School Games Organiser ran a pilot project to target a specific group of young people. The idea was that these local pilot projects could help shape our District and County programme moving forwards and really identify what could work with a specific target group. One example of this is the work that was done in North and South Stoke by School Games Organisers Nigel Edwards and Vicki Lightfoot. Young people from a number of schools who were identified as being most negatively affected by the pandemic and those who were ‘looked after children’, were put forwards to take part. The young people selected formed the organising committee for the project. The organising committee had the task of creating an event for Year 6 children.

Stage 2, 3 and 4. In order to run the event on the day, around 20 Year 8 sports leaders were also trained. Activities on the day included an Inflatable obstacle course, Danceathon, Football skills challenge, Ladders & Hoops run, 60 Active Minutes Awareness Warm up and Space Hopper races. Year 10 prefects were in attendance to address transition issues and to give pupils the opportunity to ask any questions that may have been concerning them about moving up to high school. The aim of this pilot project was to help motivate Year 6 pupils to take part in physical activity following on from the pandemic and provide them with a transition event. It was also hoped that the organising committee may go on to train as leaders.

The Year 8 sports leaders who were

Plans for 2022

trained will go on to run a lunchtime club for those Year 6 pupils when they arrive at school in September 2022 as year 7 pupils to help support that transition. Key learning from the project was to allow plenty of time to work with the organising committee prior to the event. Because of the characteristics of the young people who make up the organising committee, they require more support with confidence and communication skills. It is also important to build and develop a good relationship with the group as trust is key.

We have the Staffordshire School Games County Summer Festival coming up in June which will see several pathway competitions take place as well as an inclusive event targeting SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) children and those children who are less active. We will even be trialling Quidditch! We were also lucky to receive funding to support projects to use the inspiration and profile of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to engage new and different children and young people in the School Games with a clear focus on tackling inequalities.

137 Leaders trained 923 Pilot Project participants 622 Young People taking part in the County School Games face to face events in March 2022

“It was really fun to have a go on the obstacle course and do the other things” Primary pupil

“I was able to help younger children be happy and have a good time, while I learned some new skills” Member of the Organising Committee (Looked after child)

“I was really pleased to be given the chance to officially open the event with a speech and welcome the younger children on to the school site” Year 8 Sports Leader

Primary School Support

Physical activity has numerous benefits for children and young people’s physical health, as well as their mental wellbeing. We understand that children who are physically active are happier, more resilient, and more trusting of their peers. Ensuring that pupils have access to sufficient daily activity can also have wider benefits for pupils and schools, improving behaviour as well as enhancing academic achievement.

The Chief Medical Officer

As one of 43 Active Partnerships

recommends that children and

we are contractually obliged to

young people should be physically

support and work with local

active for 60 minutes per day.

Primary Schools to provide an

Schools are obliged to provide

overall offer of 60 active minutes

access to 30 minutes of activity

per child per day. In order to

throughout the school day and are

achieve this we work in

supported to achieve this with PE

partnership with Accelerate

and Sport Premium funding.

Learning Services.

Academic Year 2020-2021

Academic Year 2021-2022

During the 2020-21 academic year,

The use of both local insights

one-to-one in-depth support has

provided by School Games

been provided to 20 Primary

Organisers and Pupil Premium and

Schools. This includes working with

Child Weight Management data has

the school to develop a long-term

led to several schools being

vision for PE, sport, health and whole

identified to receive targeted support

school improvement. A detailed

with a view to improving their PE

action plan is then put together

curriculum and physical activity offer

unique to the area the school is

to pupils.

hoping to improve, and a bespoke package of CPD is arranged to meet

The support consists of one-to-one

these needs.

action planning sessions, regular sessions for reviewing progress and

Alongside this a wider offer of

access to a wider offer of support.

support, open to all primary schools,

Including PE Network meetings,

is available. This year over 80

headteacher briefings and

schools have accessed PE Network

opportunities for Continual

Meetings and headteacher briefings,

Professional Development along

202 schools have downloaded free

with access to a number of other

resources and support materials and

resources.

all schools in Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent access a monthly PE newsletter.

New Ford Primary School

One of the schools we have

They have also looked through and

supported has been New Ford

updated the PE planning and

Primary School in Stoke and their

assessment documentation

new PE Leader who had taken on PE

including a progression of skills

at a difficult time due to lockdown

document ensuring these are aligned

and the restrictions placed upon

to their curriculum aims.

schools. In addition to this they have also We supported and worked with the

been one of the first delegates to

PE Lead over the year to review and

begin the Level 4 qualification in

develop the schools PE curriculum,

improving pupils emotional health

physical activity programme and

through PE.

sports provision. This has given them a focus and The PE Lead used the time and

understanding of wider emotional

support to undertake the Level 5

health and wellbeing objectives that

qualification in PE specialism course

can be developed and improved

and as part of this has revamped

through PE and they are now looking

their PE curriculum map – gearing

to weave this into their provision as

this around their vision for what they

well.

want pupils to achieve and gain from PE lessons.

Impact As a result of this work the profile of PE and sport has been raised throughout the school and there is now a cohesive vision and documentation in place to support PE. Pupils have settled well despite the change and are now benefitting from improved lessons and increased opportunities on the curriculum. They are more engaged in their learning and their emotional health and wellbeing and resilience has improved.

Sustainability These changes and the good pedagogy around PE in the school provides an excellent grounding for sustainable improvements both in the short and long term and ensures all pupils receive high quality experiences.

Children and Young People Active Lives Survey

Together Active worked alongside

primary, middle and secondary

schools through the COVID-19

schools in Staffordshire and

lockdown period and in the

Stoke-on- Trent to facilitate Sport

subsequent terms still impacted by

England’s Active Lives Children and

the pandemic, to engage children

Young People Survey, gaining

and parents to complete the report,

responses from 1,638 children.

to provide invaluable information in future on how lockdown has

The report summarises activity

impacted children and young

levels of children and young people

people’s physical activity levels.

from 5-16 years of age. It gives an idea of overall activity levels both in and out of the school setting, types of activity undertaken, and the impact physical activity has on mental wellbeing, amongst other topics.

Latest Active Lives data and analysis

Felicity Gardiner, PE lead at John Wheeldon Primary Academy has administered the survey twice in the school, and gave us this feedback: ‘’The Active Lives Survey provides us with valuable information as a school. This was particularly important to us following the pandemic as we get key information about levels of happiness and how children perceive wellbeing in our school. We can make comparisons about our levels of physical activity against the national average and use this information to make decisions about initiatives to support our families in adopting healthier lifestyles. "It's valuable to find out our children's perceptions of what we offer in school, but also what they feel about sport in general. This informs our PE and Sport offer, what activities we can offer within the curriculum and what extracurricular activities would be of worth for our children. “The survey helps us to celebrate all that we are able to offer our children. Knowing that they love sport and that they can recall all the sports or activities we offer them, makes us understand our impact. We're proud to have put in place initiatives which have led to us achieving gold status of the Healthy Schools rating in 2021. "The incentives have positively impacted our children by allowing us to gain a range of equipment to improve lunchtime physical activity and support children in achieving 60 active minutes.‘’

Workforce and Training

A workforce with the right

We provide guest lectures in

knowledge and skill set is essential

behaviour change, sport policy and

to be able to demonstrate the

the sporting landscape as well as

appropriate behaviour to effectively

providing opportunities for students

increase the number of people with

to tackle real world problems via the

active lives and healthy futures.

Real World Project.

Together Active aims to support organisations, volunteers and

The students are also encouraged to

professional workforce to achieve

take part in shaping the School

this via targeted training and

Games.

development.

Education

Together Active encouraged schools to utilise the Opening School Facilities funding to develop staff

We work collaboratively with

knowledge to be able to sustain the

Universities to upskill the next

breadth and depth of activities they

generation of workforce with the

offer to Free School Meals, Special

knowledge and experience to impact

Educational Needs and Disability

positively on society. We circulate a

pupils.

monthly newsletter full of interesting reading, training and development opportunities.

Health

Sport and Physical Activity

Together Active continues to

Clubs: In a bid to assist and guide

support the delivery of Clinical

clubs and organisations to build

Champion sessions in partnership

back better, Together Active have

with the National Health Service.

directed clubs to: various Club

They also built upon this by working

Matters resources and workshops,

closely with Support Staffordshire to

the Chartered Institute for the

train and equip social prescribers

Management of Sport and

with the confidence and competence

Physical Activity Retrain to Retain

to talk about and prescribe physical

initiative, Sports Leaders training,

activity, remembering that every

Time to Listen courses for welfare

minute counts.

officers, UK Coaching and Mind’s Mental Health Awareness in Sport and Physical Activity+ training, as

“2022 will see us embrace the opportunities that the Commonwealth Games give us, create stronger pathways to referral ready clubs and organisations and develop a more inclusive workforce offer in collaboration with our partners ”

well as Youth Mental Health First Aid via the Cornerstone project. This training equips volunteers with the tools to help those that need it most, in the places where they seek it.

Communities and People

Our Community Youth Activity Fund

Community Youth Activity Fund

has replaced the Sport England

projects have been designed around

Satellite Clubs programme and has

the needs of young people aged 11 –

given us the flexibility to be a little

21 years, and we have supported 13

more targeted and innovative with

projects this year totalling £25,766

this funding.

and have just committed to a further 11 projects and £26,767 which will

The initial funding rounds have

start soon.

focussed on providing diversionary activities targeting young people

Despite another difficult year, our

who are:

amazing deliverers are going above

Receiving guidance and support

and beyond to try and build back to

from the Youth offending

their pre-covid sessions and with

Service

more demand than ever, all the

Known to Community Safety

projects are still active and

officials, PCSOs, Earliest Help,

continuing to date.

Housing Associations, ASB Officers by causing ASB On the cusp of crime and ASB On the verge of school exclusion or within Pupil referral units

The clubs cover a multitude of activities and sports including; Angling, Boxing, Basketball, Fitness, Horse Riding, Climbing, and multisport activity sessions.

Case study

Clip and Climb Diversionary Project The Clip and Climb project allowed 8 students from the PRU aged 15 & 16 to engage, be involved and immerse themselves in the experience and technology that clip and climb uses. Each week the students had a strong desire to attend Meadowside Leisure Centre to try a completely new physical activity. Clip and climb focused the student’s short attention span and enhanced their physical abilities through its bright, colourful, challenging and interactive walls and obstacles.

Clip and climb allowed the students to challenge themselves both physically and socially. Physically by developing their fitness; strength, balance, agility, flexibility and stamina on the increasing difficulty and challenges on the walls. Socially, by positively interacting with the leisure centre staff, members of the public, climbing instructors, and each other.

4 Students have passed and are now qualified L2 Clip & Climb instructors, and have been invited to hand there CV’s into the Centre for any future vacancies.

Cornerstone

The Cornerstone Project was a local

Together Active co-ordinated the

initiative funded by the Free Masons

provision of activities with trusted

Society and managed by Together

providers and managed the grant

Active with support from the NHS

and distribution of the funding, with

Combined Trust.

North Staffs Mind joining several of the sessions to support the young

The NHS Combined Trust Suicide

people with their mental health and

Prevention Lead approached

signpost to additional provision.

Together Active to draw up a

We pulled together four providers to

summer physical activity

deliver through the month of August

programme to support some of the

to small groups of 10 children.

young people aged 10-13 years that are / or might struggle with transitioning to secondary school and the impact of COVID-19. The collaboration involved the NHS Combined Trust working to identify potential participants with their Children’s Services contacts and Action for Children.

Our thanks to Staffordshire Wildlife

Nearly 260 hours of activity were

Trust, Achieving Goalz and Dreams,

delivered to 211 children. We have

Port Vale Community Trust and

trained 14 delivery coaches in the

Gartmore Riding School for their

Youth Mental Health First Aid

responsiveness and flexibility in

course. A further 16 people were

planning and delivery. In the October

trained on a second MHFA course in

half term we added two further

early 2022.

deliverers for the Stafford area. Our thanks go to Right Stuff Boxing and Stafford Sports and Performance Academy.

"They have taken a child who was extremely nervous, worrying and never part of a team into a happy child working well in a team. N is not the most co-ordinated person due to his dyspraxia but learning new skill this week has improved his co-ordination. "I cannot express my thanks to the team at Port Vale they went above and beyond each and everyday .” Parent of paricipant

Tackling Inequalities Fund

After the success of Rounds One

We bucked the national trend and

and Two of the Tackling Inequalities

were delighted to support 6

Fund during the height of the

organisations that solely support

pandemic, we were awarded a third

people with disabilities, and 9

round and allocated a further

projects supporting older people

£90,000 to 22 organisations during

with Long Term Health Conditions.

this year.

These organisations have found it enormously difficult to return to

Together Active has collaborated

face-to-face delivery with vulnerable

with Local Authorities, VAST,

members and volunteers that are

Support Staffordshire and SCYVS to

often carers for vulnerable people

reach out to grass roots community

too.

organisations that can deliver to communities with long term health conditions, disability groups, culturally diverse communities, and those on lower incomes to distribute the Tackling Inequalities Fund across the county on behalf of Sport England and the National Lottery.

“In most instances, the money is helping organisations to get services back up and running, either by allowing them to invest in extra cleaning... equipment, adapting equipment, or covering the cost of facilities in a COVID-safe way. It has helped some vital organisations to just stay afloat and pay the bills as organsiations across the country had to shut their doors" Jack Jones Active Lives Officer

And we’re still receiving great news from projects that were funded in Round One and Two in that many are continuing to thrive and reaching out to even more new participants.

“I do not have family living nearby and have been increasingly alone during COVID. It was really nice to be able to enjoy a stroll with my befriender who has become a firm friend. I’ve not been as mobile as I was, but Helen also supported me to go to the MHA chair-based exercise class on a Monday morning when it opened. I feel I am much fitter again now” E.B.., participant

“I attend the weekly gentle exercise group and I have found fun and friendship, whilst being able to take care of my physical strength. A friend persuaded me to come, it gets me out of the house, gets me to exercise to music. It’s amazing” J.M., participant

“Going to the exercise group, gives me a reason to get up in the morning, when I sometimes don’t feel like it, I always enjoy it when I make the effort, I’ve met very friendly and welcoming people” M.E., participant

Mental Health

2021-22 has seen Together Active

Despite having limited time to

develop real confidence around

develop the programme, it was very

working in mental health. We have

successful, helping us forge new

been listening, learning and

relationships with partners and learn

developing relationships with key