Agenda item

Louise Cole, Programme Manager (Cranbrook), Active and Healthy People Team, Exeter City Council introduced herself to the Forum and explained the Exeter and Cranbrook Sport England Local Delivery Pilot, which was nationally funded by Sport England and being run in 12 areas (Local Delivery Pilots) across the country. It was the only project with two separate, geographically connected locations (Exeter and Cranbrook).  There was a change in Sports England rationale.  Through their investment in the 12 Local Delivery Pilots, Sport England want to understand how to use local identities and structures to deliver sustainable increases in activity levels. The idea was to test whether taking a behaviour change approach in a place could really unlock something ground breaking for the whole country.

The health benefits of an active lifestyle were well researched and documented.  The social benefits were also proven to:

•        Improve educational attainment.

•        Reduce anti-social behaviour.

•        Build self-esteem throughout life.

•        Contribute to urban regeneration.

•        Increase work productivity.

•        Improve quality of life.

An active society reduces:

·        Depression and poor psychological health.

·        Loneliness and social isolation.

·        CO2 emissions and reduce congestion.

Inactivity in Cranbrook and certain parts of Exeter was almost three times higher than Exeter as a whole.  The key target of the pilot was to achieve population change by encouraging 10,000 of the least active residents to lead regular active lifestyles.  The vision was that Exeter and Cranbrook were pioneering places for leading an active lifestyle, with Exeter the most active city in England and Cranbrook a model of best practice for families being active together.  To achieve this focus was needed on those most in need.  A ‘whole system’ approach would be taken, which was based on the starting point that no one lived in a vacuum.  People were connected to a place and its community, each with its own unique structure, relationships and geography.

Louise explained the Exeter and Cranbrook local delivery pilot programme which involved people and place, and whole systems.  It was a both a bottom up and top down approach.  The aim was to work together to create enabling environments.  Relationships would need to be developed to sustain the approach.  Louise outlined the programme’s aim to deliver a number of demonstration projects that if successful could be scaled up and replicated in new and adapted environmental designs across the city.

Cranbrook currently had a population of around 4,500, with four times the national average of 0-4 year olds

The Cranbrook Theory of Change was that:

Ø  If we… develop a community led strategy with children, young people and families at the heart of designing and creating activities,

Ø  And we… bring together a supportive network of organisations in Cranbrook for joint working, resourcing and innovating,

Ø  Then we… will create a sense of belonging in the community and have significant positive impact on families’ physical and mental wellbeing.

The Cranbrook community assets network (CAN) involved developing a community led strategy and was underpinned by:

·        Confidence.

·        Collaboration.

·        Communication.

·        Resilience.

It was important to meet the community aspirations.  There was a Cranbrook steering group to aid local decision making and give the community a voice.  It would also:

•        Provide local direction for the aspects of the programme that were being delivered in Cranbrook.

•        Co-ordinate the effective delivery of programme objectives and create the right conditions for the achievement of agreed outcomes.

•        Ensure that residents, the community and key partners were engaged in the design and delivery of projects.

•        Ensure clear two way communication with the Move More Cranbrook network.  Move More Cranbrook had received a community grant of £60,000 to:

o   Improve or enhance the health and wellbeing of people in Cranbrook.

o   Increase a sense of belonging and grow inclusive community connectivity.

o   Increase physical activity in the town which could be through everyday walking and cycling right through to joining or starting a sports club.

The communications strategy was in development with an organisation called Grow and involved developing community story tellers to inspire others to become more active.  Identity, art and culture would help to build a community together.

On behalf of the Forum the Chairman thanked Louise for her presentation.