Time to Rewire: Making Movement an Everyday Reality in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland
For over two decades, many of us in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland have been dedicated to encouraging our communities to be more active. We've launched countless initiatives, run numerous programmes, and worked tirelessly to highlight the benefits of physical activity. But as we look at the latest figures and the persistent challenges, it's time for some deep self-reflection: are we truly making movement a fundamental, easy part of everyday life for everyone, or are we still missing the mark for too many?
The evidence suggests that despite our best efforts, the journey is far from over. According to the Active Lives Survey data, 27.3% of adults in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland are classified as inactive, meaning they undertake less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week. For children and young people in LLR, this figure stands at 29.4% inactive. These statistics, alongside similar national trends, indicate that while our work has had an impact, inactivity levels remain stubbornly high.
More critically, the disparities in physical activity persist, and in many cases, are deepening. Our data clearly shows that inequalities are prevalent across various groups:
Adults with a disability or long-term health condition are significantly less likely to meet Chief Medical Officer (CMO) guidelines for physical activity (48% for those with a disability compared to 69% for those without). They also report fewer opportunities and less enjoyment from sports.
Individuals in lower socio-economic groups are less active, with only 53% in NS-SEC 6-8 meeting CMO guidelines, compared to 73% in NS-SEC 1-2. These groups are also less likely to feel they have the ability or opportunity to be active, or find sports enjoyable.
Among ethnically diverse communities, there are distinct differences in physical activity levels, with Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani women showing the lowest participation.
These figures underscore a critical truth: while we may be doing many good things, we haven't yet fundamentally shifted the dial on making movement truly universal and equitable.
The Irrefutable Case for Everyday Movement
The stakes couldn't be higher. Physical inactivity is not merely a lifestyle choice; it's a profound public health crisis. It is associated with one in six deaths in the UK and costs society more than £7 billion each year. As the Chief Medical Officer aptly puts it, "If physical activity was a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure," due to its ability to prevent and help treat a vast array of illnesses.
The benefits extend far beyond individual health:
Physical activity is essential for preventing and managing chronic conditions, reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression, and more.
It contributes significantly to mental wellbeing and social cohesion, combating issues like loneliness and isolation.
From an economic perspective, every £1 spent on sport and physical activity generates £4.20 in return across health and wellbeing. Our own Active Together data shows substantial returns on investment for local areas across LLR, demonstrating the real financial value of our work.
We must recognize that improving population health is not solely about healthcare services; around 80% of variation in health outcomes is attributed to wider factors such as housing, job opportunities, and the built environment. This means our focus needs to expand beyond traditional sport and leisure offerings to truly embed movement into the fabric of daily life.
A Call for Deep Reflection and Transformational Change
After years of dedicated effort, the question isn't whether we've been busy, but whether our busyness has been effective in addressing the root causes of inactivity and inequality. The "Active Together" report itself acknowledges that reducing physical inactivity is a complex challenge that no single organisation can solve alone. It calls for a "whole-systems place-based approach" and a "collaborative leadership approach involving shared resources and a broad range of skills and expertise".
We must acknowledge that the full potential of our work remains largely untapped because systems have not yet fully shifted their focus and resources towards prevention and population health. There's been a "prevention penalty" where services are disincentivised from jointly investing in early intervention, even when it saves money downstream. We need to "rewire our engine rooms" and embrace fundamental changes in how we work together and with others.
The Path Forward: Embedding Movement in Our Everyday Lives
Our shared vision for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland is a place where "physical activity is part of daily life, leading to people living healthier and happier lives". To achieve this, we need to concentrate our efforts on making movement the easiest and most obvious choice for everyone, every day. This requires a strategic shift, guided by key principles:
Prioritising the Least Active and Tackling Inequalities: Our resources, energy, and time must be channelled towards those whose lives will benefit most, focusing on our least active communities, young people, those with long-term health conditions, and under-represented groups. This means a move towards "proportionate universalism," where support is tailored to need.
A Place-Led Approach: We must work with local communities to find local solutions, truly putting "people and place first". This involves better connecting with local communities, working with them, not to them, and identifying existing community assets and strengths. District councils, being closer to communities and understanding local needs, are indispensable partners in this.
Designing Active Environments: The places we live, work, and travel must actively encourage movement. This means collaborating with planners and other partners to shape our built environment – homes, streets, green spaces, and workplaces – to promote walking, cycling, and other forms of physical activity.
Working as a Unified System: Getting people to move more is a shared responsibility. We need deep, ongoing collaboration across the entire system, including health, social care, education, local government (county, city, and district councils), and the voluntary and private sectors. This involves breaking down organisational silos, fostering mutual understanding, building relationships, and identifying shared priorities. Initiatives like the "active wellbeing service" concept provide a framework for this.
Focusing on Prevention First: Physical activity must be at the heart of the NHS's prevention-first agenda. This involves aligning our work with the 10-year health plan and finding avenues to demonstrate our impact within the health system. The shift from hospital to community care also presents significant opportunities for our sector to support prevention-led interventions in neighbourhood hubs.
Continuous Learning and Bravery: We need to consistently review what actions have the greatest impact, learn from both successes and mistakes, and be brave enough to challenge existing blockages to progress. This includes ensuring that youth voice and insights from schools are central to our work.
The journey towards a truly active Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, where movement is an integral part of daily life, requires us to reflect honestly on our past, adapt boldly for the future, and work more collaboratively and strategically than ever before. It's not just about doing more; it's about doing what truly matters to embed physical activity into the everyday for every single person. By doing so, we can genuinely build healthier, happier, and more resilient communities for the long term.
What it does not mean is just shouting louder about our current offering and hoping more will come or we can get the system to pay us to do more! If we haven’t moved the dial we need a different approach that does not favour the current provision! Our current sports and PA providers can carry on looking after those already ‘in the system’ and active. But let’s not pretend anymore we can just fit the inactive into our ecosystem with a few tweaks. Time for a radical overhaul of how and where we try to get people moving. Now that would be truly a systems approach.