Our 2024 Sport and Physical Activity Network event: Working Together for Active Lives, took place on Thursday 21st November at Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.
The event aimed to bring together the professional network from organisations across the West of England, all with a common goal of getting more people physically active and reducing inactivity. It was great to see the event again reach capacity, with 130 people from across the network attend the day.
The focus of this years event, looked at exploring the communities and localities we work in, the systems and networks that exist and which are developing across the West of England. There were also opportunities to discuss the importance of connections and collaborations, to collectively improve the health and wellbeing of the community, through being active and tackling inequalities.
A huge thank you to our speakers and network facilitators who made the day possible as well as the team at Wesport and everyone who attended the day. We've had great feedback from the day, with attendees commenting how informative and engaging the sessions were.
" I found it informative and well organised with a good mix of information and opportunity for networking."
"Great speakers ... came away feeling inspired and energised .... fantastic networking opportunity - what more can I say!"
Steve Nelson, CEO of Wesport said:
"It was great to see so many partners and colleagues from across the network in one room, all with one common goal of getting more people active, reducing inactivity and supporting people to live a healthy lifestyle.
There were plenty of rich conversations held across the day with lots of sharing, learning and connections made. Feedback from the day has been very positive, and we are aware of lots of conversations continuing since the day. "
The keynotes below were presented and are now available to view and download. Please click on keynote titles to view the presentation.
- Where is the NHS Going? - Shane Devlin, Chief Executive of NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
- Integrating the VCSE sector into the health and social care system – Introducing the VCSE Alliance - Ellie Oriel, Director of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Alliance
- People, Place and Partnerships - Active Wellbeing in South Gloucestershire - Sarah Weld, Director of Public Health, South Gloucestershire Council
- Taking a Place-Based Approach to Tackling Physical Inactivity in England - Adam Rigarlsford, Director of Place Relationships, Sport England
The afternoon saw two presentations on current projects and areas of work, given by Wesport,
- Bristol Girls Can - Ali Chodkiewicz, Wesport
- Physical Literacy - Andy Blackmore, Wesport
During the afternoon there was also the chance to attend a number of themed networking tables. Below provides links and follow ups to some of these.
Active Partnership Sport Welfare Network (Wesport) - To find further details of the Sport Welfare Network and contacts for your local Officer please click here.
Bristol Girls Can (Wesport) - Information on the Bristol Girls Can, and how to link to the network, please visit the Bristol Girls Can website here.
CIMSPA – West of England Local Skills Project (CIMSPA) - To connect to the local Skills Hub steering group, or find out more, please contact the local Skills Hub Manager for the West of England for further details. Contact details can be found here.
Environmental Sustainability across our sector (Wesport) - A copy of Sport England's 'Every Move' strategy and action plan can be viewed here.
Physical Literacy (Wesport) - Would you like to find out more about Physical Literacy? Interested in attending further training? Please get in contact with Andy Blackmore via andy.blackmore@wesport.org.uk.
VCSE Alliance (VCSE Alliance) - To link to the new VCSE Alliance please click here.