In this blog, Greg Brown, Children and Young People lead at Active Lincolnshire, looks at how we are taking a collaborative approach to creating positive experiences of sport & physical activity for Children and Young People in Lincolnshire.

Sport England's Uniting the Movement strategy has three key objectives:

• Advocating for movement, sport and physical activity
• Joining forces on five big issues
• Creating the catalysts for change

Through Let’s Move Lincolnshire these objectives are fundamental to ensure we have an unrelenting focus on creating positive experiences in movement, sport and physical activity for all children and young people in Lincolnshire. All children should have equal opportunities to access these, unfortunately this is not the reality. The latest release of Active Lives survey data for children and young people across England shows that 53.7% of children aged 4-16 are not meeting chief medical officer recommendations for physical activity. Across the districts this ranges from 58.4% classed as less active in South Holland to 49% in Lincoln.

Therefore, we need to tackle the inequalities that exist and remove the barriers that stand in their way.

At Active Lincolnshire we understand we can’t and won’t do this alone. Collaboration is one of our key values and is at the forefront of our thought process in everything we do. We actively seek mutually beneficial, meaningful cross-sector partnerships because we’re stronger together. Hence the need for creating a strategic group of passionate and knowledgeable individuals to champion, shape and embed change for the better. We need to ensure that the work of Active Lincolnshire and Let’s Move Lincolnshire is guided by those who understand the needs of Lincolnshire’s children and young people.

The key purposes (but not limited to) of the group are to:

• Work collectively to address challenges and identify opportunities.
• Identify common themes for members to work collectively in or self-organised groups.
• Identify and utilise the different skills and knowledge of the members.
• Share the ‘how’ behind the ‘what’ to enable replication.
• Help demonstrate impact for funders and stakeholders.
• Share connections and reach out to colleagues and system partners to help challenge/drive thinking.

14 stakeholders from various organisations have shown willingness to represent the group with many attending the first two meetings to discuss and debate the following:

Headline Research and Insight: We have built context within current barriers, inequalities and issues that prevent Lincolnshire’s children and young people from accessing inclusive positive experiences to movement, sport and physical activity.

Whole Systems Approach: We know that there are many systems in place that not only support but also prevent the opportunity for children to flourish. It is our duty as a collective to consider not only the individual who is directly involved but also the social and physical environments, organisations and policies that influence the bigger picture.

Outcome Pathway: Focusing on four key areas: Tackling Inequalities, Narrative Building, Connected Systems and Workforce Development we have begun to delve deeply into the roadblocks that exist. It was great to have some free-flowing organic conversation around the most pressing issues that exist. These are directly preventing the correct environments forming to allow children and young people to receive the optimal benefits movement, sport and physical activity can provide.

Actions/Priorities: The bulk of our next meeting will provide an opportunity to prioritise and act upon where we feel the most pressing issues are. This will allow us to have a clear focus moving forward in the new year and have clear focus moving forward.

There is a real passion within all members of the group to work collaboratively to drive forward change to help create the conditions that allow all children and young people to have access to inclusive positive experiences through movement, sport and physical activity. As the work progresses, we’ll continue to supply updates on the projects, programmes and strategic discussions taking place across Lincolnshire.

If you would like to get involved please contact Greg Brown, Children and Young People Lead.