Your weekly physical activity bulletin

19 November 2024

We are working towards improving the health and wellbeing of the nation through sport, exercise and physical activity. For more information on our work visit our website or follow us on X @NCSEM_PAnews

Experts in Sport: Cycling hour record: the science behind a successful attempt

Loughborough’s Experts in Sport podcast has returned with an in-depth episode looking at how colleagues from across the university came together to help current PhD student Axel Dopfer break the German cycling hour record.

Host Dr Stuart McErlain-Naylor is joined by Professor Duncan Walker (Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering), Dr Richard Ferguson (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences), Josh Cresswell (Loughborough Sport) and Axel to explain how academic and elite performance expertise led to success.

ukactive warns Chancellor of threat to national health as physical activity sector reveals impact of Budget on prices, jobs and growth

ukactive has written to the Chancellor to demonstrate the effect the Autumn Budget will have on the physical activity sector and to urge the Government to offset this with measures to support growth.

ukactive’s aim is to highlight the risk to national health if the physical activity sector does not receive support following the increased costs announced in the Autumn Budget.

The letter, sent to Rachel Reeves MP on 13 November, warns of the impact on national health and wellbeing, jobs, and growth, due to the growing costs facing fitness and leisure facilities and providers of all types and sizes.

The positive impacts of custodial parkrun for women in prison

Last year, parkrun reported on research findings from His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) highlighting the benefits of parkrun on men in custody. The research, published in the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, showed how engaging in parkrun in prison confers a range of advantages both for the men and the prisons too.

Now, another piece of research has been published in the Journal of Forensic Practice, this time focusing on women in custody and their experiences of parkrun. The findings are similarly optimistic with a great deal of crossover, but also reflect some of the different issues that men and women in prison face.

Pedestrians spend more, new report reveals

A new report shows the correlation between walkable places and thriving businesses. Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, has launched its updated Pedestrian Pound report. 

The report shows that pedestrians spend more money than people arriving by car, and pedestrianised town centres have higher sales.  

With Christmas around the corner, local brick-and-mortar businesses are feeling the pinch. The pandemic and cost of living crisis have driven online sales and reduced the average number of shopping trips per person, from 181 in 2019 to 151 in 2022. British high streets also suffered a record number of retail failures in 2022, with a vacancy rate of nearly 1 in 7 by the end of 2023.

StreetGames Launches National Governing Bodies (NGB) Offer to Boost Opportunities in Underserved Communities

StreetGames has announced the launch of its National Governing Bodies Offer, a support initiative designed to help NGBs of sport reach young people in low-income, underserved communities. This offer invites NGBs to join the StreetGames network, providing them with resources, connections, and expertise to engage more effectively with these young people and create lasting, positive change in their lives. 

StreetGames, an organisation dedicated to improving the lives of underserved young people through accessible sports and physical activity, aims to level the playing field for young people who face barriers to participation. By partnering with NGBs and the wider sports sector, StreetGames strives to create a sustainable shift in how mainstream sports providers interact with youth from underserved communities. The offer is part of this mission, providing NGBs with an evidence-based approach built on StreetGames’ 15 years of experience in Doorstep Sport.

The weekly physical activity bulletin in a summary of news stories that appear across the physical activity sector. The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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