Your weekly physical activity bulletin

07 November 2023

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 Twitter @NCSEM_PAnews

This Girl Can launches winter safety campaign

Sport England's award-winning This Girl Can campaign took to the streets of central London to launch a new initiative aimed at raising awareness of the safety concerns that prevent women from being active outdoors during winter. 

#LetsLiftTheCurfew got underway with a 5k run around Westminster as women from running clubs across the capital, including London City Runners, Black Girls Do Run and This Girl Runs, were accompanied by a mobile digital screen displaying quotes from women on how they feel about getting active outdoors as the clocks go back. 

Launched in response to research which found that almost half (48%) of women prefer not to be active outside after dark and six in 10 (60%) women worry about the risk of sexual harassment or intimidation, the initiative aims to address these concerns by calling for a safer and more inclusive experience for all women when getting active outdoors after dark.

Place Partnerships expanded to help those in greatest need

Sport England have announced a major and unprecedented expansion of their investment into local communities across England to ensure those in greatest need are able to be physically active.

Sport England are extending their Place Partnerships work to help more people to be physically active by breaking down the barriers that get in the way.  

Tim Hollingsworth, their chief executive, joined Sports Minister Stuart Andrew at Waterside Leisure Centre on Canvey Island – one of the places that will benefit from their new approach – to announce an overall package worth £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding that builds directly on the learning generated by their local delivery pilots since 2017.

This new way of working directly supports the Government’s recent Get Active strategy, which set ambitious targets of getting 2.5m more adults and one million more children active by 2030 to tackle the disparities in activity levels across society. 

National Fitness Day 2023 reaches 88 million people as campaign puts spotlight on lifelong health

The National Fitness Day campaign for 2023 reached a total audience of 88.5 million people, helping to inspire healthier lives across the UK and beyond.

Powered by ukactive’s members and partners, National Fitness Day 2023 took place on Wednesday 20 September, under the theme ‘Your Health is for Life’, with free activities hosted by gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres, sports clubs, studios, schools, workplaces, and online providers.

Results published by ukactive and reviewed by Savanta show that in the UK, an estimated 10.2 million people were directly motivated to participate in an activity on the day itself, while many more were encouraged to be active throughout the campaign by further events and communications.

The importance of baby and toddler swimming

From teaching water safety skills to boosting their confidence in and out of the water, taking your little one swimming as early as possible can help children in the early years with their emotional, cognitive, and physical development as they grow.

According to the World Health Organisation, drowning is sadly the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide.

But studies have shown that formal swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning in children aged one to four years by 88%. The Griffith University, which is based in Southeast Queensland, Australia, undertook a three-year study comparing a group of children who took part in swimming against those who didn’t.

New Citbag full of inspiration for teachers delivering physical health and well-being in schools

Children across Wales are set to find physical activity and sport even more fun and enjoyable thanks to an online pack of resources that have been produced for teachers by Sport Wales.

Sport Wales’ bilingual Citbag platform is full of ideas aimed at helping teachers plan creative sessions as part of the Curriculum for Wales, while the resources can also be used by anyone offering physical activities and sport to children and young people such as coaches, volunteers, young leaders, parents and carers.

For children and young people at the beginning of their journey, Citbag features Play to Learn resources encouraging the development of fundamental physical movement skills such as balance, throwing, running, catching and jumping. As they continue their progression, the hub offers Dragon Multiskills and Dragon Sport supporting teachers to build on those foundations and help set young people up for a healthy, active life.

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