We were thrilled to welcome over 80 partners from Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes to our Partner Forum in February 2024. We celebrated Leap Year, our 10th birthday as Leap and heard from some inspiring speakers.
Active bingo had everyone up, moving and chatting. Sue Imbriano (Leap Chair) and Mark Ormerod (Leap CEO) welcomed a packed room and introduced the first speaker Tom Underwood from NHS Horizons.
Tom gave an overview of the national policy drivers for preventing and reducing the number of people living with a long-term health condition. Physical inactivity is associated with 1 in 6 deaths in the UK and is estimated to cost the UK £7.4 billion annually (including £0.9 billion to the NHS alone).
Unfortunately, our population is around 20% less active than in the 1960s. If current trends continue, it will be 35% less active by 2030. (Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, March 2022)
Tom explained that improvements could come from behaviour change through the environment we create and the actions we take: together.
Current pilots and funding areas to be aware of are:
- Sport England Place funding
- WorkWell ICS vanguards
- Physical Activity MSK Hubs in the community
- Physical Activity Clinical Champion (PACC) Pilots
- Green Social Prescribing
- Active Travel Social Prescribing
Everyone in the room was inspired by Active Oxfordshire’s Move Together county wide pathway into physical activity. Richard Claydon shared how the pathway includes a referral or self-referral route for inactive adults with long term health conditions, who would benefit from increasing their activity levels. He highlighted the importance of thorough evaluation for ongoing learning and to reinforce the impact of physical activity to make the case for longer-term funding. In 2023, 2156 referrals were made to Move Together:
- 94% of participants who have an initial assessment continue with the pathway.
- 74% of those having an initial assessment were inactive.
- 60% of participants increased their activity levels and those who increased their activity, increased it by an average of 45 minutes a day.
- 54% of participants reported the perception of their health had improved.
- 93% of participants would recommend Move Together.
See Richard’s presentation, with more detail, below.
Alan Naismith presented W:ISH, an AI powered online tool that supports patients with positive lifestyle changes including increasing levels of physical activity and movement.
The tool has been developed by Polyatrics, a Bucks based organisation and was tested in Southwest London with older adults. The online tool has the potential to support thousands of people to lead a more active and healthier lifestyle whilst reducing the number of GP visits. The trial showed that you can engage older people with digital technology and inspire them to be more active and improve their lifestyle. Further trials are ongoing in Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Before the popular table briefings, we had a group photo, cut our birthday cake and took the opportunity to make a wish for what we’d like to see happen to increase physical activity in Bucks and Milton Keynes over the next four years. We’ll revisit these at the next Leap day.
Thank you to everyone who led one of our popular table briefings. A fabulous opportunity to learn more about local projects and initiatives. Here’s the list of briefings and leaders:
| Active in the Community | Overview of key projects the team are delivering including Older Adults activity mapping, Wheels 4 All progress and Aylesbury re Cycle programme. | Adam Howard Active In The Community |
| W:ISH | Some extra time to hear about the W:ISH Tool and discuss further collaborations. | Alan Naismith Polyatrics |
| Active Women, Thriving Lives: Prioritising Physical and Mental Well-being | Portia and Nicola shared the transformative strength of active lifestyles from their work in MK. | Portia Simond MK Coach & Leader |
| Sport Welfare Officer Role | Yvette provided an overview of the new role, how it fits in nationally and locally. | Yvette Hockley Sport Welfare Officer: Leap |
| CanMove Bucks | Hear the latest from the CanMove pathway, a pathway for those living with a cancer diagnosis from healthcare into regular movement and activity. | Chris Gregory Leap |
| Health Instructors Network | A briefing on the network and the local skills plans progress with CIMSPA for those that either manage or deliver themselves as a coach, exercise professional, physio or instructor. | Shay Fenlon Leap |
| Sport and Activity for All Networks | The aim of the network is to link fitness instructors, physios, and personal trainers together to support each other in the form of a collective network | David Haggart Leap |
Leap Partner Forum Slides February 2024
Don’t forget to put the dates of our 2024 Partner Forums in your diary or sign up for our newsletter for reminders.
Dates:
Wednesday 12 June 2024 Book Here
Wednesday 16 October 2024
Questions about our forums? Contact Chris Gregory
