Sheffield’s physical activity plan that aims to transform Sheffield into the most active city in the UK
The catalyst for Move More was the establishment of the National Centre of Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM), which is an Olympic Legacy programme. The objective of the NCSEM in Sheffield is to create a culture of physical activity to improve the population’s health. Increases in physical activity have been found to improve people’s health, well-being, and quality of life; however in modern society it can be hard to be active. Move More therefore aims to target the whole of Sheffield, creating environments and supporting individuals and communities to engage in physical activity.
What’s happening
A number of programmes and initiatives are being run across Sheffield to engage individuals and communities in physical activity. Move More has brought together key stakeholders across the city, including the council, hospitals, universities, and public and private organisations, to ensure everyone is working together to increase physical activity. Over the last couple of years Sheffield has held a Move More Month which has challenged people to try and accumulate Move More Minutes by being active, whether that’s playing sport or walking to the shops. To support people being active an app was developed to encourage people to monitor and increase their activity levels. Initiatives were also set-up in schools and workplaces to bring together people from all across the city.
What was found
During Move More Month over 10,000 people got involved in activities across the city, with over 8.1 million Move More Minutes being recorded. Some of the initiatives run during Move More Month involved football fans from Sheffield United and Wednesday competing against each other to see which fans were the most active. Over 100 workplaces took part in the workplace challenge to see which work team was the most active, as well as who was the most improved mover. The Schoolyard Challenge involved 5,000 pupils from 20 primary schools around the city, each given their own wristband sensors to monitor their activity around the playground and in the school building. Over a two week period pupils travelled over 2,500 kilometres.
Implications of the research
The results from Move More Month show how these initiatives have successfully increased physical activity levels in Sheffield and that the city is on its way to becoming the most active city in the UK. So far Move More has managed to bring together people from different communities and parts of the city to be active, which will lead to long term improvements in health, well-being and quality of life. Move More are continuing to carry out a number of programmes throughout Sheffield to engage people in physical activity and to ensure increases in physical activity are sustained.
Find out more:
To find out more about Move More visit their website or read the Move More Metro as well as the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/creating-a-culture-of-physical-activity-in-sheffield
https://www.shu.ac.uk/business/see-our-impact/case-studies/bringing-sheffield-together-to-move-more
Publications related to Move More:
- Speake, H., Copeland, R. J., Till, S. H., Breckon, J. D., Haake, S., & Hart, O. (2016). Embedding physical activity in the heart of the NHS: the need for a whole-system approach. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 939-946.
- Atchinson, R., Frith, G., Roden, A., Copeland, R., & Reece, L. (2018). Bright Spots: Physical activity investments that work: Active for health Rotherham; Be active to stay healthy. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
- Such, E., Salway, S., Copeland, R., Haake, S., Domone, S., & Mann, S. (2016). A formative review of physical activity interventions for minority ethnic populations in England. Journal of Public Health, 39(4), e265-e274.
- Scott, S. E., Breckon, J. D., & Copeland, R. J. (2018). An integrated motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioural intervention promoting physical activity maintenance for adults with chronic health conditions: A feasibility study. Chronic Illness, 1742395318769370
Key Authors:
- Professor Rob Copeland >
- Dr Gareth Jones
- Professor Steve Haake >
