JANUARY '22 INSIGHT NEWSLETTER
Hello and welcome to the first edition for 2022 of the Active Suffolk stakeholder insight newsletter!
We hope you all had a restful break over the Christmas period and look forward to continuing to share the latest physical activity and health-related insight each
month over the next year. As ever, if you have a specific insight question, or would like a particular topic covered in a future newsletter, please get in touch
with us here.
In this edition, we first cover the headlines from the children and young people active lives survey released in December 2021, as well as the Suffolk-specific
report outlining the data for each local authority and our neighbouring counties. After this, included is the summary of Sport England's 2022-25 Uniting the
Movement strategy implementation plan, particularly how they wish to reduce widening inequalities in the sport and physical activity sector. Following that, we
have an overview of the Public Health Suffolk Annual Public Health report, which this year focuses on mental health. Finally, this edition covers the Moving
Communities latest sector recovery analysis for December 2021; particularly looking at the impact of reduced footfall on the social value produced by leisure
centres nationally.
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Sport England Release Children and Young People 2020-21 Active Lives Survey data
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Children and young people's activity levels continue to be negatively impacted by the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic at a time when getting active is more
important than ever for their mental and physical wellbeing. The 2020-21 report shows that while there has been no overall decrease in activity levels compared to
the previous academic year, existing inequalities have widened while enjoyment and confidence in taking part are down, and there are new short-term issues that need
to be considered so they do not become long-term trends.
In general, there were lower activity levels when there were more coronavirus restrictions in place – which illustrates the importance of protecting and supporting
sport and physical activity opportunities in schools, the active commute to school, and the other organised sport in children and young people's lives.
In addition, Active Suffolk have produced a Suffolk-specific report analysing our data compared to our Eastern region colleagues and national averages, as well as
local authority breakdowns where available. To view that report, please click here. To view the Sport England
dataset, click the adjacent image.
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Sport England Publish their 2022-25 Strategy Implementation Plan
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Sport England have published their plan detailing how they intend to implement the first three years of the 10-year Uniting the Movement strategy.
As a result of learning throughout the pandemic - Sport England will prioritise investment, resources and energy where it's most needed and will have the greatest
impact. Funding will be targeted to level up places and improve accessibility and opportunities for communities and people that need it most to be active. They are
also aware from research that there are clear inequalities in opportunities, accessibility and experiences of sport and physical activity - many of which have been
worsened since Covid-19, these are;
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Gender: Men and boys are more likely to be active than women and girls - men and boys saw larger disruptions to their activity levels during the severe
Covid-19 restrictions due to a greater reliance on organised activity, with younger men less likely to return than older males.
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Young adults: People aged 16-34 have seen activity levels drop over the past few years and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Concerningly, those
enjoying taking part has also fallen.
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Older Adults: A particular issue for Suffolk with our ageing population; people aged 75+ have seen previous growth in activity levels halted and drop back
during the pandemic, with no real sign of recovery. Perceived opportunity to be active and activity choice has reduced, with nearly two-thirds of this group
currently reliant on walking for leisure. More recently, those enjoying taking part has also fallen.
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Socio-economic deprivation: Adults from the most deprived socio-economic groups are less likely to be active, as are children from less affluent families.
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Ethnicity: There's variation in levels of engagement in sport and physical activity by ethnic group. The Black ethnic group as a whole saw perceived capability
to be active fall, and this remains. The pandemic has made it disproportionately harder for some ethnic minority groups.
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Disability and long-term health conditions: Both disabled adults and people with a long-term health condition are less likely to be active than those without,
with activity levels decreasing sharply the more impairments an individual has. The return to activity as Covid restrictions have eased is slow.
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Prejudice and discrimination: People that experience prejudice or discrimination, such as (but not limited to) people from LGBTQ+ groups and ethnic minority
groups, report that it can be a barrier to taking part in sport and physical activity.
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Suffolk Annual Public Health Report 2021
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The Director of Public Health in Suffolk has produced the annual, independent report exploring a topic or strategic area of focus that is important to Suffolk. This
year's report is focused on public mental health, highlighting the actions that need to be taken to support good mental health and wellbeing in the community,
particularly following the pandemic.
The strain on mental health has been felt recently as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions that have been imposed on our daily lives; the report tells us
that nationally, 1 in 5 adults have experienced some form of depression in the first 3 months of 2021 - double the figure from prior to the pandemic. To view the
full report, click the image to the right.
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Moving Communities Latest Sector Recovery Analysis
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Latest data and analysis from Moving Communities have highlighted the ongoing challenges for leisure operators and centres in England. We are all aware of the
wider societal benefits regular physical activity brings; social value calculations allow us to quantify this benefit. From the dashboard, we are aware that there
is still a significant reduction in the overall social value compared to pre-pandemic levels, largely attributed to reduced footfall in leisure centres. However,
it must be noted that the average social value per person is slightly higher compared to May-September 2019 (£68.17 to £67.65) – emphasising the challenge of
encouraging individuals to return to physical activity within leisure centres.
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News
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Grundisburgh Primary School were one of three lucky schools across the county to win a days cycle coaching with former BMX national champion, John
Stockwell,... Read More »
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Active Suffolk and Suffolk Mind have formalised their partnership in a joint effort to improve mental health through physical activity in Suffolk over...
Read More »
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Activity levels for Children and Young People in Suffolk are on the rise again after a turbulent year which at the height of the pandemic earlier this...
Read
More »
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Active Suffolk have recently completed a CIMSPA funded project with one of the UK's leading personal trainer course providers, Study Active. The project,... Read More
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