With latest data showing that physical activity levels among both adults and children in Wolverhampton are among the lowest in the country, the city's health and wellbeing board, Wolverhampton Health and Wellbeing Together, has developed a draft Physical Activity Strategy.
It will be presented to members of the council's Cabinet next week (Wednesday 18 October) before being presented to the Health and Wellbeing Together board in due course. To read the draft strategy, please visit Wolverhampton’s Physical Activity Strategy.
The draft strategy and associated action plans are designed to inspire and support adults and children to move more and build activity into their daily lives. They focus on four themes:
- Active Wulfrunians – creating a city where everyone is physically active every day and understands the benefits of being active and how to be active in a way that suits their ability.
- Active City – creating and promoting suitable activities, programmes and infrastructure which enables residents to engage in regular physical activity that meets their needs.
- Active Spaces and Places – creating a city where community spaces are enhanced, invested in and protected, and which encourage and promote physical activity.
- Active Systems – working collaborative as a whole system to create leadership, governance and partnerships that enable practice and protocols to promote physical activity across all sectors.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: "Whatever your age, there's strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life and reduce your risk of developing major illnesses like coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
"Research shows that it can also boost your self esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy levels, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression and dementia.
"Being physically active is the miracle cure we've always had available to us, but too many people in our city are not taking their recommended dose – and their health is now suffering as a result.
"We also recognise that being healthy and feeling good is about more than simply not being ill; lots of different factors shape our health and wellbeing – where we live, our education, income, the type of job we do, our lifestyles, access to green spaces, and the connections we have with other people.
"But we can change that. Together, we can create an environment where our residents can live longer, healthier and more active lives, and where every child in the city has the best start in life.
"We will do this by working in partnership with health and social care, the voluntary sector, faith and community groups, businesses, education and delivery partners and by listening to local people, understanding their experiences, and making decisions informed by health data from our local population.
"We will also continue to support those who take part in regular sport and physical activity to carry on doing so, and back our city's wonderful clubs and other organisations who deliver a fantastic range of opportunities for our residents.
"This is an exciting chance for stakeholders to work together to make Wolverhampton a city that helps its residents to get moving more, and to enjoy the many benefits that enjoying an active lifestyle can offer."
To measure the impact of the strategy, levels of inactivity in Wolverhampton will be monitored over time using national, regional and local indicators with an ambition to have physical inactivity levels in line with regional levels by 2030.
