ACTIVE BLACK COUNTRY CONFERENCE PROVIDES MOMENTUM FOR FUTURE WORK TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES OF PHYSICAL INACTIVITY

Collaboration, knowledge-sharing and relationship-building were central themes of our Changing Lives Through Movement - Inspiration for Action conference.

More than 150 delegates attended the event at Molineux Stadium. It was an opportunity to connect, share experiences and gain inspiration from the work of people making a real difference in communities and to explore collective ways to integrate approaches to tackle inactivity in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

The broad-ranging conference content comprised inspirational keynote speeches from Active Black Country Board Chair Amanda Tomlinson, Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director of Place at Sport England, and Chris Grant OBE, a leadership and organisational change expert.

Lisa spoke passionately about Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy, sharing the successes, learnings and impacts of its place-based expansion and local delivery pilots.

"You will not get anywhere if you don't have trust in your local communities – and that takes time. Be stubborn on the vision, be flexible on the detail," Lisa said. “Understand the lived experiences of your communities. Go where the energy is because then you will start to get that traction. It’s ok to try things and if they don’t work, move on.”

Building trust

An expert panel discussed the importance of fostering collaboration in communities and the role and impact urban planning, transport and housing can have in tackling health inequalities and getting people to be physically active and move more.

Co-creation of solutions and trust in partners, together with investment in active travel infrastructure and place-based work, were common themes.

Simon Tranter, Director of Regeneration and Economy at Walsall Council, said health and physical activity had been built into new regeneration plans for the town. “There’s a lot that needs to be changed, not just in Walsall but across the Black Country,” he said on transport issues, adding. “There is so much good going on, so many exciting and inspiring projects. We need to talk up our places, our towns.”

Nazneen Gulzar, Founder and CEO of Simple Steps CIC, highlighted the positive impacts of the Swim. Bike. Run initiative in Walsall, a partnership between her organisation, Active Black Country and Triathlon England, and stressed the significance of community organisations. “Speak to your community to assess demand,” was her message to delegates.

Inspirational workshops

Delegates also benefited from a series of engaging workshops and were treated to a special performance of Miss Ida by Women and Theatre, which explores positive changes we can all make to our lifestyle, wellbeing and health.

The workshops covered a diverse range of issues including: the role of places of faith in promoting health and wellbeing; how sport and physical activity can help build safer, stronger, more cohesive communities; designing physical activity into places & spaces where people live, work, learn and play; and the role of physical activity in contributing to wider outcomes across the health system and tackling health inequalities.

Ian Carey, CEO of Active Black Country, said: “The conference was an important milestone in bringing our partners together to connect and identify opportunities for future work to address the large-scale challenges and underlying inequalities that prevent local people from being active.

“A huge thank you to our fantastic keynote speakers, panellists and workshop presenters and to everyone who attended and contributed to making the conference a big success. The ambition is to inspire action. We hope attendees have left equipped with the tools and motivation to drive change in their communities.”