Find Your Active Navigator Braintree
Supporting community led activity to grow, sustain and thrive
Our Find Your Active Place Navigator in Braintree is embedded within the local community and plays a vital role in helping residents and grassroots organisations take their first or next steps into physical activity.
Through hands‑on, personalised support, the Navigator has helped local groups build confidence, access funding, grow participation and move towards long‑term sustainability – ensuring that physical activity opportunities remain inclusive, accessible and rooted in the community.
The Find Your Active Navigator programme supports people who are new to physical activity, unsure where to begin, or looking to grow community activity offers. In Braintree, Callum Riordan, Find Your Active Place Navigator, uses his strong local knowledge and approachable nature to guide residents towards activities that improve physical and mental wellbeing.
A key example of this work is the Navigator’s support of a local Bhangra dance group, helping transform an informal community session into a growing, more sustainable activity offer with ambitions to become an established club within the district.
Callum began supporting a local Bhangra dance instructor in March 2025 after meeting her at a community cultural programme. The sessions provided an inclusive, family‑friendly way for people of all ages and abilities to be active through dance.
When the group’s initial funding came to an end, the sessions were at risk of stopping altogether. The Navigator stepped in to offer practical, tailored support – attending a session to better understand the group, exploring funding opportunities and helping search for suitable venues to allow sessions to continue.
To strengthen the group’s profile and build participation, the Navigator suggested delivering taster sessions with Sport for Confidence and other local organisations. While longer‑term funding and a permanent venue were explored, new Bhangra sessions were launched in Witham, and the club went on to join Sport for Confidence as bank staff. This provided increased visibility, new audiences and further opportunities to grow the reach and impact of the sessions.
Active Essex provided specialist support through the Find Your Active Place Navigator and wider team, including:
- One to one advice on suitable funding opportunities
- Guidance on different legal structures to support long term sustainability
- Support to understand minimum operating standards expected by funders
- Facilitation of partnerships and opportunities to deliver taster sessions
- Ongoing mentoring, reassurance and relationship building
This work directly contributes to Active Essex’s Sustainable and Resilient Organisations key performance indicator within our Implementation Plan. Through targeted, one‑to‑one support, the Find Your Active Place Navigator helped a grassroots community group to diversify potential income streams, understand funder expectations and improve their operational readiness.
By providing guidance on funding options, legal structures and minimum operating standards, the Navigator supported the group to build resilience and move towards long‑term sustainability. This approach helps ensure that local, community‑led physical activity opportunities are better equipped to continue, grow and reach more people across the Braintree district.
The work of Callum in Braintree is supported by Active Essex and Sport for Confidence. Active Essex provided strategic oversight and specialist expertise, while the Navigator acted as the on‑the‑ground link, building trusted relationships with the instructor and community organisations. Sport for Confidence played a key role in offering taster session opportunities and employment pathways, helping to raise the profile of the Bhangra sessions and connect them to new audiences. Together, these partnerships created a supportive network that enabled the activity to continue, adapt and grow.
Key Learnings and Challenges
It's important to take time to reflect and understand the learnings from work undertaken, to focus on ways to improve in the future.
Early engagement builds trust
Face to face conversations help explore ambitions and shape the right support.
Visiting activities strengthens support
Attending sessions provided insight into culture and needs.
Funding knowledge is vital
Understanding funder expectations is essential for growth.
Collaboration grows new opportunities
Taster sessions increased visibility and participation.
Strengthening through capacity
Supporting grassroots groups helps them grow and reach more people.
Active Essex’s support has had a wider ripple effect beyond sustaining the Bhangra sessions themselves. The instructor has grown in confidence and leadership, enabling her to explore new partnerships, delivery settings and employment opportunities within the physical activity sector.
Increased visibility through taster sessions and collaborations has helped attract new participants and raise awareness of culturally inclusive physical activity across the district. More broadly, this support has strengthened community networks, demonstrated what is possible for grassroots groups with the right guidance, and helped create a more diverse and welcoming local activity offer for residents who may not otherwise have engaged in physical activity.
There is still more to do to support the Bhangra group and other community groups like them in reaching their long‑term goals. Continued engagement will focus on securing sustainable funding, formalising the club structure and expanding delivery.
Callum will continue to play a key role in raising the profile of local clubs, increasing participation and helping organisations grow in confidence. Through consistent, local and hands‑on support, the Navigator is helping create more inclusive, accessible opportunities for physical activity across Braintree.
