Castle Point Place Partnership Expansion
Development phase to full award
Castle Point has embarked on a transformative journey to tackle inactivity and health inequalities through Sport England’s Place Partnership Expansion. Beginning with a development phase in 2024, the partnership worked closely with local stakeholders to co-design priorities that reflected the lived realities of residents. This collaborative approach secured almost £1 million in Sport England investment, unlocking a total of £3.97 million for the borough.
The work has united system leaders, schools, health partners, leisure, and the voluntary sector under a shared ambition: enabling communities in Castle Point to achieve better physical and mental health outcomes through physical activity. As the programme moves into 2026, it is embedding sustainable change by activating local assets, creating inclusive opportunities, and aligning with wider priorities such as regeneration, health, and active travel.
Castle Point faces some of the most significant health inequalities in Essex. Deprivation is particularly concentrated on Canvey Island, where residents experience poorer health outcomes and fewer opportunities to be active. Insight gathered during the development phase highlighted systemic barriers including fragmented networks, affordability challenges, and a lack of inclusive, accessible opportunities. Through extensive engagement, the partnership established a shared purpose that now underpins all activity. This ambition aligns with Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy, local health priorities, and major regeneration programmes such as the £20 million Canvey Island Pride in Place investment.
Active Essex played a central role throughout the development phase, convening the Castle Point System Leaders Group, which brought together senior representatives from Castle Point Borough Council, Essex County Council, the South East Essex Alliance, CAVS, schools, and voluntary organisations. Active Essex led the co-design of the development phase and the full award submission, embedding insight from Collaborate CIC’s system diagnostics and Social Network Analysis. This investment is now acting as a catalyst for embedding physical activity into health, education, regeneration, and community development.
The development phase generated significant learning and impact. Castle Point’s system maturity baseline scored ‘Emerging’ across most indicators, highlighting the need for capacity building and leadership development. More than 30 leaders attended Sport England and LGA leadership training, strengthening shared accountability and creating a common purpose across organisations. Test and Learn projects provided real-world insight into what works locally.
Insight from 133 public consultation responses reinforced the need for affordable activities, improved green spaces, better active travel infrastructure, and more family-friendly opportunities. Social Network Analysis mapped 73 organisations and revealed fragmentation across the system, strengthening the case for a coordinated, place-based approach. In total, 24 Test and Learn projects engaged more than 700 residents, providing a strong evidence base for the full award submission and demonstrating clear contributions to Active Essex’s KPIs around connected places, positive experiences for children and young people, physical activity as prevention, workforce development, and community resilience.
The full award focuses on six strategic priorities shaped through co-design. These include:
- Strengthening leadership and workforce development
- Creating positive experiences for children and young people through programmes such as Canvey Active Horizons, Essex Pedal Power, and targeted interventions like Positive Futures
- Expanding walking and cycling opportunities linked to regeneration and active travel
- Building effective networks and improving communication through a new Physical Activity Coordinator
- Activating local assets such as Waterside Farm and The Paddocks as Active Wellbeing Hubs
- Targeting health inequalities through expanded CVD prevention work, Let’s Keep Moving, and a new Neighbourhood Health Lead to integrate physical activity into health pathways
Key Learnings
It's important to take time to reflect and understand the learnings from work undertaken, to focus on ways to improve in the future.
Time
Partnerships need time and trust to mature.
Co-creation
Youth voice and co-design are essential for relevance and impact.
Barriers
Affordability and accessibility remain major barriers.
System Change
Requires leadership behaviours rooted in courage, collaboration, and adaptability.
Ripple effects have already emerged. The national launch of the Place Partnership Expansion programme was held at Waterside Farm Leisure Centre, and Canvey Island has since hosted the Sport England Board and DCMS Policy Unit. System leadership has strengthened across health, local government, and the voluntary sector, and leisure is now more closely aligned with shared health and wellbeing outcomes. The work has also created the foundation for Neighbourhood Health Hub development, aligned with the NHS 10-Year Plan and local regeneration ambitions.
It feels like this partnership has momentum, having impact and is something people want to be part of.Lee Monk, Relationship Manager, South East Essex
The programme is already contributing to Active Essex outcomes. Leisure centres and parks are being reimagined as wellbeing hubs, children and young people are experiencing more inclusive, positive opportunities, physical activity is increasingly used as a preventative health tool, the workforce is becoming more skilled and diverse, and communities are being empowered through co-design and asset-based community development principles.
Looking ahead, the partnership will deliver 15 business cases under the six strategic themes, scale Essex Pedal Power and Active Wellbeing programmes, and seek Sport England capital investment for The Paddocks. Evaluation will continue through the NELP framework and Social Network Analysis to measure system change and track progress over time.
