Find Your Active Chelmsford
Empowering Chelmsford communities to get active
Working closely with Chelmsford City Council to ensure that local physical activity opportunities are shared widely and that community organisations feel supported, connected, and equipped to encourage residents to become more active.
Active Chelmsford is one of 14 Find Your Active networks across Essex, offering support to organisations, clubs, schools, and community groups with an interest in physical activity and sport.It is a voluntary partnership made up of organisations working together to connect all sectors involved in delivering physical activity across the Chelmsford district. The group focuses on ensuring that local opportunities are widely shared and that community organisations feel supported and equipped to help residents become more active.Through strong partnership working and targeted investment, Chelmsford has benefitted from a range of new community projects that directly support local health and wellbeing priorities, particularly reducing inactivity.
Funding opportunities from Find Your Active Chelmsford Small grants, Find Your Active Hardship fund, Active Essex Small Grants Programme and the Places and Spaces Fund, supported by the London Marathon Foundation, has enabled grassroots organisations across the district to create inclusive, sustainable projects that meet the needs of local residents.These investments have been guided by the priorities of the Chelmsford Health and Wellbeing Board, with a particular focus on children and adults who are inactive, isolated, or face barriers to participation.
This collaborative approach ensured that:
- Funding reached the right organisations at the right time.
- Groups were signposted to the most suitable grants, either through Your Active Chelmsford Small grants, Find Your Active Hardship fund, Active Essex Small Grants Programme and the Places and Spaces Fund
- Previously unconnected partners, particularly those supporting women and girls, were introduced to one another to strengthen their work and avoid duplication.
- Local insights from the Find Your Active Navigator shaped district priorities and supported residents directly into activities.
The Find Your Active Chelmsford Network continues to act as a strategic platform for organisations to share updates, discuss challenges, and celebrate successes, creating a more coordinated and effective offer for local residents.
Active Essex has played a central role, strategic leadership, ongoing support allocating funding to enable support organisations that are developing or expanding activities locally. The Find Your Active Chelmsford Network continues to act as a strategic platform for organisations to share updates, discuss challenges, and celebrate successes, creating a more coordinated and effective offer for local residents.
This coordinated approach has reduced siloed working and encouraged organisations to share knowledge, challenges, and opportunities. As a result, community infrastructure has strengthened, and more sustainable local projects have been created projects that genuinely reflect the needs of residents.
The Find Your Active network aims to continue this collaborative approach into the next financial year, connecting even more organisations and supporting the development of new physical activity opportunities across the district.
The next focus potential is to look at supporting organisations gaining further support with capacity building through workshops around bid writing and club governance, as we see a struggle for some organisations. This would enable support implemented at place to offer sports clubs and local organisations the opportunity to build their skills and knowledge helping to create safe and sustainable activities. This has included workshops on bid writing and club governance.
Chelmsford City Council has led an innovative, community-led project to make green spaces safer and more inclusive for teenage girls and gender-diverse young people from the City. Working in partnership with Make Space for Girls, Social Place, Active Essex and the Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner, the project has redesigned parks using youth voice through the voices, experiences and creativity of young girls, ensuring public spaces genuinely work and are designed for everyone.
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.
Safeguarding and readiness gaps
Applications fell short due to weaknesses in safeguarding, planning or organisational readiness.
Need for application support
Partners highlighted the value of dedicated help, including workshops on writing stronger bids.
Safeguarding Knowledge
Chelmsford partners recommended boosting organisational safeguarding skills.
Collaborating to increase reach
The network has broadened local impact through improved signposting and delivery.
Shared learning opportunities
Bringing together organisations serving similar audiences has enabled useful exchanges.
Better insight into community needs
Insights have deepened understanding of real local priorities and challenges.
The coordinated approach across Chelmsford has reduced siloed working and encouraged organisations to share knowledge, challenges and opportunities. This has strengthened community infrastructure and helped create more sustainable local projects that reflect resident needs.
Active Essex and Chelmsford City Council hope to continue this collaborative approach into the next financial year, connecting even more organisations and supporting the development of new physical activity opportunities across the district.
By strengthening the Find Your Active Chelmsford network and supporting organisations through funding, we’ve been able to empower more local groups to reach residents who are inactive, isolated or facing barriers to participation. The growing collaboration across Chelmsford shows what’s possible when partners share insight, connect strengths and work on a community focused approach. I’m proud of the progress made and excited to see this impact continue to grow.Chloe Hinds, Relationship Development Officer, Mid Essex
