Outcome
Using physical activity as a preventative approach to improve social, mental and physical wellbeing
Active Essex are working with the Essex system to use physical activity as a preventative approach to improve the social, mental and physical wellbeing of residents.
Over the past year, this outcome has focused on strengthening community cohesion, building local capability and capacity, and driving system change. Together, these efforts have highlighted how sport and physical activity can unite communities and enhance residents’ longevity and quality of life.
Recognising the significant social value that sport and physical activity bring across services such as health, education and criminal justice, Active Essex is focused on creating opportunities for residents who are least active and often face complex barriers. From young people experiencing poor mental health to those living with long term health conditions, and with support from community champions and GPs promoting movement, Active Essex, regarding this outcome, aim to highlight the vital role physical activity and sport play in delivering the NHS 10-year plan.
Community cohesion
Social prescribing has been a core focus this year, looking at the adoption of healthy behaviours and routes to implement prescribing techniques. The Reconnect initiative, formerly known as Prevention and Enablement Model, has been a great example of how referral pathways can empower individuals with disabilities and long-term health conditions to improve their quality of life.
Reconnect is now an established programme across multiple sites in the county, with the newest being in Uttlesford. The initiative continues to provide important early help and preventative support in local leisure centres but still endures a significant waiting list. Over half of participants are living with a learning disability, a further 31% are living with autism and 26% are living with mental health needs.
Evaluation for Reconnect has been paramount in helping us show its impact. Early analysis of ASCOF measures indicates positive improvements in quality of life, independence, empowerment, social connections and a significant increase in physical activity levels post-intervention.Courtenay Patterson, Active Essex Lead for Reconnect
The Find Your Active Place Navigators have now firmly cemented themselves within our communities, providing vital local knowledge, gaps in provision and supporting residents to find the activity that’s right for them. Together, with locally trusted organisations, they are building active, supportive networks that empower and connect communities.
Bringing extra capacity into local places is helping the team get exposure in hyper local neighbourhoods. Their capacity continues to be valued by place teams with Navigators connecting to new groups and individuals locally.
Social Prescribing
Looking ahead, Active Essex aim to reduce the number of medical interventions required across the county. To support this, we have strengthened our work on extending healthy behaviours at neighbourhood level over the past year, particularly through the continued development of social prescribing initiatives. 7 healthy behaviours projects have been mobilised against an initial target of 5, with early impact showing significant developments and support from medical professionals.
In July 2025, following the Active Essex Marketing team securing funding from Essex Public Health, we relaunched a new focus for the Find Your Active campaign around mental health. Find Your Active: Move for Your Mind highlights the powerful connection between physical activity and mental wellbeing.
Alongside a new partnership with Mind in Essex, the campaign has been able to bring in expertise in mental health and the correlation with movement, whilst also raising awareness of the opportunities to get active for positive mental health across the county with a household name linked in with branding.
The Find Your Active activity finder remains one of the most viewed pages on the Active Essex website, and the launch of the Find Your Active and Mind in Essex partnership saw over 3000 individuals engage with the campaign over just two weeks.
Explore initiatives that are supporting community cohesion deeper:
Find Your Active Place Navigators
Removing barriers and boosting confidence to get residents moving
Reconnect
Using a whole systems approach to improve health and wellbeing
Sport for Confidence Inclusive clubs in Basildon
Creating Inclusive Pathways Through Include to Improve
Capability and capacity
A core fundamental of Active Essex working is collaboration with locally trusted organisations and system partners.
In partnership with locally trusted organisations, the Transition Age Mental Health programme with the Active Essex Foundation, is helping us to support the emotional wellbeing of 17–25-year-olds through physical activity and tailored assistance.
Although the programme has only just began, 19 organisations are already delivering, with 94% of them reporting an increase in knowledge and skills to deliver support to this cohort.
Another way the team are building capability and confidence, is through the Physical Activity Clinical Champions (PACC), empowering health and care professionals to utilise physical activity as a tool for residents to lead healthier lifestyles.
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.
Place teams
Understanding of the role Active Essex hubs have to play in pushing the available training.
Students
Engagement with students on the PACC programme has been strong due to their capacity.
Knowledge
Raise awareness and knowledge of role physical activity can have on patients’ health.
Some place teams were able to attend GP Time to Learn sessions to promote PACC offer to GPs and PCNs. As a result, 68 GPs have since been engaged with, which is really promising progress.Tom Weller, Active Essex PACC Lead
Explore specific initiatives that are building capability and capacity:
Building capacity and capability in the SPA sector
Supporting young people with poor mental health.
North Essex Health Leadership
Creating the conditions for long‑term, whole‑place change.
Colchester Borough Homes Coordinator
A place‑based approach to resident wellbeing.
Influencing system change
By utilising sport and physical activity as a strategic lever that delivers measurable impact across the Greater Essex ecosystem, Active Essex can encourage agencies and community groups to adopt movement as a preventative tool for their own agendas.
Additional resources have been put in place by the Active Essex Foundation to benefit stakeholders and agencies to adopt a sports-plus model as early intervention for young people at risk of anti-social behaviour and exploitation.
With over 200 people in attendance at the Active Essex Foundation (AEF) Power of Sport conference, the charity arm of Active Essex is continuing to build a strong network of partners and statutory organisations that understand the role physical activity can have. Becoming a key partner in the Essex, Southend and Thurrock mental health strategy implementation group showcases the shared outcomes framework being developed between AEF and its partners. In addition, the Sport and Youth Crime Prevention project is going to be included in the influential reference site The National College of Policing What Works database, highlighting the vital influence this programme is having on the criminal justice system.
Again, partnership working has been key in Active Essex’s work over the past few years. Working with teams and colleagues across Essex County Council, Active Essex tried to align key priorities with that of the work from Levelling Up and Caring Communities Commission. Through these projects, Active Essex have continued to build relationships and present evidence around the role of sport and physical activity in strengthening communities.
Building on efforts to embed healthy behaviour within neighbourhoods, further collaboration has strengthened our ability to influence wider system change. This includes Active Essex and its Chair, Dr William Bird, contributing to the Caring Communities Commission working group, to help engage communities and develop supportive networks with partners across Essex. This collaboration has created a strong platform to champion sport and physical activity and ensure movement and healthy lifestyles are prioritised across multiple agendas.
Action Steward Champions have been identified against the groups 23 action plan, with Active Essex supporting the Youth Guarantee, and building community leadership, capacity and Active Essex Foundation the action steward for an asset-based community development and mapping, which is fantastic for showcasing our place0based knowledge and sector awareness.Louise Voyce, Active Essex Lead for Caring Communities Commission
Despite not having a direct link to physical activity, the Essex County Council, Year of Opportunity serves as a flagship initiative for the county, creating significant opportunities for children and young people. Active Essex have been able to showcase how this initiative can also link to sport and physical activity, supporting young people to lead healthier lifestyles.
This year long initiative provided a great opportunity for Active Essex to highlight how sport and physical activity could be used as a tool to help young people build the skills that Essex employers are requesting, and in turn a stronger workforce in the future.
