March was an important month for Active Essex, as we launched our digital 2023/24 Impact Report.
The report shines a light on the fantastic work of the partners, stakeholders, groups and individuals that the Active Essex team works with, all uniting towards a common purpose – ‘an active Essex for everyone’s health and wellbeing’.
The Impact Report highlights our contribution to our Essex Fit for the Future strategy as well as the Sport England Uniting the Movement strategy.
The importance of storytelling
The study, which is presented on a microsite, shows that in Essex - just like in the rest of the country - we are still recovering from the devastating effects the pandemic had on the general physical activity levels of the population.
However, in the case of our region I am delighted that Essex has seen:
- an overall increase in activity levels and reduction of inactivity levels. We have seen a 3.9% increase in the number of physically active residents in the county and a 0.9% reduction in the number of inactive residents across Essex.
- increased levels of girls and women's activity levels. More females in Essex are active now compared to the year 2022. Brentwood has seen more active females than males over the past year, which is the first time this has happened since we've had Active Lives data.
- increased activity levels for those living with long-term health conditions like cancer or diabetes.
- those belonging to under-represented groups getting more active.
Stats are important but can often be dry and not appeal to our human nature, so one key area that the Active Essex team has prioritised is the power of storytelling.
Through our work and our partnerships we have uncovered incredible stories of how physical activity is transforming lives, families and communities.
And it’s precisely through our Impact Report that we tell these stories by using an engaging mix of video, audio, photos and quotes.
Talking of quotes, Active Essex is very fortunate to have an inspirational Chairman - Dr William Bird.