We’ve announced a new partnership to increase activity levels, improve health outcomes and transform communities across West Yorkshire.
Our new chief executive Simon Hayes was in Bradford on Thursday to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with West Yorkshire’s mayor, Tracy Brabin.
It sets out our shared ambition to use sport and physical activity to achieve positive change for people in the region, particularly those facing the greatest inequalities.
The collaboration will provide more opportunities for everyone, regardless of their income or background, to move and play.
It'll help schools integrate daily activity into learning, support local sports clubs to engage more young people, and back community projects that bring people together through sport.
The MoU builds on our ongoing investment of £26 million in Place Partnerships across West Yorkshire, a combined authority area covering Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.
And it'll help boost the sport and physical activity sector, which already contributes nearly £840 million to the West Yorkshire economy, supporting 78,000 jobs.
Simon was pleased to formalise the agreement, which follows those we’ve announced in South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester over the last 12 months.
"The MoU with West Yorkshire Combined Authority marks a vital step in embedding physical activity into the heart of local policy and investment," he said.
"Alongside Mayor Tracy Brabin and her team, we’re proud to be supporting the region’s bold ambitions to get people active, reducing pressure on the NHS, boosting the economy and creating happier and healthier communities."
Levels of inactivity and underpinning wider inequalities are higher in West Yorkshire than in many other parts of the country – with 33.8% of people in the most deprived areas being inactive, compared to 21% in the least deprived.
Bradford and Calderdale are two of the areas in which we established pilot partnerships in 2018 to determine the effectiveness of a community-powered approach to increasing activity.
Recent success stories that we've supported through funding, including Bradford’s world-leading JU:MP programme, are a result of this collaborative approach, which is led by Yorkshire Sport Foundation and our other partners in the region.
Our executive director for place, Lisa Dodd-Mayne, joined Simon for the MoU signing and highlighted how the ‘whole-system’ way of working is flourishing.
"West Yorkshire is already showing what’s possible when local leadership, community insight and system change come together," she said.
"This MoU is about taking the next step to deepen those relationships, building on what is strong through adding a regional lens and working as one team to create the right conditions for more people to be active, regardless of background or postcode."
Our work in places across England is key to delivering the goals of Uniting the Movement to help more people lead active, healthy lives.
From schools and workplaces to transport and planning, we're seeking to embed movement, sport and physical activity into everyday life by looking at what local communities really need to get active.