Water Wellbeing for Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Funding available to Pools for Water Wellbeing programmes
Funding from Sport England is helping us to focus our efforts to create lasting change in our communities by making it easier for people to be active.
Moving more can make a real difference to how we feel – physically, mentally and socially. But we know it’s not always easy, and that some people need more support to access the benefits of an active lifestyle.
The New Forest is home to over 175,000 people. The latest data from Sport England tells us that over 47,000 adults are not reaching recommended levels of activity for good health, and around 12,000 are doing nothing at all. Over half of children and young people living in the New Forest are not meeting recommended levels of activity.
Inactivity tends to be higher in areas on the edges of the district. This information, along with health and economic insight has led us to focus work in places like New Milton and The Waterside. There are lots of families and young people living in these places. We also know there are many people living with long term health conditions.
Our approach in New Forest recognises that there are already good things happening but with opportunities to help them grow and adapt so more people can benefit from an active lifestyle.
To create lasting change, we’ll also be encouraging the community to test our understanding of what works through co-designed activity pilots, using the learning to help sustain longer term plans.
There are already partners in the New Forest working closely with communities, providing opportunities to get involved in activity and cultural events. These include partners such as New Forest District Council, New Forest National Park Authority, The Handy Trust, Parish Councils, New Milton Youth Trust, Freedom Leisure and other health professionals.
This work will help people working in these organisations access the tools, resources, learning and capability they need to work more collectively. It will provide the space they need to come together to evolve the way they address the barriers New Forest residents face to getting active.
We’ll also look to expand the workforce, employing people from the New Forest as a Community Connector and Health and Wellbeing Coach to support people with long term health conditions and not in employment, to access physical activity.
There are lots of great opportunities and places to be active, but local people are telling us they feel disconnected from these places. We would like to help families explore and be active in these spaces together, making sure they’re able to access them safely and build a connection between the community and the places on their doorstep. Some of these plans include weekend and holiday events, as well as an active story trail.
We’ll also be helping to expand a programme for young people not in education or employment, to develop their skills and confidence through activity.
We’ll also look to support people with long-term health conditions, to confidently access tailored activity which will support recovery. This will include growing tried and tested programmes like Escape Pain and Water Wellbeing.
Alongside our Sport England Place in Focus work, our Culture in Common programme will continue across the New Forest. Funded by Arts Council England, the team work to bring arts and cultural experiences to people that may not usually have access to them in their local community. We’re always exploring ways we can do this and get people moving more at the same time – like Cycle Cinema and Story Trails!
In each of our places we’re working with partners and the community to check and challenge our understanding of each place and use their feedback to shape the work.
You may also be interested in our other work and programmes that run across the whole of Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
If you would like to know more, or how to get involved get in touch.
Data and Insight
The data and insight used to inform the approach in the New Forest came from the following sources
Helping us tackle inactivity to boost health and happiness
