A host of organisations have been working together for the last year as the #MoveMoreSandwell partnership to encourage people in Sandwell to take more physical exercise.
And it looks like their efforts are paying off according to the latest national survey on young people’s physical activity.
The Active Lives Children’s Survey – carried out by Sport England – looks at how many children and young people do the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. This includes all forms of activity including physical education, active travel, after-school activities, play and sports.
The latest survey data from December 2019 shows that, compared to 2018, Sandwell has seen an 8.3% rise in the number of children and young people being physically active for at least 60 minutes every day.
This is a significantly greater rise than across the West Midlands region (4.2%) and England (3.6%).
This means that the level of physical activity among young people in Sandwell has reached 43.4% – which is higher than the Black Country average and not far short of the West Midlands and national averages – at 45% and 47% respectively.
The #MoveMoreSandwell partnership focuses on developing opportunities provided by the community and voluntary sectors aiming to increase the number of local physical activity opportunities and promoting them to get more people active.
This may explain why the survey also reported an increase in the proportion of Sandwell young people engaging in sport-related volunteering. The same rise did not occur nationally or regionally.
Councillor Farut Shaeen, cabinet member for healthy lives, said: “It’s great to see this rise in the number of young people getting active every day.
“Aside from being essential for their physical health, research shows that regular exercise also helps our mental wellbeing too.
“We’ll keep working through our #MoveMoreSandwell partnership to encourage physical activity among all our residents, young and older people.
