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Blog
We’re all Active Calderdale - and our case studies and helpful resources will help you find out more about what that means across our community. Meet our Active Champions and find tips to help you get started. When we move, we’re stronger.
News
The Todmorden Makery: A place to fix, make and belong
Founded in 2021, Todmorden Makery is a member and volunteer-run workshop built on a simple idea: repairing and making things is good for the planet and good for people. In just a few years, it has grown into a thriving community space with over 700 registered users, many of whom started as visitors and stayed on as active members or volunteers. The Makery is shaped by the ideas and feedback of the people who use it. Its focus is on practical skills, shared learning and commu
Active Calderdale
Dec 153 min read
St Matthew's Rastrick: Resident stories
Resident A I live in Rastrick and I’m currently living on my own after coming out of a long, controlling marriage. That experience left me isolated from my family and friends, and rebuilding my confidence has been incredibly challenging. Both my therapist and counsellor encouraged me to start getting out more and to be around people again, but taking those first steps felt overwhelming. The Parish Centre at St Matthew’s has played a major part in helping me move forward. It h
Active Calderdale
Dec 123 min read
Maisy's Story: Skate it yourself
I’m Maisy, I’m 18, and I’m from North Halifax. I first heard about the Beechwood Youth Bash on North Halifax Partnership's Facebook page and noticed they were running a free pop-up skatepark. I’d always been interested in skating and wanted to learn, so I decided to go along to one of the Wednesday evening sessions, without really knowing what to expect. I ended up having an amazing time. Hardy, the skatepark coach from Skate It Yourself, was brilliant. He showed me the basi
Active Calderdale
Dec 111 min read
Parks & green spaces
Ben’s Story: A whole different ball game
I’m Ben, I’m 19, and I live in Mixenden. Before the new basketball court was built at Mixenden Urban Park, the old one was basically unusable. The surface was uneven and covered in loose, broken rocks, and the hoops were bent, distorted, and missing nets. Basketball has always been a passion of mine, but this was the only court anywhere near me. Because of how bad it was, I could only spend an hour or so a week practising, and even then, it was hard to get anything out of it.
Active Calderdale
Dec 101 min read
Breaking down barriers for events in parks
Calderdale’s parks and green spaces are some of our greatest assets, places where people come together to relax, play, celebrate, and get active. The more our parks are used, the safer and more welcoming they become for everyone. That’s why Calderdale Council has been working to make it easier for local groups, charities, and organisations to host events and activities in our parks and green spaces. Breaking down barriers In the past, one of the biggest barriers to organisin
Active Calderdale
Nov 102 min read
North Halifax Partnership's Community Building Bike Competitions
The North Halifax Partnership (NHP) is a community-focused organisation based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It delivers a wide range of initiatives designed to improve local wellbeing and strengthen public services. The NHP has been a key partner in system change work with Parks and Green Spaces (GSSS) and now leads on several Park Partnership Groups across North Halifax, including Mixenden , Beechwood Park , and Shroggs Park . These groups are helping to develop a community-l
Active Calderdale
Oct 283 min read
People like me
St Matthew's Rastrick: Resident stories
Resident A I live in Rastrick and I’m currently living on my own after coming out of a long, controlling marriage. That experience left me isolated from my family and friends, and rebuilding my confidence has been incredibly challenging. Both my therapist and counsellor encouraged me to start getting out more and to be around people again, but taking those first steps felt overwhelming. The Parish Centre at St Matthew’s has played a major part in helping me move forward. It h
Active Calderdale
Dec 123 min read
Maisy's Story: Skate it yourself
I’m Maisy, I’m 18, and I’m from North Halifax. I first heard about the Beechwood Youth Bash on North Halifax Partnership's Facebook page and noticed they were running a free pop-up skatepark. I’d always been interested in skating and wanted to learn, so I decided to go along to one of the Wednesday evening sessions, without really knowing what to expect. I ended up having an amazing time. Hardy, the skatepark coach from Skate It Yourself, was brilliant. He showed me the basi
Active Calderdale
Dec 111 min read
Ben’s Story: A whole different ball game
I’m Ben, I’m 19, and I live in Mixenden. Before the new basketball court was built at Mixenden Urban Park, the old one was basically unusable. The surface was uneven and covered in loose, broken rocks, and the hoops were bent, distorted, and missing nets. Basketball has always been a passion of mine, but this was the only court anywhere near me. Because of how bad it was, I could only spend an hour or so a week practising, and even then, it was hard to get anything out of it.
Active Calderdale
Dec 101 min read
Schools & education
Active Schools Series - Ravenscliffe Is Redefining Physical Activity
Ravenscliffe High School is a specialist school for students aged 11–19 with clearly identified special educational needs. People with special educational needs and disabilities often have lower-than-average rates of participation in physical activity. To support pupils and their families, the school was approached to become an Active School. Their expertise was also sought to help adapt the Calderdale Active Schools (CAS) Framework to suit the needs of a specialist setting
Active Calderdale
Oct 292 min read
Celebrating Health and Wellbeing in Calderdale Schools
The Healthy Schools Award is a co-designed initiative led by Calderdale’s Public Health Children and Young People (CYP) team. It’s a free, fully supported awards process that helps schools showcase and strengthen their commitment to pupil and staff wellbeing. Schools complete an application process with supporting evidence in one of three key areas: Physical Activity Mental Health and Wellbeing Food and Nutrition Schools are encouraged to take meaningful steps to improve hea
Active Calderdale
Oct 212 min read
Calderdale Schools Cross Country
Pupils across Calderdale take part in autumn’s active tradition.
Active Calderdale
Feb 72 min read
Health & Social Care
Getting Moving at Pennine GP Alliance
At Pennine GP Alliance , a small idea is making a big difference to how staff move through their working day. General Practice Physical Activity Champion Hannah Davies spotted a couple of simple opportunities to get colleagues moving more: while waiting for the kettle to boil, and during the lunch break. Her goal? To make movement a normal part of office life, something everyone can do together, without it feeling like “exercise.” To kick things off, Hannah designed a poster
Active Calderdale
Nov 242 min read
Making Movement Part of the Conversation
Pennine GP Alliance (PGPA) launched a new pilot project earlier this year to explore how conversations about physical activity can be made a routine part of GP consultations. To help make that happen, a tool called the General Practitioner Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) was introduced to the Personalised Care team. It’s a simple, validated way to find out how active someone is and to spark a chat about what might help them move a little more. The idea is to see wh
Active Calderdale
Nov 242 min read
Calderdale Cancer Aware Team
The Active Communities & Places team has been working in Park Ward to understand which assets they can influence to embed the promotion of physical activity as part of what they do. One opportunity came through teaming up with the Calderdale Cancer Awareness Project (CAP), where they looked at how to build on the great work already happening. The Calderdale Cancer Awareness project is a powerful collaboration between Halifax Opportunities Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support
Active Calderdale
Oct 223 min read
Workplaces
Getting Moving at Pennine GP Alliance
At Pennine GP Alliance , a small idea is making a big difference to how staff move through their working day. General Practice Physical Activity Champion Hannah Davies spotted a couple of simple opportunities to get colleagues moving more: while waiting for the kettle to boil, and during the lunch break. Her goal? To make movement a normal part of office life, something everyone can do together, without it feeling like “exercise.” To kick things off, Hannah designed a poster
Active Calderdale
Nov 242 min read
Active Teams - Every move counts
Since March 2024, Active Teams , funded through Active Calderdale, have collaborated with the Personalised Long Term Support Team within Calderdale Council to offer physical activity and wellbeing challenges to staff. This month, we are expanding the offer across all CMBC Adult Services directorate as well as within Pennine GP Alliance (PGPA). The first Primary Care Network to take part will be Calder & Ryburn. Actions Taken and Changes Delivered September has been a busy mon
Active Calderdale
Sep 303 min read
Active Competition Inspires Family Support Services
Staff and families go head-to-head for the most active visits.
Active Calderdale
Nov 14, 20241 min read
Voluntary & community
The Todmorden Makery: A place to fix, make and belong
Founded in 2021, Todmorden Makery is a member and volunteer-run workshop built on a simple idea: repairing and making things is good for the planet and good for people. In just a few years, it has grown into a thriving community space with over 700 registered users, many of whom started as visitors and stayed on as active members or volunteers. The Makery is shaped by the ideas and feedback of the people who use it. Its focus is on practical skills, shared learning and commu
Active Calderdale
Dec 153 min read
North Halifax Partnership's Community Building Bike Competitions
The North Halifax Partnership (NHP) is a community-focused organisation based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It delivers a wide range of initiatives designed to improve local wellbeing and strengthen public services. The NHP has been a key partner in system change work with Parks and Green Spaces (GSSS) and now leads on several Park Partnership Groups across North Halifax, including Mixenden , Beechwood Park , and Shroggs Park . These groups are helping to develop a community-l
Active Calderdale
Oct 283 min read
Active community clean-ups
Siddal Litter Picking Taskforce Siddal Community Clean-Up are a litter-picking taskforce initiated by local resident, Toni Holmes, in April 2021. Toni's Story When Toni moved into the area, she started walking to help her lose weight. At first, she’d stroll through Exley and along the A629, until one day she discovered the canal. That became her go-to route, a 3-mile round trip from her front door that took about an hour, well… depending on how long she stopped to watch the
Active Calderdale
Oct 283 min read
Active Inspiration
Creating active park resources
As part of our ongoing focus on parks and green spaces, Active Calderdale has been developing a new set of park map resource leaflets, designed to help people discover the many ways they can be active right on their doorstep. These maps are more than just guides. They’re conversation starters, created especially for practitioners who work with local residents, from social prescribers and community connectors to wellbeing coaches and activity leaders. Each leaflet highlights w
Active Calderdale
Oct 211 min read
Exploring the past and present along Mixenden's interactive trails
In August 2024 the Wild Walk and History Hike were installed following various steps of co-design and co-production.
Active Calderdale
Nov 19, 20243 min read
Football Focus: Walking Football
Getting active is the name of the game for a collection of walking footballers at the Mark Duffy Football School, and they are loving it!
Active Calderdale
Dec 1, 20232 min read
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