Following the successful Community-led Workshop in July, a number of new initiatives have started up and are in progress in the villages of Cornholme and Portsmouth.

The villages in this beautiful border area of Calderdale have been identified as areas where health inequalities and lack of facilities are real obstacles to people being more active and improving their health and wellbeing.

Over the last six months, we have taken a new Community Led Approach to working with local people and organisations across Calderdale. We have held successful workshops in six local areas so far; Rastrick, Mixenden, Park Ward, Cornholme, Ovenden, Illingworth & Lee Mount, and Sowerby Bridge & Sowerby, providing an opportunity for local people and local organisations to connect with each other and work together to tackle physical inactivity.

Recently we wrote about the collaborative work happening in Shroggs Park which hopes to deliver improvements designed to make the area more welcoming, attractive and accessible. The signs are that the hard work is certainly paying off and on Saturday 28^th October, 90 residents of all ages descended on the park for some spooky Halloween fun.

With the recent passing of another World Car-free Day, it seems the perfect time to reflect on some of the measures implemented across Calderdale to help reduce vehicle usage and promote active travel (walking, scooting, wheeling and biking). One such measure has been the introduction of Community Streets, which includes projects such as the School Streets initiative.

Parks and green spaces are central to all three of our corporate priorities – Reducing Inequalities, Tackling Climate Change and Creating Strong, Thriving Towns. They are widely recognised as important community assets within the Borough, providing free, local and accessible opportunities for residents to be active and enjoy themselves.​ 

Evaluating the impact of active projects within Calderdale plays a vital role in the whole systems approach employed by Active Calderdale. To achieve this goal, certain projects are given support on a local level (e.g., surveys, workshops, focus groups) to understand how these projects are having an impact on Calderdale residents.

Recently we featured local charity Noah's Ark and their collaboration with Active Calderdale, adding physical activity as another string to their bow to promote self-worth, resilience and freedom from negative coping strategies in both staff and clients. You can read the blog here.

It’s not quite been all sweatbands, treadmills and lycra in the workplace at VSI Alliance…but the team are certainly embracing the concept of moving more.

Access to sport and physical activity is not equal. This inequality of opportunity is clearly reflected in stubbornly lower levels of participation by children and young people living in low-income, underserved communities. There is no lack of demand for sport and physical activity among children and young people in these communities – the right sporting offer is too often absent. 

Last month, Active Calderdale Community Project Manager Sofie Armitage, delivered her first workshop in Mixenden as part of the community led approach in Calderdale. There was a fantastic turnout with 63 attendees in total including 20 local residents and 37 different organisations.