Active Together Conference

Thursday 9th November 2023
9.30 am - 4.00 pm
NSPCC Training Centre, 3 Gilmour Close, Leicester, LE4 1EZ

As a sector we have been on a journey to ensure that our opportunities are inclusive and we reach our underserved communities. Despite being able to demonstrate some great work across our partnership, we need to do more to tackle the persistent inequalities in physical activity that exist across our patch. Focusing on the themes of Diverse Ethnic Communities, Long Term Conditions and Lower Socio Economic Communities, our conference will hear from speakers with lived or worked experience to stimulate conversation and debate amongst our delegates. Workshops will explore what look good looks like and why it is essential that we move beyond our good intentions, and turn up the dial to change the outcomes for our under served communities.

Conference Programme

Time
9.30 - 10.00 am	Registration, Refreshments & Networking
10.00 am	Welcome
10.15 am	Keynotes, Panel Discussion & Big Conversation 1 - Arun Kang - Karen Creavin - Local deliverers
12.00 noon	Networking
12.45 pm	Lunch
1.30 pm	Workshops (choice of one)
3.10 pm	Big Conversation 2
3.50 pm	Conference Close

Conference Hosts

Mike Sandys

Director of Public Health for Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council,

Mike Sandys

Mike is the Director of Public Health for Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council, having been in post since February 2014. Mike has worked in Public Health since the early 90's in a number of Public Health Intelligence, R&D development, manager and consultant roles for both the NHS and academia.

Mike served as the East Midlands representative on the Council of the Association of Directors of Public Health for a number of years and has served on a number of national committees relating to Public Health guidance and research. Mike led the public health response to COVID in Leicestershire and Rutland during the pandemic and was awarded an honorary degree from Loughborough University in 2021

Mike is Chair of Active Together and a member of the national Active Partnerships Board. Mike was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant in 2022.

"Physical Activity is one of the 'best buys' organisations can make in helping improve the health of the population. As the Chair of the Board, I'm proud of the energy and organisation Active Together bring to their work in helping people be more active.

Keynote Speakers

Arun Kang

CEO

Sporting Equals

Arun is widely recognised as a leading authority on equality, diversity and inclusion. Arun's specialism is using sport to build more integrated communities, and engaging under-represented race and faith communities in sport and physical activity.

Arun has worked in equality and inclusion for over twenty years. After starting his career as a youth worker and then BBC Radio producer, Arun followed his passion for social change and completed an MA in Promoting Equality and Managing Diversity. Roles since have included Head of Equality and Diversity at a local authority, CEO of a Race Equality organisation and now CEO of the charity Sporting Equals.

Karen Creavin

Chief Executive

The Active Wellbeing Society

Karen is Chief Executive at The Active Wellbeing Society – a community benefit society and cooperative, based in Birmingham, working to tackle inequality and promote community wellbeing.

She is an innovative public service leader, with a reputation for disrupting, provoking and inspiring change, pushing at the boundaries of provision and always fighting for the least heard voices.

She has overseen the delivery of multi-million pound projects, operated at a senior level within Europe's largest local authority and influenced significant system change across health, transport, sport and physical activity.

Karen understands how to shift systems and facilitate transformative change across sectors, how to speak truth to power, and how to lean in, be with and fully engage with underrepresented communities at scale.

Workshops

Delegates will attend one of the below workshops (workshops will be allocated on a first come, first served basis).

The Benefits Outweigh the Risks: Physical Activity Improving the Daily Lives of People with Long Term Conditions
The benefits of physical activity for people with long term conditions is clear, yet a fear of worsening conditions stops people being active and makes professionals reluctant to promote physical activity. This workshop will help us to understand the benefits of physical activity and how our sector can do more to support those living with long term conditions to be more active. It will enable partners to feel more at ease to triage/signpost and refer people to appropriate physical activities and understand the range of local physical activity options available.

Michelle Roberts

Physical Activity and Health Programme Manager

After completing a Combined Arts degree from the University of Leicester Michelle began working on community physical activity projects via a stint in local government. She then joined the national Walking for Health team under its stewardship of the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support. Following this Michelle moved into the private sector, working for Intelligent Health and managing their innovative physical activity programme, Beat the Street. Michelle joined the Richmond Group in June 2017.

Panel

Demelza Hall (LGM Champion): Demelza has always been active but unfortunately developed health issues in 2018. By chance she found Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre, and joined in with one of their women groups. Since 2021 she has found a new lease of life and enjoys new ways of taking care of her body. Demelza has learned how to paddleboard and kayak,as well as also enjoying cycling, abseiling, ziplining and open water swimming activities!

Courage to be Curious – Conversations Across Race
If you genuinely want to be more diverse and inclusive, you've got to be honest about who you are, curious to understand others' lived experiences, and be willing to learn about the impact of discrimination on their lives. You need to be brave. Brave enough not just to stand by or hide behind a strategy, but to stand up and make a difference. Be an Architect of Change. This workshop will explore barriers of EDC and the impact on being physically active.

Aysha Rahman

I have worked in public sector for almost 30 years with specific experience of leading services in relation to complex vulnerabilities, people engagement and employment & skills. I have been at Melton Borough Council since 2014 and prior to that, working through the various transitions of what is currently the Department for Work and Pensions. I am a leader led by values, with the experience, passion and commitment for improving the lives and outcomes for people. Melton provided me with an opportunity to demonstrate my absolute conviction that if organisations stopped chasing targets and worked together to "do the right thing", their targets would look after themselves. I have never looked back since.

Panel

Tara Burgess, CEO (Waterfront Sports & Education Academy): Waterfront is a community venue where young people and members of the community can access a wide range of sporting and education activities as a diversion from unhealthy and negative lifestyles. Through the vehicle of primarily boxing they work with disengaged individuals and community groups to achieve a better quality of life.

Ubah Ahmed & Farhiyo Adbi (Women4Change): Women4Change was founded by a group of mothers from St Matthews and the surrounding area. The fundamental priority of the group is to support, educate and empower women and young people but not exclusively. The organisation was formed in response to problems facing the community such as lack of gainful employment, lack of learning resources and training, and health inequalities.

Samin Mughal (Loughborough Female Fitness): Chair & Founder of Loughborough Female Fitness (LFF), Loughborough based physical activity club, which supports (or empowers?) women from ethnic minorities and faith groups to include more movement in their lives. LFF do this by organising walks, hikes, running, cardio and basketball sessions in female only (or women only) environments.

Deborah Daynes (Apnapan Cancer Support Group Members): I've always been active, as a young woman I regularly walked, practiced yoga, played football and even took up taekwondo briefly. At the age of 49 I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, and during the treatment I was unable to take on any physical activity. I was impacted hugely by the treatment and found it difficult to take on much physical activity, even walking the dog for short distances was extremely painful. Eventually I was able to manage the pain, I started walking further distances and started to practice yoga again. Over two years I was able to take up Bikram yoga, which was brutal but impacted me positively mentally and my physical movement. After a year of this training I went back to the gym 3-4 visits a week.

Anna Illuskina (Apnapan Cancer Support Group Member): I was always quite active. Attended gym on a regular basis, enjoyed hiking, swimming and all sorts of water spots. However in 2021, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and had to undergo an aggressive therapy and complex surgery. During these treatments my mobility was significantly impacted. I was struggling to get back into being active again until I found the Sue Young Cancer Support Centre where they offered me to try several gentle movement classes such as Tai Chi and relaxing yoga. In addition, they referred me to 'In The Pink' rehabilitation programme, which is specifically designed for breast cancer patients. Thanks to this programme my mobility improved significantly and I slowly started to develop an active life routine.

Understanding our Communities: Creating Meaningful Conditions
Karen Creavin, Chief Executive, The Active Wellbeing Society
To create a meaningful conditions for physical activity that contributes to reducing health inequalities in communities in need, we first need to understand the lives, dynamics, ambitions and challenges of our residents. If we want healthy and connected communities, we need to be genuine in the intent, collaboration and understanding with our communities, if we are to design opportunities for physical activity that are sustainable and life changing. This workshop will surface the knowledge and approaches that we need to adopt to connect and engage with our underserved neighbourhoods and better understand the role that different agencies need to play to encourage local people to be active.

Panel

Ian Wilson (Coalville C.A.N.) Ian is a Chief Officer at Coalville C.A.N. and passionate about levelling the playing field. He is an experienced co-operative and community business support who works through CASE and also TH!NK, a community business for sharing tools for better thinking and supporting action.

Deana Bamford (Coalville C.A.N.): Deana is a Director of TH!NK FC CIC, Navigator for Coalville C.A.N. and Associate at Co-Operatives Assistance Network. With mountains of energy, experience, creativity and a passion for community power, Deana, would describe herself as a community connector, a catalyst for change and sometimes a little bit Pirate? ... who just likes to get things done.