Over 100 delegates explored 'Moving Beyond Good Intentions' at our annual Conference

Our annual Conference was held at the NSPCC National Training Centre in Beaumont Leys, Leicester last Thursday and we had the pleasure of welcoming over 100 delegates to explore and openly discuss how we, as a partnership can move further beyond good intentions.

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 heard from speakers with lived or worked experience to stimulate conversation and debate amongst our delegates.

Mike Sandys, Chair of Active Together and Director of Public Health for Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council hosted the Conference.

Arun Kang, CEO at Sporting Equals gave an inspiring talk with the key message "representation & a sense of belonging is important for ethnically diverse communities in sport environments".

CEO of the Active Wellbeing Society, Karen Creavin followed sharing valuable insights into how to shift systems, facilitate transformative change and the importance of learning to fail out loud.

Our panel of inspirational speakers led by Natasha Mina, Active Together Board Member, then shared stories of their personal journeys either facilitating or participating in physical activity.

Specific workshops explored 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 underserved communities. These workshops covered topics such as using physical activity to improve the lives of people living with long term conditions, conversations across race and creating meaningful conditions for our communities.

Throughout the day delegates were encouraged to network and engage in open and honest conversations around the conference theme within a safe environment. Reflection was also encouraged with big conversations allowing discussion around how we will apply the learning in practice.

Watch our video 'Let's Get Moving Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland - 2022/23 Impact'. Showcasing the impact of partnership working across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. Bringing to life the partnership Annual Review and also the impact that physical activity has had on individual lives by introducing our new Let's Get Moving Champions.

We would like to extend a big thank you to all guest speakers, workshop leads and delegates for a great day with lots of important conversations taking place in the room.