Deepdale, Fishwick and Ribbleton the focus areas for new community fitness plan

Preston is set to launch a new community-led movement to support people to be more active.

The initiative will prioritise areas such as Deepdale, Fishwick and Frenchwood, St Matthews and Ribbleton.

It will focus primarily on everyday movement and encouraging those who do nothing to do something and those who do little to do a bit more.

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Supported by Sport England, partners include Preston City Council, Active Lancashire, GLL, Preston North End Community and Education Trust and These Four Words.

Councillor Zafar Coupland, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, and Preston Moves steering committee member, said:  “We welcome Sport England’s support through its Place Partnership programme.

“It will help us address the challenges and barriers that prevent many people in Preston from being active.

“Through Preston Moves, we will continue working with Sport England and local partners to create more opportunities for children and young people, champion the importance of physical activity and wellbeing, and support our communities to become healthier and more active in ways that work for them.”

Adrian Leather, CEO of Active Lancashire, and non-executive director of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Preston Moves understands something that too many health initiatives miss – you cannot parachute activity into a community and expect it to stick. Lasting change happens when communities are trusted to lead; when people like Principal Khalid Ibrahim are given the resources and the room to act on what they already know.

“Preston Moves is part of a much larger shift we need to see away from top-down programmes and towards communities that are genuinely empowered to shape their own futures.”

Tina Pilkington, place relationship manager at Sport England, said: “As one of our new Place Partners, we’ve seen first-hand the strong foundations that have been built over the past 12 months in Preston. With political, partner and community leadership support, we’ve seen a real shift in local collaboration, connectivity vision, setting a clear and shared vision for Preston Moves.

“We are therefore really excited to support and work alongside Preston colleagues over the next few years to witness positive impact in tackling the inequalities faced by Preston’s communities and residents by ensuring movement, sport and physical activity become a part of everyday life.”

The Preston Moves team want to hear from community groups, faith organisations or voluntary-sector groups or individuals in Deepdale, Fishwick & Frenchwood, St Matthews or Ribbleton to potentially get involved in the programme.

Programme Manager Amy Thompson-Spears can be contacted at a.thompson-spears@preston.gov.uk to start the conversation.

How one Deepdale charity and school is getting people moving

Following the Covid pandemic in 2020 principal Khalid Ibrahim of Deepdale’s Quwwat-Ul-Islam Education Centre was struck by just how many adults and children in the community were physically inactive.

Since then they’ve recruited a sports and fitness co-ordinator and brought in a structured activity programme with table tennis, jujitsu and a boxing class for parents too.

A new sports and community centre was approved in March this year which is set to deliver major new indoor sporting and community facilities for the Deepdale area.

Khalid said: “It’s a change of mindset, the focus is on ensuring children and young people are happy, active, and able to achieve their full potential”.

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