Lichfield District 2050 strategy

We will make Lichfield District the most active in the UK

The evidence for the benefits of being active is overwhelming - it prevents a range of illnesses, improves our wellbeing, and helps people to manage certain health conditions better. Being active and living a healthy lifestyle was important to most respondents of the ‘Together We’ consultation, who identified better facilities and more group activities as things that would help them be more active. For older people, a healthy lifestyle can have a significant impact on staying independent for longer. Supporting and encouraging children and young people to be more active and have a healthy lifestyle
has wide-ranging impacts, including essential key skills such as teamwork, resilience and creating good habits for life.

We know around 38% of adults and 60% of children and young people in our district are not active for recommended weekly levels and we want to change this. We want the very best sports and leisure facilities in our district. But it’s not just about sports, we also need to encourage more community gardens, farms, and allotments, and to work with our schools to maximise the benefits of clubs and activities they offer.

Active communities are places where everyone can access the activities and facilities that suit them, whether they are a competitive athlete, or someone who is starting out to get moving and improve their wellbeing, and everything in-between. We will empower and encourage everyone (our partners, including the voluntary and community sector, and our communities) to set up and grow more local community sports and leisure provision, creating a vibrant network of activities and facilities across the district.

By 2050 we will be a district where:

• Physical activity has increased, with people being more active, more of the time, showing a demonstrable improvement in the levels of activity undertaken
• The social and wellbeing benefits of living a healthy lifestyle are celebrated and built on
• Barriers to participation for people experiencing inequality for health, socioeconomic or gender reasons are reduced
• Annual large-scale physical activity events, including walking, running, cycling, and swimming, across the district are delivered and appeal to a wide-range of people
• Physical activity as an effective preventative and treatment option for long-ter conditions, mild depression and anxiety is embedded
• Advice and guidance on leading a healthy and active lifestyle is systematically available and targeted to the right people
• The full potential of our parks and green spaces is activated for health and wellbeing
• A network of high-quality leisure and recreational facilities and community groups exists to provide equitable, affordable access for all.

Key milestones - by 2028 we will:

• Deliver a new leisure centre in north Lichfield, at Stychbrook Park
• Regularly utilise our parks and green spaces as key locations for active lives, park sports, health walks etc
• Introduce a small grants scheme to help fund new initiatives that will improve health and wellbeing
• Champion more family focused opportunities that engage the whole family
• Introduce a new Residents Advantage Card scheme, providing discounts off arts and entertainment, leisure, sports, and other activities
• Invest in and introduce new leisure facilities across the district – inc. adventure golf, climbing wall, padel tennis, obstacle course racing
• Build stronger links with the district GP surgeries and schools to work together to increase and sustain participation among all groups with targeted interventions
• Have a vibrant network of local community groups and clubs that support residents to be more active
• Utilise our locality partnerships to harness the power of local communities to support health and wellbeing more effectively

Key milestones - by 2038 we will:

• Increase and value the amount of green space in the district to promote healthier lifestyles
• Be nationally renowned for the quality of offer at our local authority run leisure centres
• Increase activity levels of adults and children
• Reduce the participation gap between different groups that currently face inequalities.