In the run up to the 2012 Olympics, the importance of increasing the amount of sport and physical activity the population does is reflected through the cross government target to get two million more people active.

Councils, health organisations and not-for-profit sport and activity groups all have a role to play in achieving this goal and can now use a brand-new interactive online tool to pinpoint the best place to set up a football or cricket pitch, or where to promote walking and swimming, rather than just relying on local knowledge and anecdotal feedback.

Now in a few simple clicks councils, primary care trusts and local sport groups can access data via the new sport and activity planning tool (viewable at http://www.promotingactivity.com) to map interest in over 40 physical activity and sport activities for every neighbourhood in England.

Using the Sport and Activity planning tool, developed by the London Health Observatory (LHO) and Make Sport Fun for the Department of Health and NHS partners, and based on Sport England’s proprietary Market Segmentation tool, organisations can target new sport and physical activity opportunities in communities where they are needed most.

The sport and activity planning tool uses nineteen sporting categories developed by Sport England, which help to classify the nations’ attitudes and motivations to sport and physical activity. Each segment can be explored at different geographic levels, making it possible to find out what people's sporting habits are in a particular street, community, local authority or region. Jemima Morris, Partnership Manager from Pro-Active West London said: “We’ve piloted the sport and activity planning tool to help Local Authorities, clubs and other sports organisations plan more strategically by looking at who they’re going to target, what type of activity to set up and where to run the sessions. It’s been incredibly well received and we hope to see an increase in people attending the new sessions.”

Dr Bobbie Jacobson, LHO Director, says that the tool is designed to help promote healthy activity among communities that have traditionally found it hard to take up exercise: “Bringing physical activity into our daily lives at all ages is vital for health.”

Mihir Warty, Director of Strategy and Research at Sport England, said: “We hope that this tool will help sports organisations to increase the number of people playing sport by using our market segmentation data to ensure they’re creating the right sporting opportunities for people in their community”

Harriet Murrell working on behalf of NHS London and the Regional Public Health Group, which funded the project, said: “As part of the goal to get two million people more active by 2012 we’re always looking for innovative ideas to help local organisations make best use of their limited resources. This planning tool allows the people at the coalface to understand their local population to inform the strategic planning and promotion of activity opportunities through applying social marketing techniques quickly, cheaply and easily.”

For More information about http://www.promotingactivity.com and how this tool was built please call John Ainsworth at Make Sport Fun on 020 3239 8824 or email at john@makesportfun.com

Posted Mon 15 Mar 2010 10:25
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