Active Suffolk partnering with Sport England to get more people active

27 Feb 2025

Active Suffolk and their collaborative partners are today celebrating following Sport England's announcement that Lakenheath has been named among the 53 places set to benefit from a share of Sport England's £250million investment into the heart of communities across England, designed so that those in greatest need are able to be physically active.

Sport England research calculates that active lifestyles save £10.5 billion a year for the health and social care system. This relieves some of the NHS burden, preventing 1.3 million cases of depression, 600,000 of diabetes and 57,000 of dementia (the UK's leading cause of death) annually. Less than half of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officer's guidelines for daily physical activity and women, people from lower socio-economic groups and Black and Asian people are still less likely to be active than other adults.

The place-based working approach, developed by Sport England encompasses the absolute best of partnership working, collaboration and co-production, to deliver positive impacts against four main target areas; increasing physical activity, decreasing physical inactivity, removing barriers that prevent people from being able to get active and providing positive experiences for children and young people.

As the Active Partnership for Suffolk, we are incredibly excited to be able to bring this unique opportunity to the communities in Lakenheath as we know that for many, this will be a brand-new approach to the way that we work together. Adopting this Place-based focus, we will be working together from the ground up and responding to the acute needs of our local communities.

In Lakenheath, we are fortunate that many organisations already work extremely hard to understand and remove the barriers that users of their services face when trying to access physical activity and sport. This Place-based focus will allow Active Suffolk to work alongside them – to gain a better understanding of how we can continue to collaborate to remove barriers to physical activity. Enabling our people and communities to get moving and enjoy the benefits that being physically active can bring.

Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Sport England's Executive Director for Place, said: "We are proud to announce our partnerships with 53 new places in every corner of the country today. We know that where someone lives plays a huge part in how active, or not, they will be. Through our Place Expansion programme we will work with local partners and communities to break down the barriers to physical activity so that everyone has equal access to a more active life. We are excited to see what we can achieve together in Lakenheath."

Gareth Davies, Director of Active Suffolk said: "We are delighted that Lakenheath has been included in Sport England's Phase-1 Place Expansion. This opportunity can create tangible, positive change to physical activity levels within the area, increasing the physical and mental health of our local communities. We are excited to work alongside stakeholders and our locally trusted organisations to enable the people of Lakenheath to begin, continue, or increase their physical activity journeys."

Cllr Ian Shipp, Cabinet Member for Leisure at West Suffolk Council, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for people in Lakenheath to help shape what it is their community needs to encourage and support residents of all ages be more active. That can only be positive in the huge benefits it can potentially bring to residents physical and mental health not least in helping people form friendships, support each other and reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness. This is a key part of the council's strategic priority for Thriving Communities so I very much welcome this announcement from Sport England and Active Suffolk."

Cllr Steve Wiles, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection at Suffolk County Council said: "I welcome Suffolk's involvement in Sport England's Place Programme and I am really pleased to support this initiative. Inactivity is a major public health issue with a significant proportion of the population at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity. I'm very aware that real and sustained change only happens when organisations and communities work together, so adopting a place-based approach to supporting people to be active is a positive move."

Warren Smyth, Chief Executive Officer of Abbeycroft said: "This is a positive announcement for Lakenheath and the wider community. As a not-for-profit leisure, health and wellbeing trust, we see first-hand the improvements that are made to people's lives by being physically active. We look forward to working with Active Suffolk and partners to provide opportunities for everyone to lead healthier, happy lives."

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