AGENDA ITEM SCRUTINY: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE REVIEW GROUP 9

DATE OF MEETING: 15th June 2016

REPORT OF: Mike McMahon/ Alex Constantinides

REPORT AUTHOR: Adam Divney/ Barry Timms TEL : 01582 547850

SUBJECT: Health Improvement: Provisions of Parks and Leisure Facilities

PURPOSE

1. To provide Members with an update in respect to the current work programme to increase participation in health related activities within parks and leisure facilities.

RECOMMENDATION

2. For Members to note the report and provide feedback, as appropriate.

REPORT

Luton’s strategic framework for increasing participation in sport and physical activity

3. Recognising the significant health and participation challenges that is faced with regards to high levels of inactivity and therefore relatively low levels of participation in sport and physical activity, the Council has been working closely with Sport England and a range of local partners, including sports clubs and voluntary groups, sport national governing bodies, County Sports Partnership, Active Luton and local schools to introduce a strategic framework for increasing participation in the town. This has lead to the creation of three key documents, as detailed below.

4. The ‘Strategic Vision for Sport and Physical Activity in Luton’ (2013), provides an outcome-based framework and outlines the Council’s ambitions, aims and objectives in relation to sport and physical activity. The Strategic Vision also aims to provide:

 Clarity of priorities in times of austerity  A means of securing resources through a clear, needs-based approach  Ability to maximise use of resources through informed decision making  A meaningful post 2012 legacy  A framework to realise Luton’s sporting ambitions  A platform to influence decision makers and ensure coordinated, evidence based approach to addressing physical inactivity across agencies.

5. Luton’s Playing Pitch Strategy (2014) and Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy (2015) both seek to provide a clear strategic framework for the maintenance and improvement of existing outdoor and indoor sports facilities and ancillary facilities until 2021. Specifically these strategies aim to:

 To protect and enhance levels of indoor and outdoor sports facilities  To address issues of quality and management with regard to facility provision  To maximise access to all indoor and outdoor facilities and in particular educational facilities  To maximise investment into indoor and outdoor sports facilities

6. With the recommended strategic framework in place, LBC has taken the lead on setting up four distinct delivery groups to progress the many facets of the work, including a Sporting Environment Group, Sport and Skills Development Group, Health and Wellbeing Group and a reinvigorated PE and School Sports Strategy Group.

7. Herein follows information on a selection of the key projects, programmes and initiatives that the wider delivery group are currently focusing on to increase participation and therefore increase positive health outcomes for the local population. It should be noted that the focus of these updates are largely on the target population groups, as identified in Luton’s Strategic Vision for Sport and Physical Activity, and therefore doesn’t cover all of the activity that currently takes place in parks and leisure centres.

8. Increasing participation levels in women and girls. Me Time’ is the targeted and tailored offer from Active Luton for women and girls. There are a number of activities taking place across Luton, including on evenings and weekends, providing the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports and fitness programmes.

9. As well as physical activities, the programme also provides links into coaching and mentoring to help develop local female leaders, mentors and coaches who can then in turn motivate others into participating.

10. In line with demand, the programme of activities continues to grow including, various aerobics classes (e.g. Yoga, Boxfit, Core Stability, Legs, Bums and Tums), Fit to Push (buggy fitness), Nordic walking, Circuit Classes, trampolining and also women-only gym and swimming sessions.

11. In addition to the community based sessions, all Active Luton gyms, swimming pools and classes can also be accessed. Sessions are delivered at a variety of venues, including leisure local centres and parks, but also those deemed ‘non- traditional’ and ‘community-based’, such as Maidenhall Primary School, Farley Community Centre, Denbigh Pool, St Peter’s Church and the Active Support Unit (Britannia Estates). The non-traditional venues are considered key in providing a local and familiar location for those people who may not have the confidence to take part in activity at larger facilities. All women and girls who register receive a Free Go for Less Card and a ‘10 sessions for £10’ voucher. The aim is to create sustainability by offering accessible, affordable activity at a local level.

12. Me Time is now in its final year (Yr3), with a total of 3500 women and girls aged 14+ engaged so far, 40 of which have attended training in leadership/sports and have gained an accredited qualification.

13. Increasing participation levels in disabled people. The ‘No Limits’ Project is a partnership between the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) in conjunction with the County Sports Partnership, Team Beds and Luton and Borough Council who secured funding from Sport England to create more sustainable opportunities for disabled people to take part in sport in . Their key success story has been the launch of the Adapted Cycles, which are now available at and provide the opportunity for disabled people to take part in regular sport, physical activity & exercise.

14. In terms of leisure centre activities, Active Luton has also now achieved Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) status at Inspire, and Lea Manor Centres. The IFI accreditation scheme recognises the achievements and commitment of leisure facilities that enable disabled people to become physically active. The accreditation provides an inclusive platform for disabled and non-disabled people to be active together.

15. Increasing participation levels of BME communities. Building on previous evidence, Sport England and LBC commissioned Sporting Equals to undertake research in , and Saints wards to further understand the participation challenges associated with BME communities. Sporting Equals are a voluntary organisation that actively promote greater involvement in sport and physical activity by all communities that are disengaged, especially the black and minority ethnic (BME) population

16. The initial phase of this research saw a desk-based exercise completed, with the product being a report and Faith Centre Audit. The second, and crucial phase, saw Sporting Equals hold focus groups and ‘one to one’ interviews with key stakeholders to further understand the perceptions, motivations, influences and where sport fits into wider lifestyle trends. These explored why current provision isn’t meeting need and helped to gain insight into how offers can be developed to reach BME markets to help increase and sustain sporting behaviour.

17. Upon completion of the research report, a diverse working of group of local providers, officers and residents have come together to create a group named the ‘Central Activity Network’, who are now meeting regularly and taking forward the recommendations from the research.

18. In terms of leisure centres activities, and Active Luton have recently invested over £35K to reconfigure the changing rooms at Inspire Sports Village in order to ensure that they are more appropriate for culturally sensitive activities. New privacy blinds have also been installed at Lewsey Pool.

19. Increasing participation levels for young people. LBC, Active Luton and Sport England worked with the university on a ‘Practice Weeks’ project aimed at investigating the barriers to sport and physical activity for 16-25year olds. Practice Weeks are now an integral part of the University programme and aim to add a practical dimension to students learning to compliment their theory studies. Over 550 University students participated in a project with students designing questionnaires, online surveys and social media, as well as carrying out visits to the leisure centres, with a view to further understanding what some of the underlining motivational and behavioural issues may be with regards to young people’s participation. The results have been feed back to Active Luton in order to help shape their future service delivery in respect to the leisure offer for young people.

20. Another programme aimed at young people is KITS (Community Integration Through Sport), which has engaged with 420 hard to reach young people aged between 14-25 years using football, basketball, boxing and the gym as a tool to motivate this age group. In May 2016, a football tournament was help at LTFC with over 200 young people attending from all over Luton.

Participation in sports activities –

21. Park Sports - the recent participation rates for parks sporting activities for the main sports have followed the pattern that has now been established over many years namely;

 football is continuing to decline in take up and in the table below sets out the number of pitches being made available for hire for the local leagues and clubs

14/15 15/16 Adult pitches 34 32 Junior pitches 36 35 Total 70 67

 Cricket demand continues to grow for the same nine cricket squares with an increase in requests for booking up by 10% for the 2016 season. New facilities are required to be provided to satisfy this demand.

 With the focus on bowls the demand from the clubs has remained stable but this still means that there much spare capacity.

22. In terms of indoor sports, LBC has also been awarded funding from Sport England to complete a swim project that will be targeted at engaging those residents who cannot swim or do not currently participate in swimming. The initial insight work is to be completed during July-September 2016 by an external agency, with the intention to run a new programme throughout 2017.

23. Active Luton Health programmes - Active Luton has a growing and nationally recognised health and wellbeing programme, which includes a variety of individual sessions, such as exercise referral, Move More Luton (Macmillan), Pulmonary Rehabilitation (COPD), Stroke Rehabilitation and many more. In 15/16, Active Luton engaged with a total of 1685 service users with a throughput of 161,760 activity sessions and a full update on this area can be found at Appendix A.

24. Increasing opportunities to support informal sporting activities - in line with the research and evidence base, there is an acknowledgement that more can be achieved to ensure there are an increased and greater variety of sport and physical activity opportunities to those who are on low incomes or classified as being economically deprived. Recently, the following initiatives have been completed:

 Outdoor Fitness Equipment – outdoor fitness equipment is now based in 12 locations around the town.  321 Run initiative – Luton now has ‘321 Run’ routes at Stockwood Park and . 321 Run is a national initiative through England Athletics and aims to get more people into walking, jogging and running by providing marked routes.  Parkrun – Parkrun is another national initiative whereby organised runs are held once weekly and organised by volunteers. Luton’s initial Park Run location is at Wardown Park and attracts over 150 runners on a weekly basis.  ‘Getting Back Into Parks’ was a six month project to encourage local residents to use open green space for a combination of activities (Led Walks, Nordic walking and Regiment Fitness).  Recently there are a number of new health walks being offered at Wardown, Lewsey and Stockwood parks. The new walks are part of the ‘Let’s Do This’ programme in partnership with Tesco’s, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. Active Luton have also this year become ‘Walking for Health’ accredited so are recognised nationally as an approved walks provider.

25. Building relationship with schools and colleges to maximise community use of educational facilities – both indoor and playing pitch strategies recognise the importance of schools sites with regards having enough spaces available for local people to take place in sport and physical activity. With this in mind and, as part of the community access to schools agenda, a conference on community access to schools was held last summer. The conference, which was aimed at Head Teachers, Bursars/ Business Managers and School Governors, included input from Sport England, exploring how schools can obtain advice, support and investment, as well as input from Suffolk County Council on how they overcame barriers to contribute to its ‘most active county’ status, as well as sharing best practice via Luton case studies.

26. The conference has enabled LBC to successfully apply for 40K funding from Sport England to work a cohort of 18 schools over a two-year project (starting May 2016) to help them increase the amount of hours they are open to the local community.

27. Community Asset Transfer (CAT) – building on the several successful examples of CAT with Cricket organisations, LBC Fixed assets now has a template for CAT enabling more groups to be able to manage their own sporting facilities. A DCLG funded project also funded a dedicated programme of advice (such as advice in the areas of legal, surveying, business, governance and fund raising) for interested organisations that would deliver robust local organisations with sound business cases to acquire assets and deliver their services to the community in the long term.

28. Rationalisation of outdoors bowls greens – building on the findings of the Playing Pitch Strategy which recommended that there was an over supply of greens and two council greens should be considered for closure. Officers arranged a series of meetings with the bowlers and interested parties which led to the preparation of an Executive report that members considered on the 18th April 2016 who accepted the following recommendations:- i) They agreed to the closure of bowling green at Lower Wardown from the 1st October 2016. ii) That before a final decision on closing Ashcroft recreation ground that officer will carry out further consultation work with affected bowlers to examine all alternate avenues, including liaising with potential recipient clubs iii) instruct officers to examine any alternative uses for these areas/facilities to try and offset the demolition costs iv) agree to an update report in September 2016 with outcome from the above action plan

29. To conclude, as indicated at the start of this report, the information provided is just a selection of the activities taking place to stimulate increased levels of participation throughout the Borough. Recent Active People (Sport England) survey results have seen some encouraging increases in the levels of participation and LBC will be continuing to work closely with all respective stakeholders via the outlined delivery groups throughout 16/17. APPENDIX A

Q4 Update from Active Luton’s Health programme

1. Active Luton have engaged with 1685 new service users this year who have provided 161,760 visits to our centres resulting in £452,928 income.

2. Exercise Referral - Engaged with 995 individuals against a contractual target of 260. - Contract extended by Public Health until 2018 - Commissioning increased from £30kpa to £45k pa. - Offer expanded to now include those aged 16 – 18 and those diagnosed as pre diabetic.

3. Move More Luton (Macmillan) - Recruited a new F/T staff member to lead on the Palliative (end of life) expansion to the programme - 355 registered participants in 2015/16 all of which are active at least once a week in our facilities. - Invited to present our delivery model to Macmillan Scotland with a view of Scotland rolling out our programme. Presenting at the Elevate Conference May 2016 the first of its kind an international leisure industry event in London.

4. Pulmonary Rehabilitation (COPD) - Most successful recruitment year to date with 265 new participants. - Report submitted to Public Health and Luton Clinical Commissioning Group and as a result has received £15k funding, the first time this programme has been supported externally. - Programme participants have raised £1000 for the British Lung Foundation through our social events.

Programme Overview

5. Me Time Family – A newly commissioned three year programme where we provide physical activity for families from Pregnancy up to and including the child’s fifth birthday.

6. Currently Active Luton have recruited 324 individuals to this programme and have 26 weekly opportunities for them to be physically active.

7. Live Well Luton (LWL) – An increase in sub contractual work from LWL now sees us host both their adult and child weight management programmes in our facilities as well as providing the physical activity support to the participants and their other service users.

8. Young People – This year has seen our work extend to include young people with 3 new projects. 1) Active Young Carers (AYC) a commissioned programme which will see us providing activity programmes for those 11-18 year olds who act as an unpaid carer in some capacity. 2) PCD a genetic pulmonary condition, this will be a referral based programme with supported gym and studio based interventions in small groups. 3) Cystic Fibrosis – This is our work with Great Ormond Street Hospital, again a referral based programme where we provide one to one activity in a controlled environment from children aged 18 months +.

9. Health Station – This year has seen us purchase a lease on a health station that undertakes tests for health indicators. It is based at Inspire and has been used in showcase weeks at The Mall and community events. It currently has 2000+ users on a monthly basis.

10. Walking Football – The Sporta Walking Sport programme has expanded from one weekly session to three and now engages 50 inactive men aged 50+ in weekly activity.

11. Social Prescription – A commissioned programme that has seen us employ a full time staff member to deliver in partnership with Luton Borough Council, Better Together Board, LCCG and Live Well Luton. The programme has had its setbacks in the early stages so the start has been delayed and is 6 months behind schedule. Developments in recent months have meant improvements are in place and we are looking forward to supporting the programme.

12. Cardiac Rehabilitation – The programme has grown from one weekly session to three. We have now got 2 qualified L4 instructors and have seen a growth of 5 participants to 25 within these 12 months.

13. MS Stars – Multiple Sclerosis and neurological conditions activity sessions. The past 12 months has seen a new session develop at Lewsey Sports Park targeting those diagnosed at an earlier age and offering an increased intensity of activity. We now have 50+ participants a week across these sessions a growth from 20 the previous year.

14. Stroke Rehabilitation – A new session has been developed from Lea Manor Recreation centre so we now have three weekly sessions catering for 20+ participants again a growth over these 12 months of 10 new service users.

Participant Feedback

15. “Through being fitter and healthier I feel more confident in life .I have lost a bit of weight. I feel that my cancer is less likely to reoccur, and if it does I’ll be better placed to fight it. Another plus is I catch more buses that I run for!!”

16. “I think a lot of the things about my old gym, remembering being ill when I was there, walking out of classes half way through because I couldn’t manage. Going back there I was that girl who had cancer. It was so much nicer to go into Active Luton, their waiting for you, you’ve got someone there with you – you’re not being judged”.

17. “Since I was introduced to Active Luton by the hospital cardio physio, I have come on leaps and bounds. I really enjoy my time with you as you are getting me fit enough for a triple bypass. Thanks to your programme I expect a full and quick recovery.”

18. “It has helped as I can breathe more easily. I still have the pain and I have a lot more work to do but one of the main things is that it has helped so much with my depression. It gives me something to look forward to and helps me in lots of ways. I can’t thank everyone enough.”

19. “I would say even if you didn’t do exercise before, this is something new, it’s not like when you join a gym and you see a PT once. Every time you go you can see them. Cancer is very lonely, but this is one of those times when you’re not alone, you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though you might be ‘healed’, there’s still a long way to go. It makes you feel better about yourself – you know you’re improving your body, you’re even more health conscious when you’re ill. Go for it, try it. It’s not scary!”

APPENDIX B Recent Active Luton news releases

1. Active Luton addresses need for female lifeguards

A drive to increase the number of female lifeguards in Luton is well underway by Active Luton.

18 year old Nazia Qamar, a former Denbigh High School student became the first to pass the new female-only lifeguard training programme gaining her National Pool Lifeguard Qualification. The Sporting Equals and ME TIME leaders programme developed to train more BME women in Luton to become sports coaches is currently training 15 more Luton women as lifeguards.

The scheme to up the number of female lifeguards comes as the demand for women- only swimming sessions is increasing. The qualification includes automated external defibrillator (AED) training, emergency first aid as well as the National Pool Lifeguarding Qualification.

Helen Barnett, chief executive of Active Luton said: “With more fully qualified fema le lifeguards, Active Luton will be able to offer even more women-only sessions which is brilliant news. I want to wish the remaining 15 trainees good luck with their assessments and I look forward to welcoming them as professional lifeguards at our centres very soon.”

Cllr Aslam Khan, portfolio holder for public health said: "I'm really pleased to hear that Active Luton has taken the much-needed initiative to train more female lifeguards. I hope this will increase the amount of women choosing swimming as a form of exercise, as well as offer a comfortable and safe environment for them to swim in.”

Nazia is studying Outdoor Education at the University of Chichester and is keen to start using her qualification both at university and at home during the holidays. Nazia started her training during the Easter holidays at Lewsey Sports Park and Pool and travelled between Luton and Chichester to attend sessions to prepare for her final assessment.

James Bennett, a Royal Life Saving Society Assessor pictured with Nazia took her through her assessment last week and congratulates her on gaining the qualification.

2. Dive right in with Active Luton

Active Luton is offering free diving taster sessions weekly for children age 6-14 years old and adults. Their team of experts will be on hand to help anybody who wants to give diving a go.

The team includes diving coach Hayley Sage, a Commonwealth Games bronze medal- winning synchronised diver and a GB competitor at the Beijing Olympics; and Sam Buck, a former member of both the GB junior and senior gymnastics teams. Sam has also coached three Junior British Champion divers including Daniel Goodfellow (a competitor at this summer’s Olympic Games alongside Tom Daley in the 10m men’s synchronised event).

Free diving taster sessions are every Tuesday for children from 6-6.30pm and 6.30-7pm. Adult diving sessions are every Tuesday 7-8pm and Wednesday 8-9pm. Adults and children must be able to swim at least 20 metres in deep water to take part.

Sam Buck said: "Tom Daley was spotted while taking part in regular diving sessions and is now representing his country and winning gold medals. As one of only 11 specialist diving centres in the UK, I believe Inspire: Luton Sports village can lead the way in producing future champions. However, If you just want to learn some skills to show off on holiday, you can!”

Sam is currently coach at Inspire to up-coming diving star 13-year old Ben Cutmore who is British Champion for his age group and has been ear-marked as a potential Olympian in 2024.

Active Luton is encouraging both adults and children to come along and try out the diving facilities at Inspire: Luton Sports Village. To book a place for a taster, a diving course or private diving lessons, email [email protected].

3. Residents taking advantage of Active Luton’s free health stations

Luton’s residents are being encouraged to make a commitment to being more active and improving their general wellbeing after checking the state of their health with Active Luton’s free Health Station during its second week in the Mall recently.

The Trust welcomed another 300 people to the station who took the opportunity to check their health status. Visitors included Luton Town Football Club’s Ryan Hall and Magnus Okuonghae, and Sujel Miah of the Luton Council of Mosques.

The free Health Station is available for people to use at Inspire: Luton’s Sports Village all year around. More than 2,000 people use it to check their health status each month. It will also be back at The Mall for another week in July.

The Health Station gives you a picture of the state of your health in just four minutes. It measures your heart rate, blood pressure and BMI and gives you a ‘heart age’ from your results. If your ‘heart age’ is below your actual age, then you’re doing well.

If your ‘heart age’ is more than your actual age, then you may need to make some changes. In particular the results from the Health Station can highlight any potential problems which could put your health at risk and may need further i nvestigation by a doctor.

Over the course of the week Active Luton found that 19 per cent of females and 12 per cent of males that visited the health station were defined as ‘high risk’ from their blood pressure, heart rate and BMI tests and were recommended to seek medical advice. Also, 30 per cent of the blood pressure checks resulted in a follow up recommendation to see a GP.

More women (32 per cent) recorded ‘no health risks’ compared to 19 per cent of males that visited the stand. In addition, 44 per cent of males and 38 per cent of females recorded an ideal blood pressure rating.

Other key findings included: • 55 per cent of BMI tests led to weight loss programme recommendations • 54 per cent of males and 36 percent of females recorded an ‘elevated’ or ‘high’ body fat rating • 31 per cent of females recorded a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ BMI rating

Helen Barnett, Chief Executive of Active Luton said: “As a local charity our number one goal is to improve the health of Luton’s residents. Our free Health Station is a simple and very effective way to check your health status quickly and conveniently. “Many health conditions can be prevented if signs are caught at an early stage so I would encourage as many people as possible to pop down to Inspire to try the Health Station. You can also speak to our friendly staff about the wide range of options offered by Active Luton to help everyone in Luton get fitter and healthier.”

Cllr Aslam Khan, portfolio holder for Health in Luton, said: “I encourage people to use the Health Station – you can take away some very useful information. It’s important that people are alerted to any worrying signs about their health as early as possible. Lifestyle changes can dramatically improve your health for many areas of concern.”

Active Luton offers a whole range of activities and ways in which everyone at any level, young and old, able-bodied, from all ethnic communities and people with physical or mental impairments can enjoy being more active and getting and staying fit and healthy - both in its leisure centres and in community settings.

4. Making changes for the better in 2016

If you want to make a change to your lifestyle this year then Active Luton is on hand to help you on the journey.

This New Year they have launched the #makeachange campaign to inspire and support local residents to become fit and healthy in 2016. Active Luton offers many different ways to do this and prides itself on having something for everyone.

This year’s campaign tells the motivational stories of a number of Luton residents who have already transformed their lives as the result of using Active Luton’s facilities. It is hoped that they will encourage others to make these life changing choices during 2016.

Twenty-one year old Sam is deaf. He won a bronze medal for Great Britain in last year’s Deaf European Games and is hoping for similar success in the Deaf World Cup in Italy later this year. “I joined Inspire when it opened and I also do circuit training at Lea Manor," he said. “As well as playing for the GB deaf football team I also play for first team. I train with my brother to supplement my football training for improved fitness and conditioning. What I really like about Active Luton is that you can choose what you prefer to do - gym, classes or swimming – and even go to different centres. I enjoy every minute!”

Matthew, 57, joined Active Luton two years ago and uses Inspire, Lea Manor and Lewsey six days a week. “Getting fitter has made me happier and improved my self confidence to take on new challenges,” he said. “I am planning to take part in the London to Paris bike ride and then after that to qualify as a fitness instructor.”

Chelsea, a 26-year-old teacher, also has a positive story to tell. “Since adopting a fitness routine I have lost four stone and discovered a motivation and determination that I never knew I had. I have been using Inspire for more than two years. I used to train alone but I now find that training in group sessions is much more enjoyable, relieves stress and has improved my social life into the bargain. I have even signed up for a half marathon this year. I am the fittest I have ever been and now have a very positive body image."

Helen Barnett, Chief Executive of Active Luton said: “Every New Year lots of people make resolutions to be more healthy and active. We want to help them to maintain these good intentions and make real, sustainable changes for the better.

“We have a friendly team of experienced professionals who can come up with a fitness plan to suit you and your lifestyle. Come along and see for yourself and make 2016 your best year yet!”

To read the Active Luton success stories visit www.activeluton.co.uk or for more information call 01582 400272. You can also follow @activeAL on Twitter and ‘like’ Active Luton on Facebook.