Move More, Sheffield’s city-wide strategy to create a healthier, happier and more connected city, reached tens of thousands of people in the last year, expanding access to physical activity opportunities and laying the foundations for improved health and wellbeing.
Move More is a delivery arm of the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) in Sheffield, a strategic consortium of 11 partner organisations, including Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Yorkshire Sport Foundation, and others.
At the inaugural Move More Conference, held at The Wave in Sheffield, the Move More Annual Highlight Report 2024 was launched, showcasing achievements across six key priority areas – communities, education, health and social care, active travel, sport, and environment – each functioning as network for learning, sharing, and collaborating.
Key highlights across the networks include:
- Over 60,000 young people participated in 300 events, festivals and competitions
- 16,000 children and young people with special educational needs participated in inclusive sport activities
- First-ever Girls’ Week engaged over 300 girls in sport across the city
- 3,000 visitors attended the third annual Olympic Legacy in Action event at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park
- 29 healthcare professionals trained as This Mum Moves Ambassadors through the Moving Mums Initiative
- Promoting sustainable travel habits and replaced approximately 830,000 single occupancy car trips via the city-wide Better Points initiative
- Walking Forum re-established to promote walking as natural choice for everyday journeys
Addressing Health Inequalities
The report highlights both achievements and ongoing challenges in Sheffield, where healthy life expectancy remains below the national average, with a 20-year gap between the wealthiest and most disadvantaged areas of the city.
Despite these challenges, Sheffield is performing well on activity levels with 67.2% of adults active (compared to 63.7% nationally) and 57.4% of children and young people meeting recommended activity guidelines.
The NCSEM Sheffield supports the vision of a healthier nation through sport, exercise, and physical activity. Its mission is to create the conditions that make it easier for people to move more. Central to this is a focus on reducing health inequalities and working with communities to shape active, inclusive environments.
Steven Pleasant, Healthy Life Expectancy Lead at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and new Chair of NCSEM Sheffield, said: “Sport and physical activity has been described as the ‘magic pill’. It improves both our physical and mental health and wellbeing. It is also something most of us like to do. This partnership plays such an important role in helping us all to be more active. As the recently appointed NCSEM Chair, it has been quite inspiring to see the depth of collaboration and breadth of activity and the difference that that is making for people across our city.”
Dr Marlize De Vivo, NCSEM Portfolio Lead, hosted by Sheffield Hallam University, said: “”The successes documented in this report reflect the power of collaboration. The Move More networks are turning strategic objectives into local action, embedding movement into the city’s priorities, from health and education to transport and planning. While we’re proud of the progress made in the last year, we recognise there is still much more to do. Reducing inequalities and enabling people to be more active remains a complex challenge that demands bold leadership, ongoing commitment, and sustained investment. Sheffield is a city moving in the right direction, and with continued collective effort, we are making important strides towards a healthier, more active city where all residents have the chance to thrive.
Rachael Weston, NCSEM Development Manager, hosted by Yorkshire Sport Foundation, said: “This year’s Move More Highlight Report is a great snapshot of Move More in action -bringing our strategy to life through real stories, partnerships, and progress across the city. Whether it’s walking to school, playing sports, or creating spaces that make it easier to be active, our networks are helping to make Sheffield a healthier, happier place to live. It shows what’s possible when we all work together to make moving more a normal part of everyday life.”
Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) is the research hub for the NCSEM in Sheffield. The AWRC’s mission is to transform lives through innovations that help people move.
Prof Rob Copeland, Director of the AWRC, at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “This report highlights the significant achievements of the NCSEM over the past year, as it continues to deliver an Olympic legacy across Sheffield through Move More. The progress is testament to the power of place-based approaches in transforming participation in physical activity and building empowered, active communities. This approach is critical to achieving the UK government’s ‘health mission’ that prioritises prevention and long-term wellbeing and it is wonderful to see that the NCSEM in Sheffield continues to demonstrate how these approaches can be realised.”
