Liverpool is a culturally diverse city with a population of 491,549. The Liverpool City Region has a population total of 1,544,420 (ONS Mid Estimates 2017). This diverse population results in pockets of isolated communities who don’t access services outside of their ‘localities’. This, in turn, leads to an increase in isolation and lower levels of mental well-being within these groups.
We were invited by our partners over in Liverpool City Council to help them with a bid application, particularly with MSP getting involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the project. This was the ‘Get Out, Get Active’ (GOGA) bid to Activity Alliance who have been working on this programme since 2016 in many localities. Liverpool wanted to bring that locally to help tackle problems that our population has.
The Liverpool ‘Get Out, Get Active’ project aims to target disconnected communities, most in need of support in order to engage in active lifestyles and the ability to connect in a social context through active recreation. There will be a real focus on health inequalities and improving mental well-being outcomes for the target audiences; using the learning from this project to impact across LCR.
A key area of strength for this project is the identification of 3 distinct and disconnected communities: students, LGBTQ+ groups and carers. Adopting a collaborative approach with community organisations that engage closely with these audiences will enable opportunities to co-create activities that are safe, inclusive and one’s that will help foster feelings of connectedness and strengthen communities.
At MSP we put great emphasis on ‘Monitoring and Evaluation’ to help guide us to insights and continuous learning. To be invited on to this project is an exciting opportunity to learn more about how best to engage the disadvantaged groups of our localities and to help them take part in physical activities in mixed diverse groups.
See more about Get Out, Get Active (GOGA) here:
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