Place partners: Tameside and Glossop

Place Partners is a Sport England funded programme that invests in a behaviour change approach in a place to enable sustainable change and gain valuable learnings that can be shared across the country.

Tameside

From July 2018, Tameside utilised research and insight to create their initial 12-month plan, starting from April 2019; this can be viewed here.

Since 2019 Tameside have focused on a number of areas, all with the aim of addressing health inequalities, long term health conditions and wider determinants of health, and has had a particular focus on moving more in the workplace and working with people overcome barriers for those out of work or at risk of worklessness.

The place partner work in Tameside is supported by borough-wide partners who sit on the steering group, this is made up of: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (public health, employment and skills, parks and greenspace and community safety), Active Tameside, Action Together, and the Active Alliance. 

Impact

Tameside Council have worked closely with Action Together to launch the 'Use Your Energy' grant which works with Tameside groups to engage and enable children and young people aged 5-18 years to become more active, more often.

The fund has worked with young people's network to provide feedback on the grant applications and help with the decision-making process.

A successful collaboration between Tameside Council and Manchester Bike Kitchen (see video, right) is another outcome of the pilot. Originally funding pop-up events aimed at younger residents around pre-loved bike sales and cheap repairs, the popularity of the project has led to the Bike Kitchen having a permanent base, and expansion of the projects to tackle wider health inequalities to residents of all ages.

Through the Place Partners work, Tameside are also working with Active Tameside, Greenspace and Action Together on the development of Active Parks, and is working with local businesses and the Growth Directorate on Active Workplaces.

Glossop

Initially linked to Place Partners work in Tameside’s due to a shared healthcare system, and although located in Derbyshire, Glossop continues to be part of the Greater Manchester place partners work, and the learnings from Glossop have been utilised to influence the expansion of work across the High Peak, and the Staffordshire Moorlands.

The place partners work in Glossop is supported by borough-wide partners who sit on the steering group, this is made up of, High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council, The Bureau, Active Derbyshire and High Peak Schools Sport Partnership.

Glossop’s place partners work has undertaken work at both a community and strategic level, with Move More Glossop shared purpose of place-based engagement, active neighbourhoods and systems change reflecting this.

Impact

Examples of work undertaken by the place partner team in Glossop is Gamesley Hangout. A community and sports centre which closed during the covid pandemic reopening as a volunteer run community centre.

Through community engagement using existing local networks and discussions with local residents the centre was reopened to provide a safe space informal space for young people in the area to both relax with friends and taking part in games and sport.

Since its opening the Hangout has expanded its range of activities and is now a place for the whole family. Volunteers from the hangout have also gone on to complete the back to work program and start their own businesses. While the success and learning from the Gamesley hangout has been used a model to open another space in Whitfield.

To read more about the place partner work around Gamesley Hangout in Glossop, click here.

GM Moving Podcast

Episode 10 and 11 of series two of the GM Moving podcast focused on the ongoing work in Tameside and Glossop.

Episode 10 sees host Eve Holt talks with Tamesides Local Pilot Lead Annette and the systems-based approach they have taken to create change. 

In episode 11 Eve speaks to Glossop's Local Pilot Lead Helen and the Place Partners work in helping people out of work or at risk of becoming workless, and their plans for active travel.

Both episodes can be listened to below or found on your usual podcast provider.

The full episode transcript can be found here.

The full episode transcript can be found here