Active Uprising

Izzy Wolridge, ukactive’s Events Manager, shares some of the key takeaways from Active Uprising, held in February

This year’s Active Uprising is perhaps best described as the day when the entire physical activity sector came together to focus on growth, development and improving the health of the nation. So much goes into organising events like this and it was a special moment to bring the sector together for a day of learning, exchanging of ideas and connecting with professionals. From compelling keynote speeches to engaging breakout sessions, Active Uprising explored a wide range of topics under the overarching theme of ‘growth, development, and improving the health of the nation’.

Hearing from Government

Mike Farrar, the Chair of ukactive, opened the event with a speech which set the tone by addressing the pressing challenges our nation faces, the value of the sector and importance of collaborative efforts, to ensure physical activity is placed at the forefront of the health agenda.

Following Mike’s address, we then heard from the Minister for Sport, Stuart Andrew MP, who spoke about the Government’s ‘Get Active’ sport and physical activity strategy, where he outlined the goals for this plan and how our sector continues to play an integral role.

The session transitioned into a Q&A, with Huw Edwards, ukactive’s CEO, joining the Minister on stage, to dig deeper into the strategy and views of Government, which served as a reminder of our collective commitment to addressing physical inactivity and the issues it relates to.

Inspiring keynotes and messages: from Movember to Jill Scott

We were also delighted to have some top speakers joining us for the day to showcase the real importance of physical activity.

We heard from experts including Sarah Coghlan, Global Director, Men’s Health Promotion, who shared a poignant keynote that examined the critical topic of men’s mental health and the amazing work, led by Movember, which continues to do such a stellar job to raise awareness on this important matter.

Further speakers included Dean Leak, a culture and leadership coach who spoke about cultivating a winning mindset and how working on your leadership attributes can help facilitate impactful change.

And the wonderful Jill Scott, former Lioness and independent member of the Government’s National Physical Activity Taskforce joined Professor Greg Whyte on the main stage to finish off the day. During their insightful chat, Jill spoke about her own sporting career and experience of physical activity, the importance of resilience as a woman in sport, life post-retirement and her ambitions for her role on the Government’s taskforce.

Health panels and breakout sessions

The day also featured collaborative discussions including a health panel as well as breakout sessions for attendees to learn more about various projects happening across the sector. “The NHS and leisure sector: what do we need from each other” was a panel session chaired by Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, which highlighted the urgency for cross sector collaboration when integrating the physical activity sector into the healthcare system. Key messages from the panel included the importance of agreeing on shared outcomes, highlighting the evidence of the health and cost benefits, and the necessity for sectors to align on the language and framework that is used.

A day to remember

We were delighted to bring the sector together to kickstart 2024 and hope this year’s Active Uprising conference provided you with many tangible learnings and insights.

As shown by this year’s theme and the conversations that took place, there’s never been a more important time to further this agenda and we’re looking forward to seeing how these outcomes can be put into practice in the year ahead.

Special thanks must also go to our co-headline partners Matrix, Precor and UK Research and Innovation, as well as our event partners for all the support in making Active Uprising 2024 possible.