Active Adults

There are one million adults between the ages of 25 to 50 across Greater Manchester, 28.5% of which are inactive. We want to change what being active means in the different settings that adults find themselves in everyday life. Being an active adult doesn’t have to be about strenuous exercise, big benefits can be seen by making simple changes to our daily lives.

There are cultural, structural and systemic barriers to active lives for adults. These differ for people from different backgrounds, life stages, circumstances and characteristics. Adults from different population groups experience inequalities and inactivity differently, and our collective approaches need to recognise and respond to that diversity.

We know that activity levels reduce with age. However, there is a strong evidence base that highlights how physical activity and sport can support against a range of health-related risk factors. By enabling the least active adults, to move more, we can help to avoid the negative health and economic outcomes related to inactivity.

Our Priorities

• Continue to focus on the existing strands of Active Adults and to grow collaborative partnerships within workplaces, employment services, housing associations and veterans services.
• Collaborate with partners who help to address the inequalities across the adult population and how physical activity can enable change within these inequalities.
• Work with organisations who can help us as a system to understand the inequalities and systemic barriers to adults leading an active lifestyle.
• Gain a granular understanding of why some adults choose to be inactive and how as a system we can help to overcome this.
• Help to inform policy and commissioning to ensure that being active is a consideration in work that seeks to engage the adult population.
• Explore new themes that will see a more holistic approach to Active Adults.
• Work collaboratively across the system and with colleagues and partners to develop joined up approaches to create better impact.
• Be able to demonstrate impact and learning from the work we do but also be comfortable when this isn’t possible.

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