Sefton residents have made great strides to improve their fitness in the wake of an alarming report which highlighted the region’s poor life style.
The Sport England report in 2024 highlighted only 57.4% of Sefton residents indicated they were physically active, making it along with Knowsley amongst the least active areas in Merseyside. This aligned with the largest difference in active adults between socio-economic groups in the UK.
To be classified as ‘active’ an adult must take part in a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity.
Success for Sefton
Scary statistics faced Sefton’s society.
Since the survey was released, locals believe physical activity is becoming a bigger part of the community. Parkrun, where participants can run, jog or walk a 5km race has been a major player in getting the community active.
Sefton resident and Parkrun regular, Ryan Taylor has been impressed with the rising popularity of the activity. He said, “I’ve been doing it 12 weeks consecutively now, and since the start I’ve seen a significant growth in numbers. The first week there was 300 runners and now 400-500 people take part.”
Sefton Council claimed in 2019 that the area ranked in the second most deprived quintile of local authorities, so the event’s slogan being, “Free. For everyone. Forever” stands out in their pursuit of inclusivity.
Funding
Liverpool City Council revealed that they had completed upgrades to the free-to-use public tennis courts in Sefton Park. £9000 was invested across the courts in hope of a participation spike.
Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) member, Aidan Hewitson is delighted with the decision. He said, “It’s been really needing a revamp on there. I had a bit of a break but since the investment I’m trying to make it a weekly activity.”
He added, “Every time I would walk the dog through the park, the courts were always empty. I’m glad more people are starting to get some use out of it.”
The areas newly found approach to tackling inactivity looks to have been positive for the communities health and wellbeing. Community-driven initiatives and strategic investment in equipment, will hopefully result in a rise in activity rates for the people of Sefton in November’s report.
