Beyond the Leisure Centre: How to make the case for active wellbeing investment
This special report from LocalGov and Alliance Leisure makes the case for repositioning council leisure provision as prevention infrastructure.
Digital Health Tools: Supporting healthier communities at scale
25/02/2026 GLL’s Joseph Rham explores how the use of digital platforms is leading to measurable improvements in community health. |
Sport England announces 27 new ‘Place Partnerships’
28/11/2025 Sport England has unveiled 27 additional ‘Place Partnerships,’ expanding its drive to tackle inactivity across England. |
Everyone Active launches new Community Champions scheme
09/06/2025 Leisure Operator, Everyone Active, launches new Community Champions scheme to fund local projects. |
Funding to target ‘manifestly unfair’ sport access
07/11/2023 Sport England has announced a funding overhaul to tackle regional disparities in access to physical activity. |
Public support more focus on poor health causes
02/10/2023 The Government should invest more in public health to address the roots of poor health, according to a poll for the charity Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH). |
Historic lido reopens after £6m makeover
22/08/2023 The historic Northcroft Lido in Newbury has reopened to the public following a £5.7m refurbishment. |
Publicly-owned leisure centres with pools to receive £63m
14/03/2023 Local leisure centres with swimming pools are set to receive a multi-million-pound boost tomorrow to help them with rising energy bills and maintenance costs. |
‘Highest performing’ active travel councils named
13/03/2023 Leicester and Nottingham councils have been rated as two of the highest performing local authorities in the first ever Government review of active travel. |
Unpaid carers given free access to leisure centres
26/09/2022 Unpaid carers in Devon are being given free access to leisure centres as part of a local authority-run pilot. |
Councils to share nearly £13m to test ‘social prescribing’
22/08/2022 Eleven councils areas to receive £12.7m between them to trial giving GPs the power to prescribe walking, wheeling and cycling to boost the health of residents. |
Neath Port Talbot leisure services moving ‘in-house’
02/08/2022 Leisure services in Neath Port Talbot are set to be brought back in-house next year, local authority says. |
Health pilot to explore using sports centres to tackle arthritis launched
01/07/2022 A project has been launched to investigate how to transform leisure facilities into musculoskeletal (MSK) hubs which can be accessed in every community. |
One in five children at risk of obesity
19/05/2022 Government should help provide more affordable leisure opportunities, council chiefs say as study reveals children are not getting enough exercise. |
Council leaders urge GPs to prescribe leisure centre trips
16/05/2022 Council leaders are urging GPs to prescribe obese patients classes at local leisure centres after research found it could increase life expectancy four years. |
Cycling and walking ‘on prescription’ in the West Midlands
26/08/2020 Healthcare professionals are piloting a scheme in the West Midlands which will ‘prescribe’ outdoor activities for some people with poor mental health. |
|
New figures reveal exercise inequalities
06/12/2019 Children from less affluent families are less likely to participate in physical activity than their wealthier peers. |
|
Social prescribing does not achieve ‘meaningful’ health outcomes, study says
19/11/2019 Council chiefs have defended social prescribing after researchers argue the practice does not ‘achieve meaningful levels’ of health and well-being changes. |
|
Children do less exercise as they get older, research reveals
14/11/2019 Primary school children do less exercise as they get older, according to new research. |
|
Sturgeon announces £27m to promote walking and cycling
16/10/2019 More than 200 ‘active travel’ projects across Scotland are set to receive a multi-million pound investment, Scotland’s first minister has announced. |
|
Council chiefs back campaign promoting physical activity
29/08/2019 Local authority leaders are backing a campaign to help the 15 million people who live with long-term health conditions in England do more physical activity. |
|
Council rolls scooters out in bid to tackle pollution
13/02/2019 Children in Leeds will soon be travelling to school on scooters instead of in cars as part of the council’s push to clean up the city’s air. |
|
Keeping elderly active could save care sector billions, report says
30/10/2017 Pharmacists and meals on wheels staff could help tackle the UK’s ageing crisis by encouraging elderly people to take exercise, according to campaigners. |
|
Councils ‘urgently’ need solutions to tackle ‘inactivity epidemic’, charity says
25/08/2017 Local Authorities urgently need to put in place solutions to tackle the ‘physical inactivity epidemic’, walking and cycling charity says. |
|
Green prescriptions ‘miracle cure’ for obesity, say councils
06/09/2016 Doctors prescribing exercise outdoors would help tackle obesity, council chiefs say. |
