Active Lincolnshire says cost of living crisis has ‘significantly affected’ activity levels in the county

The cost of living crisis has ‘significantly affected’ people’s ability to be active in Lincolnshire says a new report, which highlights that almost 30% of the population don’t even manage 30 minutes exercise a week.

The worrying statistics are contained within Active Lincolnshire’s latest annual report, which confirms that people’s activity levels in the county fall below the national average in many areas.

Emma Tatlow, CEO of the group - which encourages people to adopt an active lifestyle - says tackling inequalities has become the ‘core underpinning’ of the organisation’s work, while also responding with campaigns promoting low-cost activities like walking to encourage cash-strapped homes to improve their health.

The NHS recommends adults aged between 19 and 64 do some physical activity each day – aiming in total for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week.

But Active Lincolnshire’s report suggests only 58% of its more than 750,000 residents hit that target – 5% below the national average.

Perhaps more worryingly are the hundreds of thousands of people officially classed as ‘inactive’ in Lincolnshire because they don’t manage even 30 minutes of activity a week.

Across the county this accounts for more than 30% of the adult population – or more than 200,000 people – according to the statistics.

However, Active Lincolnshire says while there remain ‘significant differences’ in adult activity levels between people living within different local authorities, the gap between the highest and lowest districts for active adults has closed in the last year.

In the report’s foreword Emma Tatlow wrote: “The cost-of-living crisis has significantly affected Lincolnshire residents’ ability to be active.

“To respond to this crisis, funded by Public Health, the Let’s Move Lincolnshire Stride & Ride campaign promotes walking and cycling as free or low-cost activities people can participate in to improve their physical health and mental wellbeing.”

Activity levels among some children in Lincolnshire districts remain equally concerning - according to figures contained within the same report.

In both South Holland and East Lindsey the number of youngsters getting less than 30 minutes of activity each day stands above the 30% national average at 35.5% and 38.6% respectively.

Children and young people aged five to 18, says the NHS, should aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day when spread out across the week.

However according to Sport England’s figures it is estimated that less than half – or 46.3% – of youngsters in the area are getting that required amount of exercise.

Glenn Vaughan is the founder of One Touch Football, an independent sports provider covering Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

His organisation is also involved with providing the government-funded holiday activity and food programme for children entitled to free school meals.

Glenn says at the height of this summer, projects across the area offering children sporting activities with a daytime meal were heavily oversubscribed – with programmes in Grantham developing a 47-page waiting list of children wanting a place.

He said paying for children to regularly participate in sport outside of school, has turned into a luxury some families struggle to afford.

He explained: “We have had to provide lunch and breakfast for the kids because their families cannot afford it.

“People just cannot afford things at the moment. People are having to make choices. Not necessarily having the kids play a sport.”

In response to the ‘detrimental impact’ the cost of living crisis is having Active Lincolnshire, in its report, says it has also made changes to its websites ‘Let’s Move Lincolnshire’ and ‘Active Lincolnshire’ in order to acknowledge and help with the struggles some residents, sports clubs and activity providers are experiencing as a result of a lack of cash.

A ‘free and low cost activities’ search filter has been introduced to the Let’s Move Lincolnshire activity finder to help people find budget-friendly suggestions together with using its Stride and Ride campaign to promote the benefits of free-of-charge activities like walking and cycling.

While its online ‘Knowledge Hub’ can help struggling sports clubs and charities navigate certain cost of living challenges with help and advice on managing money, costs, emergency financial planning and budgeting.

Last month Sport England announced a planned shake-up of its funding in order to redirect more than £250 million towards areas with the worst levels of physical inactivity in the country.

Over the next five years it plans to target between 80 and 100 communities across the UK where ‘manifestly unfair’ inequalities prevent people playing sport or enjoying some form of physical activity.

What do you think? Why are Lincolnshire’s activity levels so low? Post your thoughts below or email andrew.brookes@iliffepublishing.co.uk