Get Out Get Active is using inclusive physical activity to bring communities together

On the first day of Active London, Alex Ekong of Spirit of 2012 writes a guest blog for London Sport looking at how the Get Out Get Active programme is using inclusive physical activity to bring together communities. 

At London Sport’s Active London 2020 Conference, all the talk will be about creating an equal playing field for physical activity and participatory sport-building opportunities for Londoners. 

In a city as densely packed and frenetically paced as it is vibrant and diverse, there are no better candidates for the benefits that come from living active lives than the people who call it home.

We at Spirit of 2012 believe in the power of physical activity and sport to transform communities and wellbeing and have done ever since we were set up as the official legacy funder of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Since then we have funded a series of sports, arts and volunteering projects all over the country in a bid to learn how to bring together people from different backgrounds, replicate the community spirit left behind by unifying events, and make it last. 

One of our proudest achievements is funding our single biggest project - the Get Out Get Active programme, also known as GOGA.

GOGA’s a genuine inclusion programme funded by Spirit of 2012 and delivered by Activity Alliance and a range of national and local partners including London Sport. It aims to get some of the UK’s least active people moving more through fun and inclusive active recreation. 

Delivered in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth during its first phase, GOGA phase 2 included Haringey too. In total, GOGA has held over 2,400 activities and welcomed 20,000 participants; 65% of which have sustained activity for more than six months.

One of the reasons why GOGA has already made a difference to so many lives is the unique approaches taken in the design and delivery of these activities.

The defining characteristics of these approaches include:

Encouraging disabled and non-disabled people to be active together

Inclusion is at the root of everything we do at Spirit of 2012 and the same principle is the bedrock of GOGA. To apply this, a person-centred approach is taken with GOGA activities which focuses on the participants as people, and not on their impairments.

Prior to GOGA, many families were ferrying their children from activity to activity and having to sit on the sidelines whilst it took place. In fact, the data showed that activity levels were much lower amongst the parents than amongst the disabled children for whom the activity was ostensibly designed – so by encouraging everyone to get involved, not only could families have fun together but you could get more people moving too!

Being local and person-centred in approach

Additionally, each GOGA programme is tailored to local needs and delivered using infrastructure that already be found within the community. 

GOGA Wandsworth worked with locally-based social enterprise Enable Leisure & Culture to help deliver its activities. In Haringey, the programme has a focus on those at risk of gang culture and violent crime. Everywhere, GOGA outreach is focused on, facilitated by, and tailored to targeted communities.

Using physical activity as a gateway to social connectedness and wellbeing

A lot of physical activity is centred around competition, fitness and weight loss, which can lead some to shy away from getting involved. GOGA’s focus is enabling participants to form close relationships within their community across lines of difference.

The Women-Only Yoga & Stretch and Movement Class in Wandsworth for instance not only allowed women across age groups to improve their mobility and balance, but tea breaks in between have led to strong friendships.

Funders like us need to ensure we give organisations sufficient resources to cover staff time beyond the hour session, so they have space to let people socialise and nurture the relationships that keep them coming back.

It’s our hope at Spirit of 2012, that GOGA approaches and principles are adopted further than the scope of the programme and leave a legacy of effective community sport around the country for years to come. 

Meanwhile, with the many stories of inclusion, social benefits and increased participation emerging, it seems the GOGA way of doing things already making a noticeable impact.

Learn more about the work of Spirit of 2012 during Active London. Amy Finch, their Head of Programmes and Impact, will be speaking in the 'Getting an Inclusive Approach' workshop on Day 3: Wednesday 14 October from 11.15 - 12.30.