Sport England, using a tool called the Place Needs Classification (PNC), identified areas of priority around the country for their investment. Using this we learned Landport in Portsmouth is a priority place.
Sport England use Middle Super Output Area (MSOA) level definitions of places, as explained by the Office for National Statistics.
Over the past year working with residents, it’s become clear that the local communities perception of place is not the same as defined in MSOA maps. This insight has lead us to include Buckland as a priority area alongside Landport.
Place based working is embedded within each community so it’s been important to work in collaboration from the very beginning.
People and organisations from the local area have been meeting since July 2024, as a Steering Group, to help provide insights and share ideas.
Many of them have also attended workshops to help everyone develop a common purpose and understanding. They covered the health benefits of physical activity, how each person’s journey with it is different, and mapped what assets already exist in Landport and Buckland.
The Steering Group includes people from:
The groups asset mapping has highlighted some great places and resources within Landport and Buckland, with the community centres providing a valuable service to local people. Next the group will be looking at how to amplify all the good things already happening, as well as supporting the development of new opportunities to be active.
Energise Me has a dedicated Place Development Lead, Lee Timothy, to help coordinate the groups, workshops, and the investment. If you’d like to get involved in our Place based work, as an organisation or resident, please contact Lee.Timothy@energiseme.org
Community engagement
We’ll be looking to understand what people in Landport and Buckland want to see more of in their community, as well as any new ideas they have for reducing inactivity. Portsmouth City council have a tried and tested approach for collecting community views in the city which could be used to to help us get this information. The Steering Group will also be responsible for sourcing community views and insight.
Activities for the community
Once local people have told us what they’d like, we’d like to work with activity providers and community spaces to bring their suggestions to life.
Importantly, we’d like local people to take part in the activities across Landport and Buckland and tell us about their experience, providing feedback on whether it works, needs adjusting or they need something else entirely. From there we can look at how to co-create sustainable, long lasting action.
Connection and Collaboration
As we review what the steering group looks like, there will still be lots of opportunities for people to get involved. An important part of this will be looking at how we bring the whole system together – connecting everyone that’s involved in someones physical activity journey.
Helping us tackle inactivity to boost health and happiness
