OneLife Suffolk, healthy lifestyle provider has partnered with leading Suffolk leisure providers Abbeycroft Leisure, Ipswich Borough Council, Sentinel Leisure Trust and Places for People Leisure Management and have created a pilot partnership to increase support to the residents of Suffolk who wish to lose weight and increase their physical activity.
The pilot begins immediately and is aimed initially at 400 participants who are eligible and accessing OneLife Suffolk services to offer them a 3-month membership voucher which will give them access to their local leisure provider and some activities for no cost. The membership will encourage them to access additional support to help make long term changes to their lifestyle. The vouchers will be invitation only and be offered to those who may benefit from the additional support.
Marten Payne, Strategic Healthy Lifestyles Manager for OneLife Suffolk said
“This pilot will enable participants to access additional facilities that may have normally been out of reach due to household income or to those who may be unaware of all the fantastic facilities, class activities and support these leisure providers can offer. We are hoping with this additional support those accessing our programmes will achieve some long-term benefits to their health.”
Matt Hickey, Health and Wellbeing Manager at Abbeycroft Leisure said:
“We’re excited about this pilot project as it will be another way that we can help build activity and movement into people’s lives, which we know will improve their health and wellbeing. As a social enterprise we have extensive experience of working with our partners in health to provide opportunities for those people who need it the most.”
Cllr Andrew Reid, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, Public Protection and Communities, said:
“We know that physical activity is so very important for both our physical and mental health, so any initiative that breaks down the barriers to people being more active is welcomed. We’ll be following the programme with interest and look forward to seeing its effectiveness in helping people to make long-term changes to their lifestyles.”
The pilot scheme will be evaluated and a decision on whether the scheme will roll out wider to more OneLife Suffolk clients than the initial 400 will be made later in 2022.
The voucher scheme during the pilot will be invitation only to those currently accessing OneLife Suffolk programmes. If you are participating in a OneLife Suffolk programme, please speak to your practitioner to find out more.
Press release issued by OneLife Suffolk 4.3.22