grassroots
included internal restructuring to create an Active Communities services team, integrating the individual teams for sport and physical activity, leisure, parks and green space development, youth ambition and community centres. “Integrating the teams in this way has
enabled us to deliver activities in non-typical settings, such as community centres, and to target specific groups of people who are more inactive,” says Lewisman. “It has also allowed us to maximise the use of the green spaces that adjoin our community or leisure facilities through targeted outdoor programmes.” The new team has also forged much closer
partnerships with the council’s housing, planning, environmental sustainability and community safety teams, as well as with external groups such as community associations, tenants and residents’ associations, social clubs, housing associations and even pubs. “These closer
partnerships are making it easier to reach some of our target groups as well as enabling us to have a wider social impact – from our Youth Ambition programme,
which targets anti-social behaviour in conjunction with our community safety team, to the table tennis ping-pong parlour which targets the inactive in a local pub. The introduction of two new modules –
Increasing Participation and Reducing Inactivity, and Insight and Marketing – have allowed the council to demonstrate what it’s already doing in these areas while also identifying where it can improve. “The main challenge was how to
differentiate between where we have increased participation and where we have reduced inactivity, as these can be very different. We now have a better understanding of both the insight and targeted approach required.”
Tangible results According to Lewisman, working with Quest has not only enabled the council to reflect local needs and link with national priorities more effectively; it has also helped to attract external funding of more than £1.3m. “It gives funders confidence that we are well-run, showing that we have a fantastic track record of delivery and can demonstrate great results.” These results include an impressive 53 per cent increase in participation at its leisure centres, from 896,000 in 2009/2010 to 1,370,000 in 2016/2017, including a 40 per cent increase in visits by target groups: younger
and older people; black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people; disabled people; and people from areas of deprivation. A February 2016 evaluation using Social Return
on Investment (SROI) methodology found that Fusion Lifestyle generated a gain of more than £18m from its work in Oxford during 2014 alone. Also over the past eight years, the leisure
centre operations have achieved cumulative cash savings of around £1.94m a year while also offering a greatly improved user experience: 92 per cent of users are currently satisfied with the centres while 75 per cent rate them as good or excellent. The figures for sport development are
equally positive, with year-on-year increases in regular adult participation peaking at over 31 per cent in 2016. Meanwhile, participation among children and young people is up to an all-time high of 6,700 and evaluation through SROI methodology showed a gain of £13m through the council’s Youth Ambition programme from April 2015 to March 2016. Thanks to Quest’s emphasis on continual
improvement, the journey does not end here. “The same principles that have helped us to achieve high levels of impact for our communities to date will ensure we do not rest on our laurels, but continue to improve and adapt to a fast-changing environment,” says Lewisman.
www.oxford.gov.uk www.questnbs.org
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