• In 2019, 48% of children in our county were not getting enough exercise.
• On top of this, physical activity levels for children have plummeted following Covid-19, with only 19% of children meeting Chief Medical Officer guidelines of 60 active minutes a day.
• In Oxfordshire, this means that over 68,000 children are currently at risk of poor health and wellbeing as well as not enjoying other far reaching benefits of being active, such as improved educational attainment.

In January 2021, the latest Active Lives data was released showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children's activity levels. Here's our very own Josh Lenthall on the crisis unfolding behind the numbers, and how we can all work together to make a real difference:

We are calling on Oxfordshire's families, schools, local authorities and our partners to work together and help make this happen. Everyone has a part to play in ensuring that our county's youngest generations can have an active start in life.

For families: our GO Active website has plenty of great tips to help your children get active at home and in your local community. We can help you find local cycle paths, walking routes, outdoor spaces and so much more - all designed to help your children achieve their 60 active minutes every day. We've seen big increases in walking and cycling during lockdown, and we need to build on this energy going forwards.

There's also plenty of information about local activities in the Live Well Directory for Oxfordshire.

For schools and Early Years Settings: we work with Living Streets to promote the year-round WOW Walk to School scheme and Little Feet challenges to promote active ways to get to school such as walking and cycling. Get in touch to find out more and get your school/setting signed up!

We can also offer support and advice about how to maximise use of your PE Premium Funding.

For partners: we know that we can only achieve the goal of every child in Oxfordshire having 60 active minutes every day if we work together. Thanks to everyone who came to the Healthy Active Children conference – fantastic discussions & engagement throughout the week and plenty of ideas on how to work together to make sure every child in Oxfordshire can achieve their 60 Active minutes every day.

One of our key priorities during 2021 is to increase rates of swimming and water safety so that every child in Oxfordshire can learn to swim and be safe near water. This is more important than ever as hundreds of children missed out on school swimming lessons as a result of COVID-19.

We would also like to hear your plans to help every child in Oxfordshire achieve 60 active minutes every day. Please do get in touch and find out how we can work together!

For more information please contact Josh Lenthall: Strategic CYP Relationship Manager