On a day filled with reflection, inspiration and shared learning, partners from across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin came together to celebrate the achievements of the Get Yourself Active Local programme and explore what comes next in the journey towards a more inclusive and active society.
Hosted by Disability Rights UK and Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, the Celebrating Change, Sharing Success event brought together Disabled people, health and social care professionals, local authorities, voluntary and community organisations, and activity providers to share learning, showcase progress and strengthen the partnerships that are helping to create lasting change.
But this event was about much more than physical activity.
It was about challenging barriers, changing systems and creating the conditions that enable Disabled people to move, connect, participate, belong and thrive.
A Shared Vision for Change
Get Yourself Active Local was established through a partnership between Disability Rights UK and Energize STW to support Disabled people and people living with long-term health conditions to be more physically active in ways that work for them.
At its heart is a simple but powerful belief: Disabled people have the same right as anyone else to live active, connected and fulfilling lives.
The programme has brought together people with lived experience, health and social care services, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and physical activity providers to co-produce solutions that remove barriers and create sustainable opportunities to be active.
As Disability Rights UK highlighted throughout the day, being active is not a luxury. It is a matter of rights, equality and social justice.
Moving More Takes Everyone
Opening the event, Laura Horton, Get Yourself Active Programme Manager at Disability Rights UK, reflected on the programme’s core message: moving more takes everyone.
Creating an inclusive physical activity landscape requires more than individual motivation. It demands collaboration across sectors and a commitment to changing the systems, services and attitudes that continue to prevent many Disabled people from participating fully in community life.
Presentations throughout the day highlighted the importance of co-production, partnership working, accessibility by design and workforce development. Together, these approaches are helping to create a culture where physical activity is recognised as part of everyday wellbeing rather than an optional extra.
Participants were reminded that physical activity supports far more than physical health. It can improve mental wellbeing, strengthen social connections, increase independence and create a greater sense of belonging within communities.
Reflecting on the Journey So Far
Michelle Pullen, Programme Manager – Communities, Health, and Social Care at Energize STW shared the story of the programme’s development across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and the progress made through collaboration and shared purpose.
The programme has focused on three key areas:
- Moving Social Work
- Social Care Workforce Development
- Co-production and Physical Activity Providers
Since its launch, the programme has supported hundreds of professionals across the county, helping to build confidence, increase knowledge and strengthen understanding of how movement and physical activity can be embedded into everyday practice.
Training and development opportunities have reached:
- 246 social workers and social care practitioners
- 62 care workforce professionals
- 40 physical activity providers
The programme has also supported the development of new resources, strengthened partnerships and established opportunities for people with lived experience to influence decision-making and service design.
The Power of Co-production
One of the strongest themes emerging from the event was the importance of co-production.
Time and again, speakers emphasised that meaningful change happens when Disabled people are involved directly in the design, delivery and evaluation of services.
Co-production ensures that programmes are relevant, accessible and responsive to people’s real experiences. It helps identify barriers earlier, develop practical solutions and create services that people genuinely want to engage with.
The programme has demonstrated that lived experience is expertise and that inclusion is most effective when Disabled people are involved from the very beginning.
Learning from Local Successes
Throughout the event, a visual scribe captured the conversations, stories and key messages being shared across the day. The finished illustration brings together contributions from speakers, local organisations and people with lived experience, alongside the themes that emerged through discussions and activities.
From the journey of Get Yourself Active Local and examples of local success, to conversations about co-production, barriers, inclusion and systems change, the illustration provides a visual record of the day and the collective learning that took place.
The event featured contributions from organisations including Cycling 4 All, Telford Mind, Shropshire Inclusive Dance and the Healthy Lives Programme, alongside powerful lived experience stories from people whose lives have been positively impacted through increased opportunities to be active.
These stories brought the programme’s impact to life.
Participants heard how small changes in support, confidence and accessibility can have a significant effect on people’s wellbeing, independence and social connection. They also heard how partnership working can unlock opportunities that no single organisation could achieve alone.
Across the day, a clear picture emerged of a county increasingly committed to making inclusion the norm rather than the exception.
Changing Systems, Not People
A powerful message ran throughout the event.
The challenge before us is not how we persuade Disabled people to change.
The challenge is how we change the conditions around Disabled people so participation becomes possible, welcomed and expected.
Many of the barriers discussed during the day remain familiar: inaccessible opportunities, transport difficulties, affordability, social isolation and concerns about financial security. These barriers are not created by people’s impairments. They are created by systems, services and environments that have not been designed with inclusion in mind.
This is why systems change matters.
Meaningful progress happens when social workers see movement as part of wellbeing, when carers feel confident supporting people to be active, when activity providers co-produce services rather than designing for people, and when commissioners build inclusion into expectations from the outset.
As the programme has shown, lasting change is built through relationships, trust, persistence and shared responsibility.
Looking Ahead
The event was also an opportunity to look forward.
Participants took part in discussions and action-planning activities designed to identify future priorities and strengthen commitments to continued collaboration.
There was recognition that important foundations have now been laid. Physical activity conversations are becoming more embedded within social care. Partnerships are stronger. Lived experience is increasingly recognised as expertise. Culture change is beginning to happen.
However, the work is far from complete.
Attendees were encouraged to consider the influence they hold within their own organisations and communities:
What barriers can we remove?
Whose voices are still missing from the conversation?
How can we make inclusion the default rather than the exception?
These questions will help shape the next phase of the programme and the wider movement towards a more inclusive society.
As the event drew to a close, one message resonated above all others:
Disabled people do not need fixing. Systems need changing.
The success of Get Yourself Active Local demonstrates what can be achieved when organisations work together with Disabled people to challenge barriers and create opportunities.
By bringing together local authorities, health and social care professionals, voluntary organisations, activity providers and people with lived experience, the programme is helping to create communities where everyone has the opportunity to move, participate, connect and belong on their own terms.
Turning Commitment into Action
To turn the conversations and learning from the day into action, attendees were invited to make a pledge about something they would take forward within their own work, organisation or community.
In total, 25 pledges were made, with attendees writing their commitments on pledge cards and posting them into a pledge box.
The pledges have since been collated, and the Get Yourself Active Local team plans to check in with those who made them in three to six months. This will provide an opportunity to hear about the progress being made, celebrate successes and identify where further support might help turn those commitments into lasting change.
The journey does not end here.
The partnerships built, lessons learned and commitments made during this event will continue to shape future action across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
Because creating an active society is not the responsibility of Disabled people alone.
It belongs to all of us.
And as the programme’s central message reminds us: Moving more takes everyone.
To view the full visual image of the day, you can access it via this link. You can see a smaller version down below.
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Building a more inclusive future: Supporting Disabled people to move more in Shropshire, Telford & WrekinBuilding a more inclusive future: Supporting Disabled people to move more in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin
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