Active Kent & Medway Conference 2023

Active Kent and Medway’s 2023 Conference took place on Wednesday 18 October 2023 at the Kent Event Centre, Detling. We welcomed over 180 representatives from health, leisure, local council, voluntary, sport and activity sectors who share our vision to get more people, more active, more often.

The theme of this year’s conference was steered by the recently launched four year county-wide strategy for sport and physical activity Move Together. The free conference focussed on how we can all work together to support those who are already active, as well as tackling the inequalities that currently prevent some of us from enjoying the benefits that moving more in our everyday lives can bring to our physical and mental wellbeing.

Keynote Speakers

Graham Razey, our Active Partnership Chair, welcomed delegates to the conference and shared information about the new Move Together strategy. Dr Anjan Ghosh, Director of Public Health, Kent County Council delivered a thought-provoking presentation that set the scene on the challenges we face in Kent and the role that physical activity can play in addressing some of these. As well as endorsing the whole system–based approach that the Move Together Strategy advocates for, with each and every one of us being part of the solution.

Dr Anjan Ghosh, Director of Public Health, KCC – Presentation Slides (PDF Download)

“It was a privilege to present at the conference and I’m glad the event went so well”. Dr Anjan Ghosh

Sharing Stories Q&A Sessions

Delegates heard from representatives from across the sport and physical activity sector as they take part in two Q&A panel sessions with conference host Rob Smith, former BBC South East presenter.

Panel 1 – Guest speakers from Gravesham Borough Council, The Grand Healthy Living Centre, a Ukrainian family group, Mencap and Sport on your Doorstep. We heard how a desire to invest in the health and physical activity levels of Gravesham residents had led to a wide range of organisations coming together to provide sport and physical activity opportunities for the local community.

Panel 2 – Representatives from NBE fitness, tm active and TKO Boxing club will share how their different approaches are challenging the perceptions of being active with a long term health condition or disability.  

Briefing Sessions

A range of partners hosted a series of short briefing sessions covering topics from funding to sustainability, workforce development and ways to engage your audience.  Each briefing session  lasted 30 minutes, giving speakers an opportunity to share their information and resources and answer any questions.

Follow this link to view the list of Briefing Sessions and Presentations

“I feel honoured to have been given this opportunity to promote our projects, and hopefully, show people the benefits of collaboration. Like every year, this year’s conference was a huge success, and becoming something I look forward to attending every year”. Rupa Sen, Medway Diversity Forum

Networking Wall

New for 2023 – Organisations names and logos were displayed on our networking wall. Attendees were then tasked with placing their names on their organisational tile. The wall showed the breadth of organisations in attendance and encouraged collaboration and networking throughout the day.

“Today was brilliant and clearly required an enormous amount of preparation and careful management throughout.  I witnessed first hand that it was a genuine team effort and please do pass on my appreciation and thanks to all involved”. Tom

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our speakers and delegates for making the event such a great success. We look forward to working with you all so we can continue to move together towards a healthier, more active county.