Blog: Moving Together, Where It Matters Most

Alongside the team, I am delighted that Active Kent & Medway has secured Place Universal Offer funding from Sport England and just wanted to take a moment to reflect on what this means for Kent and the opportunity this presents for us and our communities.

A place-based approach, led locally

This investment absolutely recognises the importance of focusing effort where inequalities in physical activity are greatest and the need for long term, sustainable change. Allowing us to further listen to local voices, respond to lived experience and broaden our current place-based approach so that more children, young people and families can be better supported to be active in ways that fit everyday life.

Strengthening partnership and leadership

We know that children and young people’s opportunities to be active are heavily shaped by their local environments. We will be utilising this funding to work closely with local partners in Dartford, Maidstone, Ashford and Folkestone & Hythe, from across education, health, local government, the voluntary and community sector and sport to address the barriers and enablers to physical activity. Work which will very much focus on collaboration, codesign and alignment with wider priorities such as wellbeing, education and community connection as well as building capacity in local systems.

To support this, we are in the process of recruiting a Place Universal Offer Manager to oversee delivery of this work and lead our place-based approach across the four areas. This role will be vital in coordinating partners, supporting local systems and ensuring learning is shared across the rest of Kent.

Building on Everyday Active

And, finally, for us, this funding is not about starting something new, but about leaning into and building on what already works. Our Everyday Active programme has become a key part of how we support people across Kent and Medway to move more through simple, inclusive and realistic approaches to everyday movement. The Place Universal Offer funding will enable us to further develop Everyday Active as a practical tool to support a wider audience which includes children, young people and families, particularly in the places where activity levels are lowest. It will help partners embed everyday movement into schools, communities and family life in ways that feel relevant and achievable.

Put simply, the place universal offer gives us the opportunity to focus our efforts where they can have the greatest impact, while remaining true to our vision of More People, More Active, More Often.

Published: March 2026.

This blog was partly generated using AI technology. It was sense checked and reviewed by Active Kent & Medway to ensure accuracy and alignment with our mission and values.