The Energise project was funded by Sport England for 2 years.
This project supported women aged 18+, living in the Middlesbrough and Stockton area, to improve their mental and physical health by being more active. The focus of the project was to offer solutions to the many barriers that people may have in low socio-economic groups and support the self-management of both physical and mental health in the long term.
The first step towards physical activity is the hardest and our aim was to create supportive environments and person-centered support to help any barriers to people being active.
The Energise project drew on the learning from Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind’s Active Minds project, Get Set to Go and Close to Home projects and the local knowledge and experience of Tees Active in delivering sports and activity.
Participants who entered the Energise project were all given an assessment of risk and of their personal circumstances to allow staff to ascertain any barriers to activity and to identify different activities the participant was interested in.
The mental wellbeing of all participants was checked before they started the project using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). This included some supplementary questions around their activity and health and how it affected them.
Across the 2 years of project delivery, 156 people were referred into the Energise programme with 102 entering the service.
914 sessions were delivered to vulnerable people across the Energise programme.
Participants were able to take part in 14 different physical activities with Tees Active.
When the Coronavirus pandemic hit we had to adapt our delivery model and we completed bespoke activity plans with participants remotely. This required us identifying barriers to activity which was often a new set of issues around space, or dependents being at home etc.
During this period, we had to adapt our delivery model and we completed bespoke activity plans with participants remotely. This required us identifying barriers to activity which was often a new set of issues around space, or dependents being at home etc.
We were eventually able to reintroduce walking groups initially and then the yoga group started again but this was again stopped during the second lockdown prior to the project ending.
The Energise project was a collaboration between Tees Active and Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind.
Tees Active
Middlesbrough & Stockton Mind
of those who participated saw an increase in overall scores of the WEMWBS measurement tool.
Some of the walking groups continue to take place after the service ended although this has again stopped due to lockdown, but will continue when it is safe to do so. Participants have also shown an interest in accessing gym memberships and other Tees Active provisions going forward.
Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind continues to work to identify funding to allow us to deliver an activity-based project to improve people’s physical and mental health.
Find out more about how Tees Active are working with partners to drive positive change in the community.
