Upcoming Shared Learning Event: 31 March 2026
Click here for event information and registration
GM Moving in Action is our shared strategy for physical activity, guiding everyone who is working together to positively change the lives of people across the city region through movement, physical activity, and sport. We know there are groups who are more likely to be inactive, completing less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, than others.
At GM Moving, we’re working to design movement and physical activity into health and social care for the benefit of patients and staff, clinical and non-clinical. Earlier this year, we commissioned Noisy Cricket to look at what role movement and physical activity plays in Greater Manchester’s social care system..
Kate Harding, Strategic Lead for Health Inequalities, said:
“GM Moving have enjoyed some fantastic successes in recent years embedding moving more and physical activity into Greater Manchester’s health system.
“With Noisy Cricket’s support, we’re working alongside the social care system to learn more about the role movement and physical activity can play.
“It’s a complex system but we know that for the least active patients, moving just a little more can have huge physical and mental benefits and bring so much joy.”
Noisy Cricket completed desk research and spoke to numerous partners as part of a system mapping exercise to learn who has a role to play and the main levers for change. From their research, GM Moving are investigating how devolution is creating the space for new innovative models and standards within social care.
Specifically, we believe there are opportunities within the social care workforce, which is often insecure, unpaid labour, to shift working patterns and incorporate moving more. As opposed to a top-down, task-focused approach to care; provision could engage a bottom-up approach, allowing care staff to work in new, progressive ways.
Lauren Coulman, Founder of Noisy Cricket, said:
“The need for person-centred care speaks as much to how we treat the social care workforce, as it does to the people those roles exist to support.
As a vastly undervalued but deeply integral part of the health and social care system, capacity is required for people to consider their own wellbeing alongside the residents and patients they care for.
So much of that starts in commissioning, and in the willingness and ability of social care providers not only to provide infrastructure and resources that enable more physical activity and movement, but also to embed the beliefs and behaviours that support it.
Only then will the system be able to truly consider the context of people’s lives, and best enable the journeys needed to enable dignity, independence and wellbeing for the people of Greater Manchester.”
To investigate further, GM Moving is building on the success of a shared learning event on Enabling Workforce Engagement in Person-Centred Social Care, and holding a second event in Spring to bring together partners who utilise movement and physical activity in social care.
Facilitated by Noisy Cricket’s founder, Lauren Coulman, the event at St Thomas Centre on Tuesday 31 March 2026 will bring together community initiatives, strategic endeavours, tactical partnerships, and systems-focused ambitions. Together, partners will explore both community and cross-sector lenses on the potential of link roles and it’s connection to physical activity and movement.
Designed to allow attendees to engage in meandering exploration, there’ll be diverse perspectives on offer, sharing successes, failures and practical actions to take away. Focusing on how to best enable workforce engagement in person-centred social care, we’ll collectively learn about the impact of workforce engagement in person-centred care, from commissioning and partnership working through to training and strategic investment in care workers.
Zoe Hammet from Salford City Council and GM Moving’s Beth Sutcliffe will provide context on the importance of physical activity and movement in supporting care outcomes and improving the quality of life, independence and dignity of Greater Manchester’s residents GM Moving and Noisy Cricket’s event promises deep learning and rich inspiration on how we can better work collectively in the service of our communities.
Lunch, space to network and opportunities to openly explore building community trust in healthcare will all be provided.
DETAILS
Location: St.Thomas Center, Ardwick Green North, Manchester, M12 6FZ
Date: Tuesday 31 March 2026
Time: 12.30pm to 3.30pm
AGENDA
12.30pm: Networking
12.45pm: Introductions (Lauren Coulman, Noisy Cricket)
1.00pm: Systems Speaker (Zoe Hammet, Salford City Council)
1.05pm: Individual Activity
1.20pm: Strategic Speaker (Charlotte Leonhardsen, NHS Greater Manchester)
1.45pm: Paired Discussions
2.00pm: Tactical Speaker (Reg Patel, Active Tameside)
2.25pm: Group Discussions
2.40pm: Community Speaker (TBC)
3.05pm: Open Exploration
3.20pm: Closing Comments (Beth Sutcliffe, GM Moving)
3.30pm: Thank You & Finish
SPEAKERS
Lauren Coulman | Noisy Cricket
Hosting and facilitating the shared learning event on building trust in preventive healthcare, Lauren Coulman is a social entrepreneur, systems transformation coach and consultant, and issues writer, and founded the social enterprise Noisy Cricket in 2016. Focused on creating reciprocally nurturing systems. The organisation uses a systemic approach, bringing together stakeholders across communities and sectors, to co-create innovative new solutions for society and enabling a more connected, conscious and creative world.
Zoe Hammett | Salford City Council
As Public Health Strategic Manager at Salford City Council, Zoe joined Salford two years ago as the Age Well lead, following a decade as a qualified Adult Social Worker and Front Door Manager, and later as the Age Well Lead within a Health Improvement team in Halton. She now works to ensure Salford remains a WHO Age Friendly City by embedding prevention and age‑friendly practice across the system, as well as leading on an ASC transformation programme, implementing a prevention framework focused on early intervention.
Her passion for improving lives is shaped by having two family members with Down Syndrome who live in supported living, which drives her commitment to person‑centred, non‑traditional models of care. She believes a key part of promoting dignity, independence, confidence and improving healthy life expectancy is embedding physical activity within ASC, which is something she is striving to achieve in Salford.
Charlotte Leonhardsen | NHS Greater Manchester
Charlotte Leonhardsen is Programme Manager for Social Prescribing and Workforce in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership. With a nursing background and over a decade of experience across fitness, social prescribing and partnership development, she leads work to strengthen Greater Manchester’s Live Well workforce and embed person‑ and community‑centred approaches for people of all ages.
Her previous roles include Fitness Manager, Social Prescribing Manager, Partnership Engagement Manager, Regional Learning Coordinator for NHS England, and Sport England‑funded Regional Physical Activity Social Prescribing Coordinator. These experiences show her commitment to evidence‑led practice, workforce development, and driving meaningful change through strong partnerships and well‑designed programmes.
Reg Patel | Active Tameside
For more information on the event, contact marketing@gmmoving.co.uk or hello@noisycricket.org.uk.
