Live Well is Greater Manchester’s commitment to everyday support in every neighbourhood. It represents a radical shift in the way we deliver public services and collaborate with communities to reduce inequalities. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s commitment is for ‘every community to have daily access to support and advice to improve their physical and mental health and socio-economic status’.

We know that you cannot improve the health and wellbeing of our residents and reduce inequalities without movement, physical activity and sport. Therefore, everyone involved in delivering the GM Moving in Action Strategy are already making key contributions to creating the conditions for people in our city region to live well.

Supported by devolution and financial commitments from GMCA and NHS GM, the Live Well movement has been growing and strengthening across Greater Manchester, championing, connecting and enabling community led initiatives that are already supporting people to live well in our city region. Most recently, new investment from the National Lottery has further strengthened this movement. On behalf of Greater Manchester, Live Well will receive £16.5 million over four years from The National Lottery Community Fund, the UK’s largest community funder. This investment in Live Well Spaces of Hope and Connection will create a network of 100+ inclusive, community-led and owned spaces across Greater Manchester where people can meet, belong and find everyday support.

March this year marked a key moment when the movement was brought to life with the Live Well Spring Festival, a two-week celebration of the people, places and partnerships.

The Live Well Festival: 270 events in two weeks

Across the two weeks, 270 unique and diverse pop-up events took place which highlighted what it means to live well in Greater Manchester. Whilst each event was telling its own story, they are all connected to 4 key themes:

• • Spaces of Hope and Connection

• • Building Bridges and Weaving Trust

• • Great Everyday Support

• • Participation and Community Power

The Live Well Spring Festival was a joyous celebration showcasing how people and communities come together to support each other and create change in their neighbourhoods. In the GM Moving in Action Strategy, it is made clear how people moving more is key to a happier, healthier, greener GM, and the pop-ups that took place across the Live Well Festival showcased this. The festival provided a key opportunity to see the strategy in action with movement taking many different forms, highlighting the diverse ways that movement and physical activity show up and support people to live well.

On every day of the festival there was an opportunity for movement. From the opening event which celebrated movement at Norley Hall Adventure Playground, introductory Tai Chi Qigong in Manchester to a women’s walking group in Rochdale, movement was at the centre of this Live Well celebration.

GM Moving joined the Live Well Festival 2026

Our team attended pop-ups from across the programme to be part of the Live Well Spring Festival and see GM Moving in Action. From explicit focuses on physical activity to more subtle nods to the role of our environments, nature and mindful movement, it’s clear that movement and physical activity is a thread being purposefully woven into Live Well.

Kate Harding, GM Moving’s Strategic Lead for Health Inequalities attended events across the festival. She has shared her reflections on how fantastic it has been to see the diverse ways movement and physical activity have been woven into the festival.

At the Creative Health through Live Well pop up, Kate reflected:

‘There was a great appetite within the room for conversation and learning, with lots of examples of live well in practice and people doing amazing things in their communities.

There was a clear overlap between movement and creativity – the day started with a dance session and a key creative health project is embedding dance into early years settings to support school readiness and child development.’

Kate also had the opportunity to learn more about the role that local spaces and places such as parks are playing in delivering local support to residents.

At the Bird box making pop-up at Victoria Park, Kate said:

‘This is my local park that I go to all the time and sometimes forget or take for granted what they do. It’s great opportunity for places like this to be connected through Live Well and to raise awareness of the role they play and what a variety of everyday support looks like in a neighbourhood. In addition to weekend activities for children and families, they run Sport England Movement Fund gentle movement classes twice per week, as well as things like food bank support / pay it forward, creative opportunities and connection (chatty cafe).’

Jess Simons, GM Moving’s Active Children Lead attended a pop-up organised by City in the Community, making the connection between sport and Live Well impossible to ignore:  

‘It was good to see in practice the role sport plays in helping people to live well; providing outdoor space and opportunity within the community as well as targeted support such as work within Manchester Children’s Hospital and people with dementia.

Also great to see the space they have created in the community near to the ground that is supporting local residents to be active and children to have access to decent play equipment and space. They shared how well local people looked after the space so felt they had a good sense of ownership about it, and it was co-designed with the community.’

Finally, Emily Wilkins, GM Moving’s People and Leadership Lead reflected on their time at the Grass Routes Movement – Thrive in Nature pop-up, exploring the connection between nature, creativity and movement: 

‘I attended a guided nature walk around one of UoM’s Quads, followed by nature journalling in Manchester Museum’s community space. It was a relaxed opportunity to meet new people, learn more about nature, and take more notice of your surroundings. A peaceful and low pressure space to tap into our creative sides.’