Mental Health
A key GM Moving priority is to embed physical activity as a tool to help improve mental health
A focus on mental wellbeing is key for the whole population.
Greater Manchester Moving is vital to recovery from the pandemic – both our individual and collective recovery. We need to recognise the significant impact the pandemic has had on everyone, and promote physical activity as a means to reconnect with friends and family, enjoying the outdoors, nature and feeling better again.
GM Moving, GM Health and Social Care Partnership, Mind, local authorities, and other GM Moving partner organisations are working together to align and fully integrate physical activity alongside better mental health and wellbeing.
GM Moving partners hope to:
- Strengthen the message and framing about the benefits of moving and physical activity to improving our mental health and wellbeing, illuminating and sharing stories.
- Promote mental wellbeing benefits of outdoor activity, active travel, and green social prescribing.
- Recognise the importance of how our place feels, with good facilities and access to green open space necessary.
- Embed physical activity as a tool to help improve the mental health of children and young people
- Highlight how events and connectivity of communities, including links between moving and socialising, are vital to mental wellbeing
- Grow and draw on advocacy and passion; people who lead and work in GM wellbeing and health teams, communities, and families.
- Work together across GM to support and connect across sectors, across the system. This in turn will help to contribute to wider wellbeing and equality goals.
Evidence
Adults
Sport England’s Active Lives surveys show people who are active have higher mental wellbeing scores than those who are inactive.
In 2024, they released a special report (right) that aimed to increase our understanding about the impact of sport, physical activity and movement on our mental health and wellbeing.
Children
For Children and Young People, Sport England commissioned research that found “strong and consistent evidence that sport and physical activity interventions had positive effects on the diagnosed mental health problems of children and young people”.
Edge Hill University worked to collate and review existing research from across 143 studies to assess the strength of evidence (available above).
How Manchester Mind and Moodswings use movement in their mental health provision
GM Moving caught up with Manchester Mind and Moodswings to learn how two leading mental health providers are building movement and physical activity back into their service offer. Read more here.
Football Freedom Project
The Football Freedom Project brings up to 100 refugees together every week to play football. The sessions, funded by Sport England Together Fund, were attended by mainly women but also men and children from African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. More information here.
The Federation of Jewish Services
The Federation provides advice, support and care services for people of all ages in Greater Manchester’s Jewish community. They used GM Walking and Wheeling grant funding to host socially-distanced walks to support those with a range of mental health conditions. Read their story here.
Stockport User Friendly Fellowship
In Stockport, this group used a GM Walking and Wheeling grant to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of participants through a Walk and Talk psychotherapeutic walking group – limited to 6 people. Read their story here.
Nature for Health
Nature for Health was an outdoor-focused activity engaging individuals most at risk of developing poor mental health and created the activities and support they needed, whilst making the most of the natural environment. More information here.
The GM Moving Podcast: S1 Ep7 – mental wellbeing
Strategic Director, Eve Holt, spoke to Ruth Rosselson, Resilience Coordinator at Manchester Mind to discuss the links between our mental health and our physical health. Ruth’s helps people manage challenges, changes in life, and stress by running various courses and workshops. Download the full episode transcript here.
GM Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy
The GM Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy is ‘Doing Mental Health Differently 2024-2029’.
The strategy sets out what we will do together as a city-region to improve the mental health of people in Greater Manchester, to better support those with mental ill health and to reduce mental health inequalities across our city region.
We believe that ensuring physical activity is embedded in the strategy is essential to realising its ambitions with considerable engagement alongside stakeholders across Greater Manchester shaping the strategy’s development.
GM Big Mental Wellbeing Conversation
The Greater Manchester Big Conversation aimed to hear from people and communities across Greater Manchester about what’s important for their mental wellbeing. The objective is to use the information to understand what matters and to shape future
initiatives to improve mental wellbeing, making sure they reflect the needs of local people. The results showed that Greater Manchester residents clearly emphasised a need for more to be done to protect and improve their mental wellbeing.
They have put forward many ideas for how we could do things differently. Now the system will be working together, to respond to these findings to improve mental wellbeing for all in Greater Manchester. Read the full report here.