Place Partnerships: Our journey so far

As part of Sport England’s Place Partnership approach (formally local delivery pilots) we have demonstrated how collaboration, prioritising relationships, and community-led solutions can sustainably tackle inactivity and support the wider system in helping our communities live healthy and active lives. 

The place partnership work in Greater Manchester has had a transformative impact, driving significant change both locally and regionally. Our efforts have contributed to a faster than national average decline in inactivity, with the gap between Greater Manchester and national levels narrowing in the past 12 months. Data from Active Lives shows that Greater Manchester has seen a reduction of -3.1%, compared to a national decrease of just -1.2%. While we cannot definitively link these changes to our actions, the trends indicate that our approach is likely playing a key role in driving positive outcomes across the region. 

When reflecting on our work to date we can break down our progress at a regional level into 3 phases.  

Phase 1 (2017-19): Laying the foundations 

We worked closely alongside our localities to shape what place-based working should look like in Greater Manchester. This included developing the ‘place partnership principles’ which underpinned each boroughs approach when creating their own place-based plans and identify the communities they would work with. This period focused on building relationships, in our communities and regionally, and creating a culture of ‘testing and learning’ where we gave ourselves permission to work in new ways, try new things and where failure was seen as an opportunity to grow.  

Phase 2 (2020-22) Strengthening Connections 

This phase was heavily influenced by the Covid-19 response and the Building Back Fairer agenda, focusing on deepening relationships and expanding partnerships. Key milestones during this period included framing the language and messaging around physical activity, sport and movement, alongside the development of the five enablers of change. These enablers of change helped us to understand the conditions required to support a population scale increase in physical activity, place-based work and a whole systems approach. The enablers helped also helped us to understand our impact and influences regional strategies like GM Moving in Action (2021-31).   

To read more about the 5 enablers of change please click here.

Phase 3 (2022-25): Understanding our impact

During this phase we refined our understanding of how change happens by developing and evolving Greater Manchester’s Theory of Change. This has helped us reflect on our influence, consolidate learning, and strengthen the direction for the next phase of our work. As part of this, we collectively refreshed our principles to better reflect our growing maturity in understanding place-based work.  

We also supported the national Place Partnership expansion effort, sharing our journey and the value of place-based approaches nationally. This period also marked the beginning of planning how we could extend our place partnership approach into new communities across Greater Manchester, expanding our reach and impact.

For more information please watch our video summarising GM’s journey so far, visit our locality webpages, or read our process evaluation reports here.

Looking ahead to Phase 4, which will take us from 2025 to 2028, we are focused on deepening our impact, strengthening our partnerships, and supporting others in their place-based journeys.