Physical inactivity is common in the UK, and around 25% of adults in England complete fewer than 30 minutes of exercise per week. Being physically inactive can increase our risk of a number of diseases, including dementia, some cancers and depression, and is costly to the NHS. This research will evaluate an intervention called Together an Active Future, which aims to increase physical activity levels across six districts in Pennine Lancashire. Different types of interventions will be provided in each of the six districts, and residents have been actively involved in planning and designing the types of interventions that will help them to become more physically active.

Our research aims to find out which types of interventions have been most successful in increasing physical activity levels, and what effect the interventions have had on other outcomes, such as levels of wellbeing and healthcare use. We will also investigate whether the interventions have been delivered fairly, so that everyone has had an equal chance of being able to participate and benefit from them.

We will analyse data from surveys, health services and leisure centres, to see whether groups of people who have had access to the interventions have increased their physical activity levels compared to similar groups of people who have not had access to the interventions. The findings of the research will be shared with public health networks and published in academic journals and conferences, and will be used to decide if the interventions should be made available more widely throughout the UK.