HARNESSING DATA, DIGITAL AND TECH
Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive of Sport England said “There is a significant prize to be won here if the sport and physical activity sector seizes the opportunity to embrace digital innovation.”
We want to ensure that technological developments are utilised to drive the physical activity agenda forward, whilst also recognising that a large proportion of the North East population is classified as digitally excluded. It is important therefore that developments are delivered in ways to support inclusion, not widen inequalities.
The Active Giving app is free to use and allows users to convert their physical activity (recorded either through Strava or directly on the app) into contributions to a range of environmental and social projects across the globe. Activities that can be tracked include walking, cycling, and running as well as some less traditional pursuits, such as kayaking and rock climbing.
Following our discussions with Active Giving through the year, we have arranged for the app to also be able to be used to support local causes. The Great Northumberland Forest and the North East Community Forest have been identified as two major tree planting and regeneration projects covering all our local authority areas as the projects to benefit from our work with the app.
We have partnered with Northumberland County Council to pilot this project. The objective is to use the app to promote physical activity within their workforces using the incentive of being able to plant over 700 trees across the Great Northumberland Forest and the North East Community Forest in 2022-2023 through physical activity.
