By: Clare Morley

I recently read back over a piece that I wrote when we went into the November-December 2020 national lockdown (aka ‘Lockdown 2’), where I talked about the value of movement for our wellbeing. Little did I know at the time that we would hurtle into another national lockdown in January 2021, and only just be on the edge of starting to move out of that at the end of March.

The key theme of that piece was trying to focus on any movement, in any place, at any time as part of our #NEMovement campaign, recognising that a harsh North East winter, combined with the pandemic restrictions, was going to mean that we needed to use every tool available to us to keep ourselves physically and mentally well.

Through this period, we’ve worked tirelessly at Rise to support a range of local community groups across the region to introduce physical activity into their work through our Tackling Inequalities Funding, and we were also delighted to work with Bernicia Housing to support older people living in sheltered accommodation to keep moving via the distribution of a range of physical activity packs that we delivered just before Christmas.

And here we are now, on the verge of Spring, and on the verge of a “Return to Play” in terms of many opportunities to be active alongside more than just one other person or your household. Whilst there are still concerns around a third wave in Europe that may impact here, and on reduced availability of vaccines, it’s good to have some positive news from 29th March to focus on.

There’s loads of great guidance as to what you can access from 29th March on the Sport England website, but in summary, the following is all allowed from a sport and physical activity perspective:

• Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, sports pitches, outdoor skateparks and outdoor swimming pools can re-open;

• Organised outdoor sport and physical activity for adults and children can return, which will be exempt from the legal gathering limits; thresholds will be set by each sport’s National Governing Body or organising organisation; and

• Organised outdoor and indoor sport for disabled people can take place without being subject to social contact limits.

What is “organised outdoor sport and activity” I hear you cry? Well, this includes:

• Organised outdoor group activities (e.g. outdoor exercise classes, group cycle rides, walking groups);

• Outdoor team sports (these may be adapted versions, depending on NGB guidance);

• Other organised outdoor sports, such as tennis, golf, horse riding and water sports; and

• Organised sport participation events (e.g. running and cycling events).

To be clear, informal sport and physical activity is not covered by any exemptions, and will have to follow the legal gathering limits for outdoors from 29th March, i.e. the ‘rule of six’ or two households. So you can go for a kickabout in the park with your mates, but keep it to you and five other mates please. If your mates were all in the same football club as you, you can all play organised football with them at the club whilst following the FA’s guidelines on return to play. The difference is subtle, but important.

Whilst there are clearly a number of regulations that we need to understand and follow in terms of re-introducing more and more forms of sport and physical activity as we move through the Government roadmap, the resounding comments that I’m hearing are that this is such a great step in the right direction to supporting people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Here at Rise, we look forward to continuing to support our partners through this transitional phase. Hopefully, with further re-opening of indoor facilities such as gyms and pools, planned at the moment for 12th April, the safe transition can continue successfully and we can move into Summer with a much broader variety of options and opportunities to be more active, and feel better for it.