Climbing Higher
Delivering 'Climbing Higher' - A More Active, Healthy and Inclusive Wales.
The Welsh Assembly Government sets the sport and physical activity policies and priorities for implementing its strategy (Climbing Higher). These focus on increasing rates of participation in sport and physical activity along with achieving sporting success on the World Stage. The Sports Council for Wales is the Welsh Assembly Government's main delivery agent for implementing its Climbing Higher strategy. It develops and administers the programmes which deliver the Government's policies and translates the strategy into action.
In response to the challenges posed by the Assembly's 'Climbing Higher' strategy, a new framework for sport and physical activity was launched by the Sports Council for Wales in 2005. This framework repositions the Council from being seen predominantly as a distributor of funding to one which focuses on being a ‘Development Agency’, achieving specific outcomes in line with Government policy.
The focus will be the marketing of physical activity, advocacy and innovation in programme development. In particular, it advocates supporting people through training and supporting organisations with the development and evaluation of good practice.
Sport and physical activity need to be re-branded and packaged differently to appeal to more people. Leisure is a crowded marketplace these days and exercise competes with many other activities for people’s time, but few competitors have such a strong unique selling point; physical activity is fun and prolongs life!
We know from campaigns such as those to reduce smoking and promote safe sex that these messages are quickly accepted by some social groups, but for others, particularly people in disadvantaged areas, the task is more challenging. Adapting messages and activities to local circumstances will be extremely important, as will developing an understanding of the process and components of behaviour change in different social contexts.
‘Climbing Higher’ articulates much broader expectations for public funding of sport and physical activity in the context of the Assembly’s strategic agenda and other strategic policies for health, older people, social inclusion, etc. The internationally accepted standard for healthy physical activity is ‘5x30’ (thirty minutes of moderate physical activity on at least five days a week) for adults and ‘5x60’ for children. Physical Activity and sport are not synonymous- walking, cycling housework and manual work can contribute to achieving ‘5x30/5x60,’ just as playing football or tennis or going to the gym can.
Physical activity can take place in a number of settings, including organised and competitive sport and less formal, but still organised, recreational ‘play sport’ activity. It also happens through active recreation, for example walking, jogging, cycling, aerobics or dance and as a by-product of other active living activities, including active transport, housework, gardening and occupation.
The role of the Council across the physical activity spectrum will vary. Clearly our expertise and experience in working with sport at all levels means that we will be most active in our core activities, taking a strong lead to affect local networks and partnerships. However, we will also support the development of active recreation through our intervention programmes and work closely with other agencies such as the Countryside Council for Wales and Forestry Commission on outdoor activities.
Lottery Distribution - Additionality:
The Sports Council for Wales is committed to the principle of additionality as defined in the National Lottery Act 1993. In the course of its business as a lottery distributor, it will demonstrate the independence of funding decisions and maintain the distinction between core Government expenditure and lottery funding.
