Move Together has been in place for 10-months now and we are excited to have reached the landmark achievement of engaging over 1000 participants to receive the benefits of 'moving more'.

The pathway has provided crucial support for people whose health has been negatively impacted by COVID-19, adopting a strengths-based and person-centred approach to encourage individuals to be proactive about their health and wellbeing, enabling increased independence and providing the tools to self-manage their activity levels.

Participants are referred or can self-refer into the pathway, where they are then provided with motivational interviewing and behaviour change support by the Move Together coordinators based at each district. These conversations are aimed at helping participants to increase their movement and overcome any barriers they are facing, and then ultimately be signposted to different activities based on their needs. Activities include 'at home' activity resources, walking/cycling groups, community exercise classes, social groups and much more.

Shephard and Moyes Ltd are providing ongoing evaluation and insight for Move Together, demonstrating the positive impact of the pathway to date:

• 70% of people are doing more active minutes over the period they have been involved with Move Together.
• 40% of people are less lonely over the time they have been involved with Move Together.
• 30% of people reporting improvements in pain/discomfort.

Feedback from participants also reinforces this positive impact through self-reported improvements in their mental health and social connections:

"Being a part of something has made me feel less alone and more motivated. It has given me the kick start I needed to start turning my life around".

"My outlook became more positive, and I didn't feel as depressed. I started to make more social connections with new people and people I hadn't seen in years".

"Having regular support helped with my motivation to start doing things, which has changed my whole mind set and lifestyle. Also just being pointed in the right direction and given information on what's out there to do. It has really helped me change my life around".

Move Together is a great example of a system change approach and new collaborative & preventative way of working and reaching this number of participants wouldn't have been possible without the support of numerous partners and stakeholders across the county.

Richard Claydon, Healthy Communities Manager at Active Oxfordshire, reflects on the progress made to date and reaching the 1000 participants milestone:

"We are delighted to achieve the 1000 participant figure for Move Together. This is testament to the great collaboration between Active Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire District Councils, and wider partners, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has supported the pathway to date. 'Movement' is a vital part for improving our health & wellbeing and it is brilliant to see the impact Move Together has provided on activity levels, mental health, and social connections.

We are looking forward to developing the pathway further and continuing to provide opportunities for residents in Oxfordshire to access opportunities to be active".

You can find out more about the Move Together Pathway here.