In 2018 Parkinson’s UK ran a small pilot that examined the barriers that people with the condition face when trying to be active. Fast forward to 2024 and the charity has a flourishing UK-wide physical activity strategy, a dedicated delivery team and a wide range of resources, partners and support to help people become and stay active. Tim Morton, Parkinson’s UK’s Physical Activity Lead, shares the secret to their success.
Where it all began: the UK Parkinson’s community
The growth in our focus on physical activity has been driven by the demand from the collective Parkinson’s community, backed up by support from our CEO and the Board of Trustees.
The Parkinson’s community is justifiably demanding. They understand that Parkinson’s UK is at the forefront of research to find a cure for the condition (we are the largest funder of research in Europe), but they also want to know what we are doing to help them right now, today. Our ‘Get Active Stay Active’ strategy is very much focused on outputs and delivery; helping people to understand the benefits of being active and giving them the opportunities to exercise safely.
By engaging with the Parkinson’s community (which includes healthcare and activity professionals as well as people affected by the condition) we were able to make the case for increased internal and external funding for physical activity delivery, and clearly demonstrate that being active has significant immediate and long term benefits. It’s something that practically anyone with Parkinson’s can do, and as we know can be as important as medication in helping people live well with the condition.
Our work focuses mainly on education and awareness and opportunities to be active. By working collaboratively with the Parkinson’s community we manage to address current and future needs, and develop resources that are appropriate for everyone with the condition.
Resources
Our current resources include dedicated web pages, a suite of active at home videos, hard copy guides, case studies, a training course for activity providers and an online lookup tool that lists Parkinson’s specific activities by location, all of which are free to access. Our resources can be viewed here.
The physical activity team includes staff who focus on partnership development, engagement, grants and communications, and we work closely with charity colleagues from the research, corporate engagement, communications and fundraising teams.
Grants and partnerships
An important part of our delivery is the Physical Activity Grants Programme. This enables us to fund hundreds of small projects across the UK that support people to be active that currently deliver over 60 different sports or activities. Thousands of people have taken part in new activities or increased the amount they are active as a result of our funding, including walking football, tennis, seated exercise classes, dance and even snooker.
We’ve also had a lot of success in developing partnerships with National Governing Bodies and leisure providers. This has led to a big increase in the amount and variety of opportunities to be active we can offer, and in one case over 3500 people with Parkinson’s and their carers taking advantage of free gym memberships.
What has been the key to our success?
We’ve really focused on two areas, listening to the Parkinson’s community and making the clear case within the charity that being physically active is vitally important for people with Parkinson’s, so it should play a leading part in our strategic ambitions. We also strive to make sure that physical activity is used as a tool to increase our community engagement. This includes reaching people who are newly diagnosed, who have young onset Parkinson’s, and those from underrepresented parts of the community.
As a result of our engagement with the collective Parkinson’s community, we have really been able to focus on providing opportunities to be active (grants & partnerships) and education for those who deliver sessions for people living with Parkinson’s.
Our work has seen grassroots sports clubs and other community leisure providers gain the skills and confidence to deliver safe and appropriate sessions. Through the launch of our education offer we have seen thousands of people access webinars and courses, and we now have a large workforce who are Parkinson’s aware and understand the benefits of being active with the condition.
Where next for Parkinson’s UK?
In 2024 and 2025 we will be working closely with the Parkinson’s community to develop new resources including videos, a podcast and a campaign to encourage more people to visit our dedicated web pages. We’ll be enhancing our online learning offer for activity providers; funding training for volunteers and expanding our grants programme to support more providers and participants.
Find out more about physical activity and exercise, and visit our Sports & Exercise hub for inspiration of finding a physical activity that suits you.
