East of England Mind Sport & Physical Activity Network

Building relationships between sport, physical activity and mental health, and sharing good practice across the East of England network

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Mind

From 2019 - 2024, the mental health charity Mind ran their Regional Network Programme to help more people with mental health problems engage in physical activity. By linking up local organisations across the physical activity, mental health and charity sectors Mind's nine Regional Networks supported sport and physical activity organisations to be more inclusive of people with mental health problems. Although this programme was discontinued in 2024, the regional networks left a legacy of learning behind.

The Regional Network's worked to increase the number of groups in their region who were equipped with the skills to support and engage people with mental health problems in physical activity. They offered training, toolkits and resources, as well as providing a platform for networking and sharing best practice to build stronger relationships between organisations. 

Every Regional Network was led by a Hub (lead organisation), with one based in each of the nine English government regions. They received support and funding from Mind. Hubs had autonomy and responsibility for designing, delivering and implementing their Regional Network. 

Mind Regional Network Hub for the East of England

Herts Sport & Physical Activity Partnership was the Mind Regional Network Hub for the East of England which comprised of the six Active Partnerships in the East Region. The network worked collaboratively to achieve objectives set by Mind: 

  • Utilised and promoted Mind’s Universal Offer (e.g. training, toolkits and resources)
  • Built relationships between sport, physical activity and mental health organisations
  • Shared best practice
  • Supported the scoping around Mind’s strategic priority audiences, in particular people fighting poverty and racialised communities
  • Helped Mind with requests for support within their region

Since the Network's inception, HSP ran a series of learning and networking opportunities. These events sought to develop the sector's confidence when discussing how sport and physical activity can be used to benefit people’s mental health, as well as improve understanding of how opportunities can be delivered to be inclusive to those living with poor mental health.

Some recordings of our network events and conferences can be found below:

You can watch all events back on our East of England Mind Sport & Physical Activity Network YouTube Playlist. 

As well as their work as part of the network the other five Active Partnerships continue to work on connecting mental health with physical activity in the Counties they operate. You can find out more about their respective work on each of their websites: 

Get in touch…

For more information, please contact Tom Horey: t.horey2@herts.ac.uk