News from our partners: Shropshire locations to lead new community-led work to improve health, wellbeing and physical activity

Residents in North Shrewsbury, Market Drayton and Highley are set to benefit from investment from Sport England designed to help create healthier, more active and connected communities. 

The investment from Sport England will benefit communities in Shropshire

Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin announced in March 2026 it had secured over £500,000 from Sport England on behalf of the Shropshire Integrated Place Partnership (SHIPP) to support a long-term, place-based approach to improving health and increasing physical activity across Shropshire. The three locations have now been identified enabling local partners to begin work with residents and community organisations across the three areas. The programme will build on existing local strengths, test new approaches, and help identify what works best in different communities.  

The investment will support community-led action, fund local test-and-learn activity, build community capacity and create more opportunities for residents to help shape decisions that affect their area.   

Why these communities? 

North Shrewsbury, Market Drayton and Highley were selected because they each offer different opportunities to learn what works in improving health and wellbeing. Together, they provide a mix of urban, market town and rural communities, helping partners develop approaches that could benefit other parts of Shropshire in the future.  

The areas were chosen because they: 

• Experience health, social or economic inequalities. 

• Have strong local organisations, community groups and leaders already making a difference. 

• Align with wider work to improve health, wellbeing and opportunities for local people. 

• Offer valuable opportunities to test and learn new approaches.  

 In a joint statement, Ruth Houghton, Portfolio Holder for Social Care (Adults and Children) at Shropshire Council and Liberal Democrat Councillor for Bishop’s Castle and Vanessa Whatley, Chief Nursing Officer at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin said: 

“This investment from Sport England gives us an exciting opportunity to work alongside communities in North Shrewsbury, Market Drayton and Highley to explore what helps people, of all ages and fitness levels to live healthier, more active lives.

“Every community is different, so we will work with residents and local organisations to test ideas, learn what works and build on the strengths that already exist in each place. The learning from this work will help shape future approaches across Shropshire.” 

The long-term aim is to help people, communities and organisations work together so that more people across Shropshire can be active, stay healthy and live well. This positively aligns with new guidelines issued by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers earlier this year, who said:

“Evidence continues to show that if physical activity were a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure, due to the great many illnesses it can prevent or treat. It is now clear that even small amounts of physical activity produce important benefits compared to no activity.” 

More information about our work is available at https://energizestw.org.uk/shropshire.