Preston City Council has appointed KKP to deliver its 2010-2015 Sport and Physical Activity Strategy.

Sport and Physical Activity Strategy

Following its involvement in the City's first strategy in 2001/02, KKP worked closely with Preston PCT and the City Council to produce its innovative 2006-2010 strategy (Preston's Working Out). This has underpinned the rapid expansion in the range, quality and impact of the widely acclaimed development work undertaken in the city.

KKP has now been commissioned to update and re-invigorate this strategy to take the Council forward to 2015.

In line with the latest national thinking on the sport and physical activity agenda, strategy development will encompass a range of factors, including:

• Corporate policy - wider contemporary policies, strategies and underpinning research exercises upon which to draw, when framing and developing the key Strategy themes.
• Cohesion - co-ordination of groups and organisations involved in delivering and developing sport and physical activity to ensure that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts'.
• Sustainability - the need to increase participation levels via appropriate access to services for the whole community; underpinned by appropriate delivery mechanisms and resource.
• Young people - cognisant of Sport England policy to raise adult participation, Preston will continue to concentrate a substantial proportion of its effort on complementary, sustainable options to drive up regular participation by young people, with, in Preston's case, particular emphasis on low-participation groups.
• Sport-specific development - a focus on the strength and sustainability of specific sports in the City.
• Facilities - issues such as future direction and orientation of City facility stock, management and programming, pricing, leisure card plus related opportunity for different types of sport/ activity and the present ‘reach of facilities and sport development-led work in the Authority.

KKP's tried and tested approach to strategy development

To kick off this assignment, KKP's designated project team recently attended a full day workshop session with Council staff to describe and encapsulate national/local strategy reference points and determine key local strategy issues.

This will inform an initial key issues paper which will outline a series of first thought proposals for the strategy consultation, in turn forming the basis for KKP's comprehensive consultation process.

Subsequent stages will include draft strategy preparation and presentation, targeted consultation and production of the final strategy early in 2010.

An enviable reputation for sport strategies

KKP has a strong and established reputation for strategic planning. A KKP strategy; whether for sport, physical activity, events, legacy or facilities, combines clear vision, agreed direction and measurable outcomes - based on accurate intelligence about the present position and the relevant political, financial and demographic environment. To this, we add our unique brand of innovation, challenge and action planning to match the specific demands of the agency or area.

Recent illustrations of this include Sandwell's Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport Strategy, sport & physical activity strategies for both Derry and Somerset and the PE and School Sport Strategy produced for Preston's neighbour Blackpool.

Jimmy Khan, Head of Sport and Recreation at Preston City Council is the commissioning officer for this project. Commenting on why he always turns to KKP for projects of this nature, he said,

"With extensive expertise and strong local knowledge, we had no hesitation in employing their services again. I am confident they will live up to a well earned reputation for delivering both challenging and practical strategic plans for sport - proven through their previous work in Preston and beyond."