Hertfordshire's Year of Physical Activity 2018 

What is the Year of Physical Activity?

Also known as ‘HertsYOPA18’, it is a year to focus on getting Herts moving. The year will run from 1st January – 31st December 2018.

The campaign is being led by the Herts Sports & Physical Activity Partnership (HSP), Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Hertfordshire Association of Cultural Operators (HACO). We are actively encouraging organisations and individuals who would like to promote sport and physical activity to get involved in this campaign. The more the merrier!

The Year of Physical Activity 2018 will primarily focus on children and adults who are not meeting the national recommended levels for physical activity. Leading an active lifestyle has many benefits to improving our physical and mental health. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of developing over 20 chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. It is a natural medicine that we want to help thousands more Hertfordshire residents benefit from.

HertsYOPA18 will also be used to celebrate what Hertfordshire has to offer to help our residents lead healthy lives. It will shine a spotlight on the great work that takes place week in week out providing a myriad of opportunities for us all to be active.

Aims and objectives

The campaign’s overall aim is to make Hertfordshire the most active county.

There are four broad objectives supporting this:

• 1. Increase Physical Activity levels
• 2. Shift stubborn Inactivity levels
• 3. Celebrate what’s already happening
• 4. Encourage new programmes & events

Who can get involved in HertsYOPA18?

Anyone! We want as many people and organisations as possible to get behind this campaign to help us reach Hertfordshire residents. You could be a Parish or Town Council, leisure provider, lunch club leader, sports club, personal trainer, group exercise leader, University of Third Age group (U3A), Rotary Club, group of mums, or just a group of friends.

We are trying to reach as many people as possible, especially those who may not be doing any activity at the moment. You could be someone who runs a group that has no link to sport and physical activity but would like to encourage your group to go for a walk together or try new activities throughout the year. Or you may be someone who provides sport and physical activity opportunities who can promote what you offer under the HertsYOPA18 umbrella to encourage new people to join your group.

How will the campaign be promoted?

The campaign will be promoted primarily through social media.

• Twitter: @HertsYOPA18
• Facebook: @HertsYOPA18
• Instagram: @hertsyopa18

HSP and HCC will promote general messages about the campaign. Other organisations are encouraged to promote what’s happening in their local areas to their followers and link these messages to the campaign’s social media pages. 

There will be a HertsYOPA18 mascot visiting activities and events throughout the year. HSP will be recruiting a team of volunteers to attend community events to promote the campaign and take “YOPA” the mascot to visit as many events as possible.

A monthly newsletter will be emailed out to campaign supporters to report on the previous month’s activities, what’s happening that month and a heads up on the months ahead.

Monthly Themes

Each month will have a theme which will be led by a specific organisation. Details of the monthly themes and lead organisations are outlined below.

Is there any funding available to help me support HertsYOPA18?

We have produced a funding factsheet to help point you in the right direction to apply for grants to assist you. Please see the HertsYOPA18 Funding Factsheet.

Who do I contact for more information?

If you would like to get involved, please contact Jane Parker on j.parker20@herts.ac.uk