One million people regularly active in Greater Manchester

Greater Sport

Greater Manchester has exceeded its target of one million people active by 2017 with 1,009,180 people now regularly active in Greater Manchester, estimated to have saved the area £647,590 in NHS costs in the first year alone.

Inactivity is the fourth largest cause of disease and disability with one in six deaths linked to insufficient levels of physical activity. Up to 40% of long term conditions could be prevented by taking more exercise and a small increase in activity can make a significant difference.

GreaterSport Chief Executive, Yvonne Harrison said: “When we set this target it was one that demonstrated the ambition of Greater Manchester. It was a goal we could collectively work towards and one which if we succeeded would save the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds. I’m therefore delighted that Greater Manchester has achieved one million people taking part in regular activity.

"The work is not done as there are still too many inactive residents within the region but we are now far healthier and active than we were.”

Gillian Bishop, Chief Executive of Link4Life, said: “Link4Life is proud to have been part of driving one million people to be active through our work across the borough of Rochdale. We have been working with our partners both in the borough and the county to ensure there are more opportunities for our residents to be active and I’m so glad that our work is having an impact.”