I've Pledged My Vote for Jersey Sport and Active Living

Today I signed a pledge that if elected, I will advocate for sport and active living, putting this at the heart of island life and policies.

Participating and volunteering in sport and active living has enormous benefits to us as individuals and as a society; it improves physical and mental wellbeing, brings communities together and makes them safer while supporting employment and economic growth.

We need Jersey to have a well-structured and planned government-backed sports programme.

It is vital for the future of our island that encouraging and facilitating physical activity becomes a key priority of the new government.

By investment in sport and active living. It’s a ‘spend to save’ situation and attitudes to health need to shift quickly from reactive to preventative. With an ever-aging population and rising obesity levels, being active can reduce the risk of heart disease, hypertension [high blood pressure], stroke, cancer, diabetes and dementia by 30-50 percent. In addition to the health benefits children who are active perform better academically, have better attendance and improved behaviour.

Sport and active living provides the best preventative solution to many of the public policy challenges our island faces, including obesity, social exclusion and physical and mental problems.

There needs to be a real focus on the island’s facilities and the policy that inspires more of us to lead more active lifestyles.

Led by Jersey Sport the “Inspiring an Active Jersey “ Strategy is being drafted to recognise the far-reaching contribution that sport and active living can make. The strategy is a 25-year plan to make Jersey one of the most active populations in the world.

The next Government will need to provide appropriate resource, so that the power of sport and active living can be harnessed to change lives and transform our community. This investment must be viewed as a ‘spend to save’ project and the focus of funding for health needs to look closely at the balance between reactive and preventative programmes.