Background  

Sport England is investing in local communities, specifically in those places where it is hardest to be active.  

Physical activity is vital for our physical and mental health, from walking to work to playing sports with friends.  

But not all of us have the same opportunities to be active. 

When children don’t have safe spaces to run and play, when adults are working long hours and constantly worrying about making ends meet, it makes it harder to be active and healthy.  

Through placed-based working we can work deeply in a place, developing meaningful partnerships with communities and the organisations that support them – this is why we are calling the work ‘Place Partnerships’. With these partnerships in place, we can better co-design opportunities which make it easier for residents to be active when they step out of their homes.  

To achieve this, we need to:  

• work together, from community members to voluntary organisations to local government.  

• build networks and develop relationships in place  

• break down the barriers that get in the way of being active.  

• strengthen communities in a way that is reflective of their unique needs, relationships and geography.  

We are looking to build extra capacity to support the work in several places and consequently are looking to recruit several roles.  

Find out more  

On this link you will find a short film and more information articulating the ethos and learning behind creating change in places and the Place Partnerships work.   

Values and behaviours are critical to this work.  The values, mindsets and behaviours listed below have been pulled together from learning from place-based work in other areas of the country. We are looking for people who work this way.   

• Curious and reflective  

• Open and honest (integrity)   

• Humble and approachable   

• Enthusiastic & passionate (caring to make a difference)   

• Courageous and disruptive (willing to do things differently and challenge status quo)  

• Comfortable with uncertainty and complexity, with a positive approach to risk/failure  

• Values driven and outcomes focused (purpose over process)  

• Flexible, agile and responsive    

• Resilience and perseverance   

• Collaborative, inclusive, engaging & empowering (involving people in finding solutions)  

• Empathetic (takes time to understand lived experience)  

• Genuine commitment to tackling inactivity, inequalities & discriminatory practices  

• Non-hierarchical (valuing leadership at all levels)  

Place Partnership work in Nottingham   

Nottingham is one of the places that has been identified to be part of a bigger programme of work, funded by Sport England. These are exciting new roles that will enable people living in specific communities in Nottingham to be more active and lead healthier lives.     

Nottingham has a proud history and heritage with a rich and high-profile background in sport, arts and culture. It is a large city of around 324,000 residents, governed by a unitary authority, with some amazing people living and working there. For a while now, some people living in certain parts of the city have been finding it harder to be active and lead a healthy lifestyle. We want to collectively understand what is needed to make this easier.  

By working deeply within 9 communities in Nottingham, and with a wide range of partners, these roles will help to better understand, identify and co-design opportunities which can make it easier for people to be active where they live.  

The roles will be employed by Active Partners Trust (the employing body for Active Notts), hosted locally in Nottingham and work closely with support and guidance from key partners across Nottingham including the City Council, Public Health, Nottingham CVS and Nottingham City Place-Based Partnership.  

Nottingham Place Partnership Lead  

This role will lead the place partnership work in Nottingham. Building collaboration across a wide range of partner organisations, the focus will be on creating the culture and environment for change, reflecting the needs of communities and their barriers to being active.   

Nottingham Place Partnership Lead will have the following areas of responsibility: 

Understanding and insight - informed by people and communities 

• Understand existing place-based work in Nottingham and work with partners to establish a shared position on the strengths, barriers, gaps and connections within the system. This will look at culture, as well as practice, and result in shared priorities for future action. 

• Understand the community insight that exists (lived experience and resident voice). Synthesise, analyse and translate this to inform action. 

• Work closely with partners to build a coordinated and collaborative approach to community engagement, understanding lived experience and listening to resident voice. 

Grow Collaboration 

• Working with colleagues and place-based partners, agree a set of principles for how we will work together. 

• Lead multi-agency strategic approaches to position the place partnership opportunity as a key strategic driver for change across the city for physical activity, health and wellbeing. 

• Develop an initial stakeholder plan for the partnership, informed by existing community insight of systemic barriers. Grow collaboration and connectivity across the system, convening partners around the place partnership opportunity.  

• Build, maintain and manage relationships and ensure there is equally weighted contribution and engagement from all stakeholders. Build collaboration and connectivity across the system. 

Leadership and workforce development 

• Co-design a Workforce Development plan that complements the Sport England Leadership programme, identifying priorities to support place-based work. 

• Create an appetite for, and support leadership development, utilising the LGA/Sport England systems leadership programme to strengthen the place partnership work. 

Learning and evaluation 

• Lead the development and implementation of a local evaluation and learning framework, aligned to the national Place Partnership evaluation framework ensuring:  

• a local Theory of Change for Nottingham is developed, aligned to the Making Our Move Theory of Change  

• the evaluation is embedded within the work, learning informs action and takes place in a timely way across the system  

• partners undertake a self-assessment of system maturity  

• connections are made to improve the data set within Moving Communities in Nottingham. 

Preparing for the future  

• Work with colleagues to prepare and submit a bid to Sport England for the full Place Partnership award. Ensure this is based on a good understanding of the lived experience of communities and the systemic barriers to physical activity that exist.  

Governance, management and reporting 

• Work closely with Active Notts, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System, Public Health and VCSE organisations to support and evolve appropriate governance for the work at a community and system level.  

• Prepare reports into Nottingham City Health & Wellbeing structures, Place Partnerships Leadership Group and Active Partners Trust Board. 

• Line manage the 2 Place Partnerships Community Connectors whose work will focus in identified communities (MSOA areas) in Nottingham. 

• Ensure a commitment to Safeguarding and Equity and Diversity through all work internally and externally.  

We are looking for someone to join us who: 

• Is committed to reducing inequalities, recognising some communities need more support, and understands the role physical activity can play in this. 

• Is passionate about Nottingham and understand its residents’ needs. 

• Understands the relationship between physical activity and health. 

• Has proven strong leadership skills, including the ability to lead in complexity, adapt as necessary and inspire distributed leadership. 

• Across a large city footprint and several identified communities, is able to create highly collaborative environments through building shared purpose and developing strong, trusted relationships. 

• Is able to generate a clear purpose and develop and implement a shared vision. 

• Can apply the principles of co-production in enabling change. 

• Can develop positive relationships with people from different backgrounds, organisations and sectors. 

• Understands and can work within a political environment. 

• Understands the importance of values and behaviours in creating the culture and environment for place-based working. 

• Is self-reflective, self-aware and adapts own behaviours. 

• Has strong interpersonal skills and understands the value of being humble. 

• Is an excellent communicator – writing, speaking and presenting to a variety of audiences. A good listener – inquisitive and curious. 

• Can use a range of IT platforms and equipment. 

• Understands the value of learning and evaluation and can embed this within place-based work, across a number of communities and partners within a large city footprint. 

• Is analytical and able to interpret and understand complex data and insight from a range of sources and use it to inform the work. 

• Demonstrates strong strategic planning skills and the ability to manage complex programmes 

• Is motivated and able to plan, organise and prioritise own workload to meet deadlines. 

• Is able to travel to meetings in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. 

Before applying, please visit Place Partnerships recruitment - Making Our Move for more details about this specific role, place partnership working and Active Partners Trust.