Encouraging healthy outdoor activity amongst under-represented groups: An evaluation of the Active England woodland projects

Abstract

This paper explores how under-represented groups can be encouraged to access woodlands for healthy exercise, drawing on the evaluation of five woodland-based health projects. These projects were part of a broad programme called ‘Active England’, organised by Sport England and funded through the Big Lottery. A review of academic and policy literature related to health and physical activity, access to greenspace and issues of social inclusion and exclusion is followed by an overview of the wider Active England Programme and an introduction to the five woodland projects. There follows a detailed description of the multi-method approach adopted in the evaluation, including on-site surveys, site catchment profiling, and a qualitative research phase involving shared activities, discussion groups and interviews with project users, non-users and project staff. The inclusion of qualitative research with non-project users was an important innovation of the evaluation, allowing the researchers to explore in detail some of the barriers to involvement experienced by particular groups. The key findings of the research are presented, highlighting aspects of projects that were more or less successful in reaching under-represented groups. The results indicate that staff or volunteer led activities and ‘facilitated’ (supported) access can be crucial in enabling some groups to overcome barriers to participation. Discussion of the findings and critical reflections on the research process are used to draw out key recommendations, with the aim of informing the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of greenspace and woodland projects for target groups.