South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard has signed a landmark agreement to boost sport and physical activity and improve health outcomes across South Yorkshire.
Mayor Coppard, Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth and NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board CEO Gavin Boyle signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which signals a new ambitious, collaborative approach to sport, physical activity, prevention and wellbeing.
The agreement is accompanied by the launch of the UK’s first Sport Legacy Institute (SLI), an innovative £7m private-public partnership between the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and Westfield Health that will support the ambitions of the MOU by creating a centre of excellence for sport and health innovation within the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield. The initiative is aimed at attracting inward investment to improve health outcomes in South Yorkshire.
SYMCA’s collaboration with Sport England and the launch of the unique SLI mark a significant step forward in improving the health of people across South Yorkshire, by embedding preventative health initiatives into everyday life - from schools and workplaces to transport and urban planning.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “In South Yorkshire, where you’re born can still determine how long you live. In some cases, that difference can be as much as twenty years. That’s not just unfair, it has to be unacceptable.
“That’s why I’ve said I want South Yorkshire to be the healthiest region in the country. But I can’t do that on my own. I need help from our communities, our public services, and our partners - like the brilliant teams at Sport England and Westfield Health.
“Today, we’re building on South Yorkshire’s proud legacy of sport, movement, and community spirit to bring that vision of a healthier South Yorkshire closer to reality; signing a new agreement with Sport England that puts physical activity and healthier lives right at the heart of our plan for prevention and wellbeing.
“And we’re launching something bold: the Sport Legacy Institute. A £7 million partnership that brings together policy, infrastructure, and innovation to attract investment and improve health outcomes for everyone, particularly those who need it most.
“I’m building on the blueprint we set out in our Health is Wealth report - a 10-year plan to make South Yorkshire a place where people live longer, healthier, happier lives.
“Because health isn’t just about hospitals and this partnership is about more than just sport. It’s about how we live our lives, the choices we make, the systems that support us, and the place that we live. It’s about creating an ecosystem of innovation, research, and opportunity - so we can improve health, grow our economy, and build a stronger, fairer South Yorkshire that’s fit for the future.”
The agreement with Sport England will focus on six key areas:
- Health: Making South Yorkshire a place where people live longer in good health, with sport and physical activity playing a central role in prevention and wellbeing.
- Growth: Boosting the local economy by helping people succeed and supporting jobs and businesses in sport and physical activity.
- Children and Young People: Giving every child a great start in life with every school becoming an active school.
- Walking, Wheeling and Cycling: Empowering people to walk, wheel, scoot and cycle every day to support their health and independence.
- Communities: Creating safe, inclusive spaces where everyone feels confident being active and where sport helps unite and connect people.
- Innovation: Leading the way in developing new solutions that ensure sport and physical activity improve quality of life, especially for those facing the greatest inequalities.
Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England, said: “This partnership is a powerful demonstration of what can happen when we join forces at a regional level and look at challenges through the lens of whole system change. Our shared commitment to unlocking the role of movement, sport and physical activity will improve lives and strengthen communities across South Yorkshire.”
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Sport England Executive Director of Place, said: “This MoU is more than a statement of intent, it’s a commitment to long-term, collaborative action that supports healthier lives and thriving places through the power of physical activity within local communities. We’re excited to be taking this step forward with South Yorkshire.”
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive Officer of NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: “This partnership is an important part of our commitment to improve the health of people living in South Yorkshire. By working together, we aim to make it easier for all of us to build more physical activity into our daily lives. Of course, this is about enabling people to take control of their own well-being and avoid ill health, but it’s also about laying the foundations for a more sustainable NHS. The partnership with SYMCA and Sport England and the creation of the Sport Legacy Institute reflects a bold, collaborative approach — one that shifts the focus from treatment to prevention, and from short-term fixes to long-term impact. It’s exactly the kind of innovation we need to fulfil our ambition to build a healthier, more resilient future for our communities.”
SYMCA will invest £2million together with at least £5million of grant funding from Westfield Health over the next decade to create the Sport Legacy Institute. The Institute will serve as the UK’s first region-wide testbed for preventative health and human performance - bringing together policy, infrastructure, and innovation to pioneer new standards, reduce pressure on the NHS, and unlock economic growth to help South Yorkshire become the healthiest region in the UK.
It reflects a shift from treating sickness to prioritising preventative measures. This could include anything from combating the mental health crisis, to encouraging girls to get active and stay active across all stages of life, to creating proactive return-to-work pathways for those suffering from musculoskeletal conditions.
For Sheffield-based Westfield Health, this is just the beginning. Their aspiration is to use this as a model and catalyst to help create a social impact fund of up to £50 million, with the potential to scale up the learnings of the Sport Legacy Institute internationally with their corporate clients.
Dave Capper, CEO of Westfield Health, said: “From day one, Mayor Oliver Coppard’s vision for South Yorkshire was a call to action – a rallying cry for purpose-driven businesses and leaders to be part of something bigger. This partnership is a true convergence of public, private, and academic sectors, forming an innovation ecosystem with a shared mission: to do good, better. For Westfield Health, this is philanthropy with purpose — linking our community investment to innovation and thought leadership that can benefit all of our stakeholders. It creates a unique flywheel effect, where our success is measured not just in business growth, but in the social impact we generate. As the UK’s first region-wide testbed for health prevention, it sets a blueprint for others to follow, rooted in South Yorkshire but designed for global scale.”
Progress has been made in kickstarting the development of programmes and projects that will be available through the SLI, including:
- Movement studies – conducting research to triage individuals and identify appropriate care routes
- Health community initiative for encouraging communities to engage in more preventative health activity
- Collaboration between Westfield and EGYM, a German health company that develops smart technology and software for sports and fitness
- Market propositions and business acceleration for university spin-out and start-ups in the health technology and life science sectors
The SLI will support the creation of new jobs in proactive health and wellbeing services, enable new PhD researchers in advanced wellbeing and health and support the creation of new businesses in health, wellbeing and sports sectors.
