Solace blog

I started my local reading group a number of years ago and since then we’ve become good friends, so when I announced at our meeting the other night I’d spent the morning at a primary school, they were rather surprised. “You work for an IT company, don’t you?” Asked Katy. Not quite I thought, but I’ll save our digital transformation partner credentials for another conversation… I then got on to explain about how I’d had such an inspiring morning and about the strategic partnership with Widnes Vikings Rugby League Club, Halton Clinical Commissioning Group and Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s and Children’s Partnership Vanguard and how that had taken me to Weston Primary School in Runcorn for the launch of Game Changer, a programme with the ambition to make a significant impact in raising physical fitness and promoting healthy lifestyles in children and their families.

Physical activity is a critical part of Game Changer, as is healthy eating and the goal is to change habits. To kick off the programme at Weston Primary School, the entire Widnes Vikings team came along to put the children through their paces with a series of fun exercises and games. It was incredible to see how the children responded to the rugby players and so encouraging to see how they really wanted to get involved and take part in the physical activity sessions.

Sopra Steria’s involvement in the programme started a few months ago with discussions about how technology could support the Game Changer programme. Our role as a technology partner is to develop the applications and website side of things, which combined with a wearable device is looking to provide a fun environment for monitoring exercise levels, support gamification to encourage participation and link to important advice for leading a healthy lifestyle. With the data that is downloaded from the wearable devices, Liverpool John Moores University, another partner, will be able to develop statistics that can be fed back to the children and schools in a fun way, to encourage further participation.

In September, Game Changer will reach out to 36 schools across Halton and each one will be looking to unlock an extra 15 minutes of physical activity each day. It is an incredible programme, I’m now asking myself how I can find an extra 15 minutes a day for exercise… Can you find the time too?

By Kathryn Howe, Marketing Manager – Public Sector, Sopra Steria