In addition to an ongoing focus on the four lifestyle behaviours, Thrive Plymouth has a specific annual focus which is built on each year.
- Year 1 (launched Oct 2014) the focus was promoting workplace health and wellbeing.
- Year 2 we focused on schools and educational settings through promotion of the Healthy Child Quality Mark.
- Year 3 we localised Public Health England’s ‘One You’ campaign, which encourages people to put themselves first and do something to improve their own health.
- Year 4 focused on promoting the five ways to wellbeing (Connect, Learn, Be Active, Notice, and Give).
- Year 5 focused on connecting people through food.
- Year 6 focused on participation in arts, heritage, culture and hospitality and the connection to good wellbeing in the year of Mayflower 400.
Year 6 was launched on 29th November 2019 to coincide with the Illuminate Festival at Royal William Yard which marked the opening of Mayflower 400. Our Thrive Plymouth plans for Year 6 centred on supporting our partners to maximise the health and wellbeing benefits of the events being planned, and support the opportunities to reach into different and varied communities. There is a large body of evidence which shows engaging with arts, heritage and culture are good for wellbeing, and we were all excited at what the year would bring.
However, due to events beyond our control, Year 6 had a radical change of direction as we put our annual focus on hold. In March 2020, the threat of an emerging novel coronavirus pandemic became a reality in the UK. Our small team of public health specialists had to refocus all of our attention on tackling COVID-19, with support from the wider public health workforce. As the situation worsened and we went into lockdown, events were postponed and we put the annual focus of Thrive Plymouth on pause; however, work on tackling inequalities continued.
While many events and activities were unfortunately unable to go ahead during 2020 due to the pandemic, others have been rescheduled for a later date. Activities in the city are advertised on the Visit Plymouth website.
In a later section of this report, we will revisit Thrive Plymouth and our plan for revising and refreshing the work that we are doing to tackle inequalities.