24 Jul 2025 Guest Blog: Cheshire West and Chester’s Joyful Movement Campaign
In our latest guest blog, we hear from Alex Holt, specialist in physical activity and healthy eating in the Public Health team at Cheshire West and Chester Council, about how the Joyful Movement campaign is inspiring the borough to move more.
We all know that moving is good for us, it can make us feel great and can be a brilliant way to connect with others, but sometimes it can feel like other things get in the way.
Many of us have busy lives, we might have a job that involves sitting down for most of the day and, let’s face it, there is a lot of binge-worthy TV to keep on top of. But, in Cheshire West and Chester, we want to show how easy and fun it is to step away from the sofa for a few minutes and get more movement into our lives.
It doesn’t have to be joining a football team or training for a marathon (although that can be joyful for some) – just something as easy as dancing around the kitchen while you brew up, or taking the grandkids to the park.
It can be short, it can be simple and it can be even better if it puts a smile on your face.
The Joyful Movement campaign has been running throughout July after a successful first campaign last summer.
Supported by a range of partner organisations, the campaign is all about finding fun ways to add a little more movement into our days and using photos and videos of real people to inspire others to move more.
The content, contributed by partners and residents, has been shared on social media, across Chester city centre and our towns on digital and bus shelter screens.
We’re really excited that this year’s Joyful Movement campaign also includes an event to bring people together in celebration.
A Joyful Movement dance workshop, led by Cheshire Dance, takes place during Chester’s Community Family Fun Day, hosted by Healthbox. This is a free event in the city centre’s Grosvenor Park on Wednesday, 30 July, from 11am to 3pm.
It’s a great opportunity to bring people together during the campaign and have a giggle while learning a new dance – it’s what Joyful Movement is all about.
The campaign is organised by the Eat Well Be Active partnership, which includes Cheshire West and Chester Council, Active Cheshire, the NHS, Brio Leisure, the School Sports Partnership, Her-Place Charitable Trust, Fallen Angels, the Mersey Forest and more.
