Seriously Social: How ANGUSalive’s Be Active…Live Well Programme Is Tackling Health Inequality

As part of Community Leisure’s Seriously Social campaign, ANGUSalive is proud to showcase the impact of our flagship health initiative: Be Active…Live Well – a preventative, person-centred programme that is transforming how we support community health and tackle health inequalities in Angus.

From April 2024 to March 2025, the programme completed its first full year in a newly redesigned format, marking a significant step forward in how we deliver targeted health interventions through sport and leisure.

At the heart of the redesign was the launch of the ‘Active Start’ programme, a 12-week structured pathway aimed at supporting the most inactive members of our community – those who are often at the highest risk of poor health outcomes and least likely to access traditional fitness services.

Active Start is completely free of charge, ensuring cost is never a barrier to participation.

It provides small-group or individualised support, delivered by our expert Health & Wellbeing Advisors, to help participants build confidence, improve physical function, and take those crucial first steps into a more active lifestyle.

For those ready to progress, we continue to offer our Live Well ‘Stay Active’ classes, a rolling timetable of inclusive physical activity sessions tailored for people managing long-term conditions or returning from illness or injury. Together, these programmes form a full support pathway all the way from re-engagement to long-term maintenance.

Impact by the Numbers (April 2024 – March 2025):

957 referrals made into the Live Well programme – each representing a person supported on their health journey and each with their own story.
New Active Start programme launched, creating a vital entry point for the most vulnerable
Funding secured from NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation and Angus Health & Social Care Partnership to continue delivery and expand the Health & Wellbeing Team through to March 2027

This investment is a strong endorsement of the programme’s impact – not just in improving individual lives, but in reducing pressure on NHS services by focusing on prevention and rehabilitation through physical activity, of which was recently praised by the Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer

By embedding person-centred approaches and widening access to those most in need, ANGUSalive is helping create a more equitable, healthier Angus. We’re not just offering exercise—we’re offering hope, community, and a pathway to wellbeing.

This is what it means to be Seriously Social.