My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Elysia
Last Name
Barrick
Pronouns
She/Her
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Lead Organisation Name
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2020
Initiative Title
Never in a Million Years
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/never-million-years
Initiative Stage
Growth (You’ve moved past the very first activities; working towards the next level of expansion.)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Health & Fitness
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
The Million More Days campaign aims to target inactive residents and encourage them to do more exercise, with a focus on creative solutions like integrating exercise into daily activity or encouraging utilisation of non-traditional spaces for physical activity.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Waltham Forest has a strong physical activity offer, but it is not enjoyed equally across the borough. Socioeconomic factors such as ethnicity, age, income and gender lead to a life‑expectancy gap of up to 7.6 years between areas. Increasing activity levels among the least active residents could generate up to one million additional days of healthy life‑expectancy, highlighting the scale of potential impact. By taking a targeted approach, we can identify the demographic groups with the highest inactivity rates and address the barriers they face. These include financial pressures, limited time, cultural barriers, or simply not knowing what opportunities exist. Removing these barriers remains central to our work. A major part of this mission is expanding free, accessible sports opportunities for young people, especially in non‑conventional community spaces. Many young people are inactive not because of a lack of interest, but because traditional sports centres feel intimidating, unfamiliar or unwelcoming. As the Council, we are in a unique position as the landowner for many buildings and open spaces across the borough. This allows us to reimagine how these spaces can be used for informal, low‑pressure, community‑led activity that meets young people where they are. Solving this issue matters deeply. Increasing activity levels improves healthy life‑expectancy, but also reduces pressure on local health and social care services. Physical activity is a vital preventative tool, and creating more inclusive, community‑based opportunities—particularly for underserved young people—supports individual wellbeing, strengthens community resilience, and helps reduce long‑standing inequalities in access to physical activity.
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Financial obstacles are one of the most common barriers we hear from the community. By expanding our programme of free and low-cost activities, we can ensure that the cost of the sessions themselves is accessible. However, this requires significant resources for things like venue hire and instructors. As a result, creative solutions for unlocking spaces for physical activity are required, as are non-traditional forms of exercise, to encourage people to access physical activity in ways that don't require significant investment. Libraries for example are spaces known to the community especially young people, often a point of access for the community and an excellent way to promote activities. By holding sessions in libraries, we can increase visibility for activities, gain access to hard-to-reach demographics, and utilise a council-owned non-traditional space in the process. Similarly, allotments and gardening clubs can be a great space for physical activity but in a way that isn't too daunting for young people without experience in competitive sports. With increased funding, we would also be able to tackle cost-based barriers with more active intervention, like discounted gym memberships for target cohorts. We have been consistently co-designing this mission with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that our solutions are informed by a variety of perspectives, and that delivery is shared by lots of partners. We have strong links with the voluntary sector, other council departments, local sports clubs, the NHS, among many others. As such, we are able to break down structural barriers through collaboration with organisations that work with our target cohorts and inform them of the benefits of and opportunities for physical activity.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
A key pillar of our approach is behaviour change, often rooted in cultural factors. Raising awareness of the importance of physical activity among young people is essential, especially when working with communities where activity has not been a priority. Through our outreach work, we engage with local sports clubs, many of which already provide sessions for young people. This allows us to co‑create programmes tailored to their needs, while ensuring that young people themselves help shape and influence these activities. Our communications campaign supports this mission by sharing stories from residents whose wellbeing has improved through accessing physical activity in the borough. Collecting these stories has given us valuable insight into the challenges people face, and their experiences have directly informed programme design. With further funding, we would expand the most successful programmes and continue gathering feedback from young people to ensure our offer reflects local demand. Activities such as free parks tennis and roller‑skating have already been developed through community engagement, and future expansion would follow the same proven model. The Million More Days mission also sits within a wider council commitment to reimagining spaces for young people’s wellbeing. Initiatives such as the removal of “no ball games” signs on estates demonstrate the shift towards giving young people better access to spaces for movement and play. This creates an environment of shared commitment, where different council teams and partners are aligned behind the same goals. This wider cultural and organisational support strengthens our ability to co‑design with young people and reflects a borough‑wide appetite to rethink how public spaces can support active, healthy lives.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
Our initiative has already shown that using non‑traditional spaces can significantly boost young people’s participation in physical activity. Library‑based roller‑skating sessions engaged over 150 young people in their first eight weeks, many of whom had never joined structured activity before. Free tennis sessions on underused park courts have involved more than 200 young people over the past year. These results show clear demand and the value of familiar, low‑pressure spaces. We are also seeing early behavioural change, with young people reporting increased confidence, social connection, and a stronger sense of belonging. Parents and youth workers have shared positive feedback on improved mood and routine‑building. Activating unused community spaces has made neighbourhoods feel safer and more welcoming, helping young people feel ownership of their local environment. Looking forward, expanding free sessions and adding activities like football, table tennis and basketball in unconventional spaces will help us reach hundreds more inactive young people. Our model is flexible, low‑cost and easily scalable, and with strong council and community partnerships we have a clear path to long‑term impact: healthier habits, stronger communities and reduced inequalities in access to physical activity.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
This initiative is innovative because it redefines what a “sports space” can be. Instead of relying on traditional facilities that many young people find intimidating or inaccessible, we transform everyday places—libraries, community centres, estates, unused retail units and small park spaces—into welcoming hubs for movement. This challenges assumptions about where sport should happen and opens participation to young people least likely to engage. Our collaborative approach is also original. We work with young people, council teams, landowners and community partners to co‑design activities shaped by lived experience. Delivering sessions in familiar, culturally comfortable places removes barriers around cost, confidence and travel. A major innovation is how we tackle inactivity: instead of expecting young people to enter formal sports settings, we bring activity to them. Many inactive young people lack confidence to join clubs or do not feel comfortable in leisure centres. Using low‑pressure, local spaces makes participation feel natural and accessible. Our flexible, place‑based model can be scaled quickly and adapted to different neighbourhoods. Each site is shaped by local needs, allowing young people to engage on their own terms and enabling rapid testing of new ideas. Through creative use of space and genuine co‑design, this initiative shifts away from traditional sport development and builds a more inclusive, youth‑centred culture of activity that supports long‑term behaviour change and community wellbeing.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
Our initiative is positioned for success through strong partnerships, clear community demand and a flexible, cost‑effective delivery model. By activating non‑conventional spaces across the borough, we avoid large capital costs and focus resources on staffing, equipment and coordination. As the local authority, we can use a wide range of buildings and open spaces to offer free sports opportunities in places young people already feel comfortable. We have a proven track record delivering successful programmes for young people, demonstrating clear need and enthusiasm for informal activity. This gives us confidence that expanding into underused spaces will reach young people who may not engage in traditional sports settings. Working with council teams such as regeneration, youth services and housing enables us to identify suitable sites and align with wider priorities for young people. Using estates, unused retail units, libraries and other community assets helps engage inactive young people while bringing underutilised spaces back into community use. To ensure sustainability, we are developing a replicable framework including session templates, volunteer pathways and engagement strategies shaped by young people. With further funding, we will expand free sessions, reach more neighbourhoods and introduce new activities based on youth feedback. Strong partnerships with sports clubs and community organisations will support long‑term delivery. Our long‑term goal is to embed this model into the borough’s permanent offer, creating a free and accessible pathway into physical activity for all young people.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
We, as the lead applicant, will oversee the project and coordinate its delivery. As the owners of the facilities involved, we are well placed to activate these spaces and work with community partners to deliver free sessions and programmes for young people in non conventional sports settings. Our responsibilities include identifying suitable spaces, managing logistics, and ensuring the overall quality and safety of delivery. To achieve this, we will collaborate closely with key council teams including regeneration, youth services, and housing — ensuring a joined up approach that maximises the use of available spaces and supports meaningful community engagement. Alongside this, we will work with key community organisations, grassroots groups, and local volunteers who play an essential role in shaping and delivering activities. These partners will help ensure that sessions reflect the needs and preferences of young people, strengthen local ownership, and enhance the long term sustainability of the project.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
We have already demonstrated early success through programmes such as roller skating in libraries and free parks based tennis sessions, which engaged a strong mix of active and inactive young people. Building on this momentum, the next phase of our initiative will follow a clear set of milestones designed to support more young people—particularly those currently inactive—and ensure our delivery grows in scale, reach, and impact. We will map and secure access to a range of safe, familiar environments including libraries, community centres, estates, under used park areas, and other spaces where young people naturally congregate. This stage also involves working with regeneration, youth services, and housing colleagues to identify overlooked or emerging locations suitable for activity. Our immediate milestone is to deliver a minimum of eight free weekly sessions, with activities such as roller skating, football, table tennis, cricket and other low barrier, youth led activities. These will be delivered across multiple neighbourhoods, ensuring opportunities are accessible to young people who may not travel far from home. During the first phase of expanded delivery, we will gather structured feedback from young participants and youth organisations to ensure future sessions continue to reflect their needs and preferences. This will include on site conversations, short surveys, and direct co design workshops with youth groups. Based on participation data and partner feedback, we will replicate successful sessions in at least three new areas of the borough. This milestone focuses on reaching young people living in estates or wards with higher rates of inactivity, ensuring our offer is equitably distributed. We will formalise partnerships with community organisations, local sports clubs, and council teams to support long term delivery. This includes confirming volunteer routes, identifying organisations that can host or lead sessions, and embedding physical activity opportunities into existing youth and community provisions. Throughout delivery, we will collect attendance data, gather qualitative insights, and measure changes in confidence, activity levels, and repeat engagement. These findings will inform iterative improvements, help us identify emerging needs, and demonstrate the initiative’s contribution toward reducing inactivity. By the end of the initial cycle, we will use our evaluation findings to develop a plan for scaling across the borough. This includes refining the operating model, identifying additional non traditional spaces, and exploring funding sources that can help grow the programme sustainably.
