Building healthy futures: 27 schools across Cheshire and Merseyside commit to a Healthier and Active Future

The School’s Pledge for a Healthier and Active Future has now been adopted by 27 primary schools across Cheshire and Merseyside in the 2024/25 academic year, an encouraging milestone for a region disproportionately affected by poor health outcomes. The Pledge supports healthier eating, increased physical activity, and improved wellbeing in schools located within the top 20% most deprived areas.

Grounded in nine Core Commitments, the Pledge promotes a whole-school approach to health and prevention. Since the regional rollout began in early 2025, participating schools have received structured guidance from public health nutritionists and local authority teams to integrate the Pledge into daily school life.

Early insights from the School’s Pledge programme include stronger community connections, and student-led initiatives that extend beyond the school gates.

“We’re pleased to see Brook Acre Primary School sign up to the School’s Pledge for a Healthier and Active Future,” said Debbie Watson, Director of Public Health at Warrington Borough Council.

“The health and wellbeing of residents across Warrington is something we care greatly about, so it’s great to see Brook Acre Primary School leading the way and making changes within their own school to support their pupils’ health and wellbeing.”

From July 2025 to March 2026, the programme will expand further, with five additional schools to be supported in each local authority area. There is also growing interest in adapting the model for SEND schools to ensure inclusive engagement.

Funded by NHS Cheshire & Merseyside’s Population Health Programme, the School’s Pledge is a region-wide population level commitment to embedding health improvement into everyday education, providing schools with the tools and support to tackle health inequalities, and helping every child to thrive.

HEG has taken a co-production approach to development of the programme, working closely with teachers, governors, school nurses, parents, and local authority colleagues to ensure successful delivery. In addition to adopting new health promoting policies and changes to operational practices within schools, the programme is giving schools the opportunity to network, exchange best practices, and gain insights from one another’s experiences. HEG is also working with researchers from the University of Liverpool and Open University to capture outcomes and impact as part of a programme evaluation process.

For more information, please contact: schools@heg.org.uk