Are you a moving local hero?

Current That Counts local hero Laura Noden and her son James are urging more people to spread the That Counts message

That Counts! is searching for a star! Is it you? We’re on the hunt to find Greater Manchester’s most inspiring stories about moving a little more each day and the positive effects it has had.

Have you swapped the lift at work for the stairs and feel more energised? Perhaps you’ve started taking a family walk in the park on Sundays and are getting better sleep? How about coming back to activity after a big operation? Or finding a new way of being active that you love?

To be in with the chance of being the next face of the campaign all you have to do is post your story, image and/or video under any of the competition posts found on the @ThatCountsGM social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).

You can also tag @ThatCountsGM in videos or images on your own Facebook, Instagram or Twitter posts. Liking the @ThatCountsGM social media pages will help you see the competition posts when they come out.

These new films will answer four big questions and will be filmed in February 2020:

• How to fit moving more into a busy working day
• How to fit moving more around family life (and get the kids moving too)
• How to get fit for free and,
• How to get active when you’re not feeling up to it.

The films will be used for the @ThatCountsGM social media channels. The winners will also feature on the That Counts! website and could also feature in the press in their area.

Winners will receive a £100 Decathalon voucher, as well as being the next That Counts! star. Three winners will be announced in the second week of January 2020 and filming will take place in early February. Entrants must be resident, or work, in Greater Manchester to take part in the competition.

These new films come on the back of the success That Counts’ first film featuring Wythanshawe mum Laura Noden. This film, talking about Laura’s journey from being inactive to running 5ks with her son James, launched the That Counts! campaign across the whole of Greater Manchester in September 2019.

The Greater Manchester-wide That Counts! campaign has been created in response. By giving people a clear activity target and encouraging them to look beyond formal sport or exercise, it will help them find their own ways of fitting 30 minutes of activity into their daily lives.

Led by the Greater Manchester Moving (GM Moving) team, That Counts! is part of an ambitious plan to find solutions to the long-term barriers to physical activity. It is supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership and Sport England. Hundreds of organisations have also pledged their support, including leisure facilities, sports clubs, community groups, businesses and charities.

The inspiring community initiative is an important contribution to Greater Manchester’s aims to reduce inactivity and get two million residents moving by 2021. With 59,000 more local people becoming active or fairly active over the past three years, levels of inactivity in the city-region are already falling three times faster than the national rate.