Active Lancashire
Active Lancashire is a UK charity and the designated strategic lead for sport and physical activity across Lancashire, delivering free programmes in school sport, NEET youth employment, substance misuse recovery, inclusive sport, and active travel through grant-funded partnerships with councils, Sport England, the NHS, and the National Lottery.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersLeyland, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Active Lancashire does
Active Lancashire is a Company Limited by Guarantee and Registered Charity (No. 1159832) headquartered in Leyland, UK, operating as the designated strategic lead for sport and physical activity across Lancashire and South Cumbria. It delivers a portfolio of place-based programmes that use physical activity as a delivery mechanism for broader social outcomes: employment support for NEET adults (Rossendale Works), youth employment and wellbeing (Pendle YES Hub), school sport (SPAR Lancashire School Games, Primary School Sports Premium), inclusive sport and disability access, substance misuse recovery (Active Recovery, formerly Challenge Through Sport), environmental sustainability through bike refurbishment (Active Cycles), and health-conditioned work retention (WorkWell Preston). It also operates the Active Learning Zone e-learning platform for workplace wellness and sector training.
The organisation employs 11–50 staff and serves a population of approximately 1.57 million residents, of whom an estimated 350,700 are below recommended physical activity levels. Services are delivered free at the point of use through direct delivery from its Leyland HQ, two physical sites (Active Cycles shop in Accrington and Pendle YES Hub in Nelson), and an extensive partner network of local authorities, the DWP, NHS bodies, Sport England, the National Lottery Community Fund, and community organisations across all 14 Lancashire local authority areas.
Revenue is derived almost entirely from public sector and charitable grants and contracts, with disclosed inflows including £2.6M from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (Rossendale Works, 2024), £1.3M from Sport England (Move Together Blackpool, 2025), £420K of Levelling Up funding (Pendle YES Hub, 2021) and £39K from public crowdfunding (Active Cycles, 2025), alongside ongoing Sport England, National Lottery, council, and DWP funding streams. Active Cycles additionally generates modest retail revenue from sale of refurbished bikes at £50 (adults) and £25 (children), and Active Learning Zone generates limited fee income from paid training courses.
Active Lancashire firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Active Lancashire
- Legal name
- Active Lancashire Limited
- Website
- https://activelancashire.org.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Active Lancashire is a UK charity and the designated strategic lead for sport and physical activity across Lancashire, delivering free programmes in school sport, NEET youth employment, substance misuse recovery, inclusive sport, and active travel through grant-funded partnerships with councils, Sport England, the NHS, and the National Lottery.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Active Lancashire is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leyland
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Active Lancashire business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Government Grants and Contracts: Core funding from government sources including UK Government, local authorities (Rossendale Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Council), and government agencies like the Department for Work and Pensions. Rossendale Works is funded by Rossendale Council as part of £2.6m from UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
- National Lottery Funding: Funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to support mental wellbeing services at Pendle YES Hub. National Lottery players raise over £30 million weekly for good causes.
- Sport England Partnership Funding: Move Together Blackpool received £1.3m funding from Sport England's Place Expansion Partnerships to tackle inactivity and promote physical activity in Blackpool until March 2028.
- Social Enterprise Revenue (Active Cycles): Active Cycles generates revenue through sale of refurbished bikes at affordable prices (£50 adults, £25 children) and bike hire services.
- Training and Course Fees: Learning Zone offers various training courses including both free and paid workplace health, first aid, and safeguarding training for individuals and organizations.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Adult bikes at £50, children's bikes at £25 (or £15 with trade-in) |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free bike hire library launched July 2025 |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free e-learning courses available |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
Active Lancashire product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Active Lancashire develops and delivers sport, physical activity, and wellbeing programmes across Lancashire and South Cumbria for residents, schools, employers, and communities. Offerings include school sports competitions (SPAR Lancashire School Games), a bike refurbishment and retail social enterprise (Active Cycles), an e-learning training platform (Active Learning Zone), youth and adult employment programmes (Rossendale Works, Pendle YES Hub, Football Works, WorkWell Preston), recovery programmes (Active Recovery), place-based initiatives (Move Together Blackpool, Active Seconds), and supporting services for sports clubs, schools, and facility access (Club Support, Primary School Sports Premium, Opening School Facilities).
Product overview
Active Lancashire operates as a strategic lead for sport and physical activity across Lancashire, offering a diverse portfolio of programmes and services. The organisation functions as a platform-plus-programmes model, providing both direct service delivery (Active Learning Zone e-learning platform, Active Cycles bike refurbishment, Active Recovery recovery support) and partnership-delivered initiatives (Rossendale Works employment support, Pendle YES Hub youth employment, SPAR Lancashire School Games, Move Together Blackpool place-based approach). These programmes share a common framework of using physical activity as a tool to address broader social outcomes including employment, health, wellbeing, and community engagement. The Active Learning Zone serves as a distinct e-learning product for workplace wellness and professional development in the sector.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Active Learning Zone: Online learning platform providing training and development opportunities for individuals and organisations in the sports and physical activity sectors.
- Active Cycles
- Pendle YES Hub
- Active Recovery
- Rossendale Works
- Move Together Blackpool
- SPAR Lancashire School Games
- WorkWell Preston
Products and services
- Active Learning Zone E-learning platform delivering training courses for coaches, activators, and volunteers to support sport and physical activity delivery, including a course on getting inactive people active.
- Active Cycles Social enterprise that refurbishes and sells second-hand bikes at the Active Lancashire head office in Leyland and via online channels, supporting inclusive cycling access across Lancashire.
- SPAR Lancashire School Games Multi-sport school games programme delivering competitive opportunities for school-aged children across Lancashire, linked to national School Games framework.
- Rossendale Works Employability and youth engagement programme in Rossendale supporting NEET (not in education, employment or training) 16-24 year olds and unemployed adults into work through tailored support, physical activity, and employer engagement.
- Pendle YES Hub Youth hub in Pendle providing dedicated key workers and one-to-one support to help NEET 16-24 year olds move into education, training, or employment.
- Active Recovery Programme using sport and physical activity to support people in recovery from drug and alcohol misuse, delivered alongside partners including Change Grow Live (CGL) and other recovery services in central and wider Lancashire.
- Football Works Football-themed employability programme that uses engagement through football to support unemployed residents into education, training, and work.
- Move Together Blackpool Place-based physical activity initiative in Blackpool focused on engaging inactive residents and supporting behaviour change to increase activity levels.
- WorkWell Preston Workplace health pilot programme in Preston that supports employees who are absent from or struggling at work due to health conditions to return to or remain in employment through physical activity and wellbeing interventions.
- Active Seconds Initiative providing short, accessible movement breaks and resources to help people build activity into their daily routine at home, at work, or in community settings.
- Primary School Sports Premium support Support service helping Lancashire primary schools make effective use of the government's Primary PE and Sport Premium to improve PE, school sport, and physical activity provision.
- Club Support Support offer for community and voluntary sports clubs across Lancashire, including guidance, resources, and development opportunities to grow participation and sustainability.
- Opening School Facilities Programme supporting schools to open their sports facilities to community users outside the school day, increasing community access to sport and physical activity.
Quantifiable outcome
- Supported 1,500+ young people through Pendle YES Hub and helped 262 into employment
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Active Lancashire
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Active Lancashire technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Active Lancashire partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
19 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, secondary and core.
- NatWest BurnleyminorNatWest senior manager whose daughter received YES Hub support offered to deliver Financial Foundations workshops covering budgeting, scam awareness, and cost of living management for young people aged 16-24.
- Spencer Clarke GroupsecondaryOfficial T-shirt sponsor for SPAR Lancashire School Games 2024/25. Specialist education recruitment agency supporting schools across Lancashire with CSR focus on early years development.
- Lancashire MINDcoreDelivers one-to-one mental wellbeing support sessions at Pendle YES Hub. Partnership recognized as valuable in supporting young people's mental health as barrier to employment.
- Pendle Borough CouncilcoreCo-founder and commissioning partner of Pendle YES Hub along with DWP and Positive Action in the Community. Provides funding through Nelson Town Deal (£420,000 Levelling Up funding).
- Positive Action in the Community (PAC)coreCo-founder partner of Pendle YES Hub along with Pendle Borough Council and DWP. Supports delivery of holistic youth employment services.
- James Hall & Co. (SPAR)coreLong-standing sponsor of SPAR Lancashire School Games since 2006 through association with James Hall & Co. Fifth-generation family business serving SPAR retailers across Northern England.
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)corePartner in Rossendale Works (with Rossendale Borough Council) and Pendle YES Hub (with Pendle Borough Council and Positive Action in the Community). DWP work coaches based at youth hubs.
- Rossendale Borough CouncilcoreCommissioning partner for Rossendale Works employment support project. Provides £2.6m funding from UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Joint partner with Active Lancashire and DWP.
- Blackpool CouncilcorePartner in Move Together Blackpool initiative alongside Sport England, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB, and VCFSE organizations. Collaboration aims to embed movement into daily life across Blackpool.
- Lancashire and South Cumbria ICBcorePartner in Move Together Blackpool place-based initiative to improve health and wellbeing through physical activity.
- Blackpool Football Club Community TrustcoreVCFSE partner in Move Together Blackpool collaborative initiative working with Sport England, Active Lancashire, Blackpool Council, and NHS.
- Breaking Cycles CICcoreDelivery partner for Active Cycles project. Partnership collects bikes from waste sites, local councils, and donations, refurbishing them for resale at reduced prices.
- ISSE LtdminorISSE Cricket Community Hub partner supported by Rossendale Works volunteering program at New Hall Hay Cricket Ground. Director Humayun Islam expressed gratitude for partnership support.
- Rossendale Leisure TrustcoreDelivery partner for Football Works initiative in collaboration with Rossendale Works. Provides activities for all abilities and backgrounds to improve mental wellbeing.
- CIMSPA (Chartered Institute for Management of Sport and Physical Activity)coreCollaborated with Active Lancashire to implement Lancashire Local Skills Accountability Board and publish local skills plan for sport and physical activity workforce across 14 local authority areas.
- Youth Sport TrustcorePartner in delivery of School Games nationwide initiative providing inclusive sporting opportunities for children and young people.
- Women in SportsecondarySource of research and good practice for women and girls in sport initiatives. Active Lancashire uses their resources to promote female participation in physical activity.
- Sporting EqualssecondaryPartner for racial equality in sport initiatives. Organization promotes ethnic diversity across sport and physical activity, working with agencies to address barriers faced by ethnic minority communities.
- Activity AlliancecoreActive Lancashire's Equality Inclusion Partner for disability and inclusion in sport. Activity Alliance releases research on disabled people's activity and social value.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Active Lancashire competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Customer concentration
Active Lancashire social profiles
Digital presenceActive Lancashire compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Active Lancashire financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Active Lancashire leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Active Lancashire funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Active Lancashire M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Active Lancashire
What does Active Lancashire do?
Active Lancashire develops and delivers sport, physical activity, and wellbeing programmes across Lancashire and South Cumbria for residents, schools, employers, and communities. Offerings include school sports competitions (SPAR Lancashire School Games), a bike refurbishment and retail social enterprise (Active Cycles), an e-learning training platform (Active Learning Zone), youth and adult employment programmes (Rossendale Works, Pendle YES Hub, Football Works, WorkWell Preston), recovery programmes (Active Recovery), place-based initiatives (Move Together Blackpool, Active Seconds), and supporting services for sports clubs, schools, and facility access (Club Support, Primary School Sports Premium, Opening School Facilities).
Is Active Lancashire a public or private company?
Active Lancashire is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Active Lancashire founded?
Active Lancashire was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Active Lancashire based?
Active Lancashire is headquartered in Leyland, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Active Lancashire make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Government Grants and Contracts are the primary driver. The others are national Lottery Funding, sport England Partnership Funding, social Enterprise Revenue (Active Cycles) and training and Course Fees.
Does Active Lancashire have an API?
No public API is recorded for Active Lancashire.