National Evaluation of the Healthy Communities Challenge Fund: The Healthy Towns Programme in England
2016
Background and aims
This research reported here presents findings from an evaluation of the development and
implementation of the Healthy Community Challenge Fund (otherwise known as the
‘Healthy Towns’ programme). A key aim of the research has been to inform the
development of future environmental and systems‐based ‘whole town’ approaches to
obesity prevention.
The overall aim of the Healthy Towns programme was to pilot and stimulate novel ‘whole
town’ approaches that tackle the ‘obesogenic’ environment in order to reduce obesity, with
a particular focus on improving diet and increasing physical activity. Through a competitive
tender process, nine towns were selected that represented urban areas across England
ranging from small market towns to areas of large cities. The fund provided £30 million over
the period 2008‐2011, divided amongst the nine towns. The amounts awarded ranged from
£900,000 to £4.85 million. Towns were instructed to be innovative and were given freedom
to develop a locally‐specific programme of interventions. This report supplements local
process and impact evaluations undertaken by each town (not reported here) by taking an
overall view of the programme’s development and implementation.
Our evaluation therefore addressed the following research questions:
1. What kinds of interventions were delivered across the Healthy Towns programme?
2. Were environmental and infrastructural interventions equitably delivered?
3. How was the Healthy Towns programme theorised and translated into practice?
4. How was evidence used in the selection and design of interventions?
5. What are the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a systems approach
to obesity prevention?
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