LEADING Bolton figures could be spotted limbering up for a spot of exercise in the town centre this week.

As enthusiastic children got active with canoeing, gymnastics and climbing in Sport on the Square, members of Bolton Vision Partnership walked, jogged and cycled together in a bid to inspire the rest of the town to be fit and healthy.

Cllr John Byrne, cabinet member for sport and youth, Cllr Linda Thomas, chairman of Bolton Health and Wellbeing Board, Dr Wirin Bhatiani, chairman of Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Dave Singleton, Chairman of the Bolton Vision Partnership, all joined in.

Bolton Council and its partners have pledged to increase participation of sport and physical activity throughout the borough in a bid to improve everyone’s general health.

The Bolton Vision for 2030 is to have an active, connected and prosperous population. Mr Singleton said it is important for the future of Bolton that people get active.

He said: “Activity doesn’t just mean going for a run – it can be lots of different things. It’s getting involved in your community, getting out in your garden, or even getting involved in litter picking.”

Residents are being encouraged to get involved through a new activity tracker. The tracker is to log how many miles they have walked, run or cycled and lengths they have swum.

All entries to the tracker will be added together to create a running total for the borough.

Cllr Thomas said: “We know that the first step to leading a healthier lifestyle can be the hardest, so we have launched the activity tracker to help people take the plunge.”

She added: “Partaking in regular physical activity reduces the risk of serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer. It can also help people with depression.”

Dr Bhatiani said: “It can be difficult to fit exercise into our daily, or weekly routine, and to find the motivation to keep it up. But whether it’s walking to the shops or a quick jog round the park – it all adds up to a healthier Bolton.”

Find the tracker at boltonactivitytracker.org.uk

This week Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman was appointed Greater Manchester's first cycling and walking commissioner by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Mr Boardman, who won individual pursuit gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, said: "My first priority will be to pull together all the people who need to be involved in making cycling and walking viable, attractive and an important part of the transport network in Greater Manchester.

"Cycling isn't currently a big part of how people get around in the region but surveys have showed there is real desire to ride more, if we create an attractive, safe environment. There's a passion from all branches of local government and health to make it happen too but we're not going to enforce change - we will take people along with us.

"With my background in sport, I'm a big fan of setting targets, being measured and being held accountable for results. I'm going to spend several weeks talking to people to understand the landscape for cycling in Greater Manchester before setting a number of goals we want to achieve and timescales - and you can rest assured that they'll be ambitious."

He will work across the region's public, private and voluntary institutions to improve safety and conditions for cycling. He will also publicly represent cycling, walking and increasing activity levels in Greater Manchester to raise their profile and promote and enable equality of opportunities across communities.

Mr Burnham said: "I am a big believer in physical activity because it has a positive impact on both physical and mental health. Going from inactivity to activity is often one of the easiest and most positive lifestyle changes people can make. Having taken that step, people are then more likely to make other changes - be that in smoking, drinking or diet.

"We need to encourage the people in our city region to move more, to cycle and walk and maximise the contribution to being a healthy society.

"I want Greater Manchester to be the sport and physical activity capital of the world."

The Mayor wants three-quarters of the region's population to be active or fairly active by 2025, with the cost of inactivity to health services in Greater Manchester currently estimated to be £26 million per year.