Attending the recent Westminster Health Forum on social prescribing for children and young people reinforced a vital shift in perspective: social prescribing is evolving beyond a traditional, individual GP referral model. Instead, it is increasingly being considered as part of neighbourhood prevention and health creation in communities.

For children and young people, this presents an important opportunity, provided we build the right support and infrastructure around the referral process.

Key Takeaways: Rethinking Social Prescribing for Children and Young People

One of the key themes emerging from discussions at the Forum was the potential for social prescribing to move beyond the GP surgery. Developing pathways through schools and youth settings could allow us to reach young people earlier, supporting their long-term health and wellbeing before issues become more complex.

From my perspective as Medical Adviser to the Youth Sport Trust, five key principles should guide our next steps:

1. Move Further Upstream: Social prescribing should not only be considered after a child presents with an established health need. We should explore how school and community-based environments can be used earlier to address physical inactivity, low wellbeing, anxiety, loneliness, sleep issues and social isolation. Reaching children where they already spend their time, including in school, is an important part of this approach.
2. Recognise Physical Activity as Health Infrastructure: Schools, community, nature-based and sports organisations are not just places to send patients; they can be part of the infrastructure through which health is created. We need to shift our mindset from: “Can we refer this child to a sports activity?” to “How can physical activity become part of the preventative health infrastructure in every school and community?”
3. Go Beyond the Referral: Sophisticated referral pathways have limited value without community capacity at the other end. Telling a child to “be more active” is not, in itself, social prescribing. A viable offer needs to be accessible, affordable, safe, inclusive, developmentally appropriate and enjoyable, helping children feel able and motivated to attend and keep coming back.
4. Balance Universal and Targeted Approaches: Targeted social prescribing offers potential to support specific groups facing greater inequalities, including inactive children, young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or long-term conditions, and those experiencing persistent absence from school. These approaches should complement universal opportunities to help ensure that support is appropriate to children’s differing needs and circumstances.
5. Demonstrate Broad Value through Evidence: Commissioners need robust data to inform investment decisions. For children and young people, success should look beyond referral numbers to consider outcomes such as wellbeing, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, school attendance, sleep quality and healthcare utilisation, where appropriate.

Bridging Health and Education: The Well Schools Movement

To act on these themes, we must stop treating health, education and physical activity as separate systems. Health is created not merely inside clinics, but also through relationships, purpose, active living and connection.

This aligns directly with the work we are driving at the Youth Sport Trust through Well Schools, a movement dedicated to creating a national network of active, well schools that place health and wellbeing at the heart of education culture.

• Well Schools can contribute to public health and wellbeing. An active and well school can connect children with enjoyable, safe and inclusive physical activity opportunities, alongside support for their social and mental wellbeing. Recognising schools as part of the wider public health infrastructure, and considering how best to support them, is an important part of the conversation around future health creation.
• Physical activity can support mental wellbeing, attendance, belonging and learning. By embedding movement into school life, we can help education leaders take a preventative approach to children's inactivity and explore ways to address health inequalities before healthcare intervention may be needed. There is also an opportunity to consider how these approaches can support children's educational experiences and outcomes, particularly for those facing the greatest inequalities.

Activating the Class of 2035 Agenda

The reflections from the Westminster Forum provide an opportunity to consider how the recommendations from the Class of 2035 Commission report can be taken forward and translated into meaningful action:

• Embed schools as anchor institutions in social prescribing pathways and support health professionals in understanding the evidence.
• Equip health professionals with an understanding of approaches that can help assess a child's activity levels, identify barriers and support behaviour change.
• Measure combined impacts across health (activity, wellbeing, sleep), education (attendance, engagement), social outcomes (belonging, confidence) and behaviour (sustained participation).
• Ensure young people actively shape the offer so that activities address their needs and priorities around enjoyment, mental health and social connection.

Final Reflection

The next stage of social prescribing is not simply about asking doctors to tell children to move more. It is about building the infrastructure that helps translate clinical advice into meaningful action.

By connecting the Class of 2035 actions, the Well Schools movement and neighbourhood health strategies, the Youth Sport Trust is contributing to the conversation about how physical activity, sport and play can form an important part of preventative approaches to health and wellbeing for every child.