Sheffield chosen as the role model to get the country moving after lockdown

The city is being proposed to help steer the country’s post-coronavirus economic and healthcare recovery with the spotlight on the Olympic Legacy Park at Attercliffe.

The park, which will cover more than one million sq feet of real estate when complete, is proving a catalyst for investment and regeneration.

It is a model which former government minister Richard Caborn, park project lead, believes could be a testbed for the country’s roadmap to a post-Covid recovery.

He said: “The park is in effect a living laboratory which can be used to help the country through the post pandemic crisis.

“We are among the pioneers of an economic and health revolution so needed right now, translating ideas and innovation into industrialisation and commercialisation.

“We are well ahead of the game and are at the heart of Sheffield’s post pandemic road to recovery.

“We are already attracting national and international governmental interest and firmly believe our model should be used to shape our post-Covid future.”

Sheffield has the world’s only Olympic Legacy Park outside a host city.

It was set up after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to deliver improvements in health and wellbeing.

Bringing together academic, sporting and NHS experts, as well as public and private sector organisations, the park is creating a cluster of assets including research centres, business incubators, offices and laboratories for collaborative research and innovation in health and wellbeing.

It is already home to Sheffield Hallam University's Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, a global centre for research and innovation in physical activity.

Mr Caborn said: “We have a strategy to move forward.

“We are at the heart of Sheffield’s and the UK’s post-pandemic road to recovery.

“Our model is what the UK needs and has already attracted the interest of government.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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