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Building our Movement Manifesto: We Were Preaching Movement and Practising Stillness. So We Changed

Every single day I’m inspired by the passion and resilience of our MOVE community and at the heart of it, the stories of how movement has such a powerful impact on people’s lives. From the growing scientific evidence to the lived experiences we share, we know how much daily movement matters for those living with and beyond cancer, and how vital it is to us as individuals and as a team. 

But late last year I had to be honest with myself. Were we actually living that belief as an organisation? And as a CEO, was I leading by example?

At MOVE Against Cancer we work across the UK – from home desks to partner offices to out in the community. Meetings are done virtually, hours can be long, and like many organisations, much of our working day is desk-based. And yet we want to ensure we are not desk-bound.

Here’s what makes this particularly personal for us. Several members of our team are living with and beyond cancer themselves. They know better than most what movement does for body, mind and resilience. They’ve felt it. But even we were caught in the same trap most working people fall into – screen-fatigued, back-to-back meetings, sitting for hours barely pausing between calls and supporting others.

That felt important to address. Not just as an employer but as a community of people who genuinely believe in what movement can do. We know that a movement-based culture will bring out the best in us as a team. We want to be productive, creative and ambitious as a charity, and we’ve learned that movement isn’t separate from that. It’s what makes it possible. 

How we built our Movement Manifesto – and our movement-based culture

We’ve thought long and hard about what this might look like, understanding that movement is different for everyone. We discussed ideas as a team, tried things out, and together created something we believe works. It’s simple, it’s flexible, and crucially it gives us permission to take the time we need.

The result is our Movement Manifesto – a set of core principles and ten practical commitments to keeping our team active while we’re at work. We launched it internally at the start of 2026, having tested many of the ideas throughout 2025. We’ve been measuring its impact ever since – through staff surveys, conversations, and honest reflection on what’s working and what needs to improve. This is a living manifesto for change, not a finished one.

The MOVE team is already feeling the benefits, measuring results, and sharing experiences as we go. Staff are already reporting improved wellbeing and more movement throughout the day. Walking and standing meetings are becoming the norm rather than the exception. And perhaps most tellingly – we’ve just had our most productive year ever as an organisation, in both supporting more people, fundraising and productivity.

We’re not claiming our Movement Manifesto caused all of that. But we do believe that a team that moves more, connects better, thinks more creatively and feels more energised will always perform better, whether working in person together or virtually from home. Movement during the working day is vital to a happy, healthy and productive workplace – supporting organisations like ours to achieve more and support more people to live active and fulfilling lives when impacted by cancer.

This isn’t a wellness initiative. It’s a movement-based culture that supports active lives AND productive, creative workplaces. Those things aren’t in tension – they’re the same thing.

Our ten commitments include walking meetings as the default option for every 1-to-1, a 50-minute meeting culture that creates natural space between calls, protected time every week to move in whatever way works for each person, and leadership that invests in health coaching skills to support colleagues to find their own path to staying active – rather than telling them what to do.

Crucially we built the Movement Manifesto as a team, tested and measured as we worked. Moving together, improving together. Because that’s the only way movement culture actually sticks.

Why now feels like the right moment to share it

Three things are happening right now that also make this feel like a vital moment for the power of movement at work.

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers published updated physical activity guidelines recently, with a renewed emphasis on the health benefits of even light-intensity activity and the importance of reducing prolonged periods of sitting. The refreshed guidance recognises that physical activity doesn’t need to happen in long or structured sessions – a walking meeting, a movement break between calls, getting outside at lunch. These aren’t trivial. The evidence says they matter enormously.

Andy Burnham – who has long championed the power of physical activity to transform lives and committed to putting physical activity at the heart of everything he does – became Prime Minister last month. He has spent years arguing that activity is good for people and for society, and that we have consistently under-played its value. A Prime Minister who deeply believes in the power of movement and has a track record of making it happen at scale feels like a moment worth meeting with action.

And closest to home: almost 900,000 people of working age in the UK are living with cancer, projected to grow to 1.1million by 2030. Most go to work wanting active, supportive and productive cultures. Many are working in organisations that haven’t yet thought about how to support them to stay active. We are just one example of what it looks like when an organisation genuinely aims to support them – and all colleagues – not through expensive programmes, but through building trust and a shared commitment to how we work together. We’re not unique in having team members affected by cancer. Most organisations do. The question is whether that reality shapes how they think about movement, energy, creativity and culture. We think it should. We all have a part to play in supporting people living with and beyond cancer. Inspiring that change, and helping make the conditions where active lives are possible, is very much part of what MOVE charity is all about.

This isn’t ours to keep – let’s get the Manifesto on the move

As a team we hope that in sharing our Movement Manifesto we can spark ideas in others – inspiring individuals and organisations to try, adapt, and welcome movement into their working lives.

None of what we’ve done requires a big budget. Any organisation – a small charity, a community group, a local business, a national company – can do this. It starts with a conversation and a decision that movement matters. Not just for wellbeing. For how well you work together, how creatively you think, and how sustainably you perform.

We’ll keep measuring. We’ll keep improving. And we’d love to hear from others and see them build their own – something that reflects their culture, their people, their working lives. We can always help with that if it’s useful – just get in touch. We can learn from each other.

Because those that move together, improve together.

Download our Movement Manifesto and find out more at moveagainstcancer.org/movement-manifesto – or get in touch directly at david.henderson@movecharity.org.  I’d love to hear from you.