News article
Sport England invests £250m to increase physical activity
Sport England is investing a further £250m into its Place Partnerships initiative, which will help those in greatest need to be physically active.
The package consisting of National Lottery and Exchequer funding has added to the investment into local communities across England.
Some £190m of this funding will be focused on 80-100 places, which are considered to be in greatest need. An additional £35m will be invested to strengthen work with existing place partnerships.
A further £25m has been made available to create a Universal Offer of key tools and resources, ensuring every area of England can access support.
“Too often, people in low-income communities don’t have access to the same facilities or opportunities as wealthier areas."
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of Sport England, said: “Too often, people in low-income communities don’t have access to the same facilities or opportunities as wealthier areas.
“This is manifestly unfair – and must be addressed as a real priority.
“That is why our expanded Place Partnership programme will unashamedly see us target our resources and efforts on communities that need the greatest levels of support and experience the greatest levels of inequality.”
It will further support the UK Government’s Get Active strategy, which is targeting 2.5 million more adults and one million more children becoming active by 2030.
The investment is a key part of Sport England’s United the Movement strategy.
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Executive Director of Place for Sport England, said: “We want to ensure that a wide range of local spaces where people can be active – be it a facility, park or outdoor space – are the right spaces that meet the needs of the community.”
Image: Gabin Vallet on Unsplash