Active Communities partnership awarded almost £10m for new scheme tackling inactivity
An innovative partnership bringing organisations across Birmingham and Solihull together to help residents to be more active has been awarded £9.72m in National Lottery funding from Sport England.
The Active Communities partnership is being led by The Active Wellbeing Society – a mutual benefit society that works to improve the lives and wellbeing of residents in Birmingham – and Solihull Council, reaching more than 450,000 people.
Working collaboratively with local organisations, volunteers and local people, it aims to help improve the quality of life of some of the most vulnerable in the community.
Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of premature deaths in the UK and costs the country an estimated £7.4 billion a year. This Active Communities scheme is one of 12 Sport England National Lottery-funded local delivery pilots, an innovative new approach to build healthier, more active communities in England and tackle head on the barriers which prevent people from being more active.
The programme will work closely with six local community action networks, made up of local residents and community groups, each supported by a local community action officer.
Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Ian Ward, said: “As Birmingham Council we are very proud of this initiative and very pleased that Sport England and National Lottery have both recognised the great progress we had made on this already, as well as see the potential that we can see to make the city and Solihull even better places for people to live and be active in.
“We know that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to experience barriers to be active, that’s physically active but also active in your city and local community. In the council we are committed to working differently to change things, to ensure we are working with our communities to change things for the better, rather than continuing to do what has always been done and clearly, in some ways, isn’t working for those in the most need.
“This is an exciting initiative and the timing of it, being just before the Commonwealth Games, means that it will help the city prepare to make the most of the Games and the legacy from them.”
To read the full release, visit: https://theaws.co.uk/events/active-communities-pilot/
Anyone interested in getting involved or finding out more can contact the team via activecommunities@theaws.org, visit the Active Communities website or call 0121 728 7030.
