Castle Point partners with Sport England to get more people active
- 53 new places across England announced to tackle inequalities in activity levels
- Castle Point set to benefit
- Each new place is in the top 10% of the country for inactivity, social need, deprivation and health inequality.
Castle Point and Active Essex have received funding from Sport England to boost levels of physical activity among people living in the most deprived and inactive communities.
Castle Point is among the 53 places set to benefit from a share of Sport England’s £250 million investment into the heart of communities across England, designed so that those in greatest need are able to be physically active.
Sport England research calculates that active lifestyles save £10.5 billion a year for the health and social care system. This relieves some of the NHS burden, preventing 1.3 million cases of depression, 600,000 of diabetes and 57,000 of dementia (the UK’s leading cause of death) annually.
Less than half of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for daily physical activity and women, people from lower socio-economic groups and Black and Asian people are still less likely to be active than other adults.
To tackle these stubborn inequalities and break down barriers to a more active life, Sport England is taking a ‘Place-based approach’ - partnering with local organisations and leaders who understand both the specific needs of their communities and the local assets that are available - to support people to play sport and get active.
Cllr Tom Gibson, Castle Point Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Assets and Special Projects said: “We are very pleased to be a part of this transformative initiative with Sport England. The funding will allow us to create more opportunities for our residents to engage in physical activities, regardless of their background or circumstances.
"By addressing the barriers to an active lifestyle, we aim to improve the overall wellbeing and health of our community. We are committed to working alongside Active Essex and other local partners to ensure the success of this programme and to inspire a healthier, more active Castle Point."
Lee Monk, Active Essex Relationship Manager for South East Essex said: “This significant investment represents a great opportunity for our Place Partnership to work together to tackle local inequalities, strengthen communities and ultimately, enable more of our residents to reap the rewards that an active lifestyle brings.
"Our co-designed investment plan has key focuses of developing local leadership and connections, delivering projects that target specific health conditions, providing positive experiences of physical activity for children and families and making the most of our built environment and community spaces through walking, cycling and targeted interventions."
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Sport England’s Executive Director for Place, said: “We are proud to announce our partnerships with 53 new places in every corner of the country today. We know that where someone lives plays a huge part in how active, or not, they will be.
"Through our Place Expansion programme we will work with local partners and communities to break down the barriers to physical activity so that everyone has equal access to a more active life. We are excited to see what we can achieve together in Castle Point.”