Blackpool is hoping to grab a share of a £250m funding pot aimed at boosting levels of exercise among people living in the most deprived communities.
The town is among up to 100 places set to benefit from the funding announced in November last year, and which will be distributed by Sport England.
The aim of the funding is to reach people who do not take part in traditional exercise like playing sports or going to the gym. Instead, people will be encouraged to participate in any activity whether that is a walk around their local park or taking up a hobby such as gardening.
A meeting of Blackpool’s Health and Wellbeing Board heard the town could secure millions of pounds towards the initiative although an exact figure was not yet known.
Called ‘Move Together Blackpool’, work is already underway as part of a six-month development phase with partners such as the Blackpool FC Community Trust.
A report presented to the board says: “Move Together Blackpool is taking a bold, brave and radically different approach to helping people get physically active in Blackpool.”
Liz Petch, consultant in public health, told the meeting: “We want to change the culture so everyone has the opportunity to be more active. Everyone starts from a different base and we want to make it inclusive.”
Blackpool’s director of public health Dr Arif Rajpura added: “We need to understand our communities and why people are not doing physical activity. This isn’t just about sport and going to the gym but about movement.”
When the funding was announced by Sport England, it was revealed new research had shown the most active places in England have almost double the activity levels (81 per cent) of the poorest areas (43 per cent).
The Active Lives Adults Survey conducted by Sport England in 2022/23 shows 59 per cent of adults in Blackpool achieved the recommended amount of physical activity per week (150 minutes of at least moderate activity) compared to 67 per cent nationally.
Just over half (52 per cent) of children aged between five and 16 in Blackpool exercised for more than30 minutes per day outdoors, lower than the England level of 58 per cent.
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