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Sport England South East celebrates a successful bid for well-being

Big Lottery Fund well-being award

Sport England South East is delighted to be part of the core regional management group charged with overseeing the investment of £5.6 million Big Lottery Fund money as part of the national well-being programme.

Together with other regional strategic partners including NHS South East Coast, Arts Council England, the Regional Public Health Group and the Care Services Improvement Partnership, Sport England South East will deliver the ‘Chances 4 Change’ regional portfolio of projects designed to readdress hidden health inequalities through physical activity, healthy eating and mental health initiatives.

The award will see the delivery of a portfolio of 62 projects designed to tailor opportunities for the most socially, economically and geographically excluded groups and individuals in the region.

Sport England is the government’s community sport delivery partner charged with increasing adult participation. Sport England South East championed the physical activity strand of the successful bid, working with a range of partners across the Delivery System for Sport.

At a local level, Community Sports Networks (CSNs) were crucial in helping to identify local need, bringing together local partners and assisting in the development of high-quality sustainable projects to address low levels of participation. At a sub-regional level, County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) supported the CSNs’ prioritisation exercise and also developed broader projects to cut across a number of CSN areas and contribute to the counties’ adult participation targets.

While the physical activity strand was, and will remain, of primary interest to the Delivery System for Sport in the South East, the benefits of the development of a multi-stranded portfolio are enormous. The bid development process required the collaboration of representatives from across the sport and health sectors, joining up and maximising the opportunities of working across the ‘well-being’ spectrum. County Physical Activity Alliances, the physical activity ‘arm’ of the CSPs, played a pivotal role in assessing bids from all three strands against local requirements for physical activity, healthy eating and mental health-oriented interventions.

The £5.6 million total award will fund projects delivered by a combination of statutory, voluntary and private sector organisations. The aim is to bring a legacy of permanent health improvement, sustainable partnerships and capacity for further improvement in local communities.

The Delivery System for Sport will continue to play a central role in the realisation and management of ‘Chances 4 Change’. It will ensure each individual project contributes to a wider integrated and holistic approach to well-being, has the essential support of partners across the sport and health sectors and is equipped to sustain and evolve in response to local need.

Hannah Bladen, Interim Head of Delivery, Sport England South East says: “The success of the bid is testament to the strength of the Delivery System in the South East, which comprises all organisations and individuals working for sport and physical activity in the region. Each of the final 62 projects in the portfolio touches at least two of the three strands of physical activity, healthy eating and mental health, to deliver outcomes specifically matched to and addressing local needs. The injection of new funding into these crucial areas will make a huge difference to traditionally underrepresented sectors of the community.”

Lisa O’Keefe, Interim Regional Director, Sport England South East says: “I am delighted that, through the Big Lottery Fund award, more people will be supported to do more sport and physical activity. The diverse portfolio demonstrates the scope of inspirational initiatives for physical activity, healthy eating and mental health the South East is set up to deliver.

“Data from the recent Active People Survey* gave us tangible figures to assess the shape of the region’s activity levels. Boosted by the Well-being award, the South East has never been better equipped to pinpoint areas of need, deliver focused, targeted programmes and shape innovative approaches to physical activity to inspire hard-to-reach, excluded groups within our local communities and across the diverse South East region.”

Candy Morris, South East Regional Sports Board member and Chief Executive of NHS South East Coast said: “I am delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has agreed to give a grant of £5.6million to benefit the longer term health of people in the South East. This is an exciting time for NHS South East Coast to lead the programme and for the wider health community that will use the money across the South East.

"Across the region there are significant inequalities in people’s life expectancy at birth and their health. For example, the gap between the worst and best life expectancy by ward across the NHS South East Coast area is approximately eighteen years. This is clearly unacceptable. I would like to acknowledge the development work done by the core management group to lay the foundations of a successful bid which can now be taken forward."

ENDS

* Active People is a nationwide survey of participation and volunteering levels in sport in England. It was commissioned by Sport England, conducted by Ipsos Mori and published on 7 December 2006.

Notes to editors
Sport England exists to sustain and increase participation in community sport. It is a non-departmental public body and Lottery distributor. Its ambition is to get two million people participating more in sport by 2012. It does this by promoting, advising and investing in community sport. The specific ambition for the South East region is to get 300,000 more people taking part in sport and active recreation for thirty minutes, three times per week by 2012.

Sport England has nine Regional Sports Boards (RSBs), each made up of experts from areas such as business, local government, sport, health and education. RSBs provide the strategic lead for sport in their regions and distribute investment for community sport.

The Core Management Group comprises representatives from Sport England South East, Arts Council England South East, NHS South East Coast, the Regional Public Health Group and the Care Services Improvement Partnership.

A workshop for the 62 Chances 4 Change projects will be held on 8 August. For more information about the portfolio of projects, click here.

For more information about Sport England South East please contact Kate Kemp, Communications and Knowledge Manager on 0207 273 1921

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