A new fund, Active Anywhere, aimed at getting communities moving has been launched by Active Cheshire, the lead organisation in Warrington for creating, supporting and building healthy active lifestyles.
The charity has made an additional £71,399 of its own funds available to change the lives of local communities and will be working closely with the Active Warrington initiative to make the investment successful.
Active Anywhere is a far reaching and innovative programme which will enable new means of access to exercise and activity for the people of Warrington and will improve lives. The fund was launched earlier this month at a conference of local partners at the Warrington Wolves stadium where the details were explained to prospective partners. Active Anywhere is now live and awaiting new applications and will run until August 18.
Already this year, Active Cheshire have invested over £365,000 in Cheshire and Warrington in their mission to get 50,000 more people, more active more often by 2017. The cost of inactivity in the region is enormous, with sedentary lifestyles costing over £17.5 million per year across the subregion. As well as obvious healthcare savings, the new funds provide a means for communities to get active in a sustainable, measured and successful way. People who exercise at least half an hour a week are contributing hugely to their own future well-being as well as improving social interaction and lessening chances of mental ill health.
One of the key messages of Active Anywhere is to encourage new partners to come forward and work with Active Cheshire so that the joint aims of improving health, welfare and activity levels can be achieved together. As the providers and administrators of the fund, they are keen to work with these new groups and organisations so that maximum reach into non-traditionally active communities can be achieved.
Specifically, the fund has been created to improve levels of exercise and activity across the following themes:
Young People (19-25 year olds)
Older People (55+)
Under 5’s
Disability/Inclusive Physical Activity
Connecting Schools and the Community
Deprived Wards
Workforce
Adversity Fund
Anyone who missed the conference can find out more by visiting www.activecheshire.org or calling Active Cheshire on 01606 330212.
Councillor Kate Hannon said: “As chair of the Active Warrington Steering Group, news of this funding is particularly welcome. It will sustain physical activity and sport for residents across Warrington, supporting the aims and vision of the Active Warrington strategy. The Active Warrington Partnership is looking forward to working with Active Cheshire to deliver these funds locally, building strong and lively communities by helping people get more active, more often.
Anne Boyd, CEO of Active Cheshire said: “It is an enormous privilege for the team at Active Cheshire to be able to make this fund available. This is money that we have earned from the work we do and we are now proud and excited to invest this into the future health and wellbeing of local people. We can see from the interest and response of our partners today that they are crying out for ways to support communities to be more active and we are looking forward hugely to the range of applications we will receive. We’re sure we’re going to be blown away by the dedication, imagination and innovation of local and national organisations.”
