Boost for local sport from National Lottery funding

Julie Durrant, Active Communities Manager for Link4Life (left) breaks the good news to local badminton players.

More than £470,000 will be spent on increasing adult participation in sport over the next three years in the Rochdale borough.

'Active8te ME' will help to get more local people into sport thanks to £204,681 of National Lottery funding from Sport England's Community Sport Activation Fund in an announcement made today (15 May).

Link4Life, the Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, is among 32 successful bidders receiving a share of £5.1 million of funding to support grassroots sport activity across the country to build a lasting legacy from last year's successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The National Lottery funding is designed to support communities across England to help ensure sport becomes a regular part of the majority of people's lives. Link4Life's successful bid ring-fenced total project costs of £471,111 to be used to increase once a week participation in sport by those aged 14 and above.

The 'Active8te ME' project will focus on eight sports delivered at eight Link4Life hub centres with a network of supporting community venues. The sports represented are athletics, badminton, cycling, exercise and fitness, football, golf, rounders and swimming. The result will be over 220,000 more visits to local facilities from those signing up. Building stamina, meeting new friends, feeling good and increasing fitness are just some of the benefits to those taking part.

The decision by Sport England to support the project is being attributed to the track record of success that Link4Life has been able to demonstrate over the past five years and the commitment to new sport and leisure facilities that has seen investment in the borough of more than £34 million, an area already highlighted by Sport England as an example of industry best practice.

Head of Leisure and Communities for Link4Life, John Taylor, said: "A track record of successful project delivery and strong local partnerships were key to the success of this bid. Each year we have been able to generate upwards of £1 million of external funding to deliver community based sports and leisure projects. The work we have been doing with partners on health improvement and widening participation among under-represented groups also demonstrated a solid basis on which to build."

Partners for the 'Active8te ME' project include NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group, Rochdale Borough Council's Public Health Service, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, Greater Manchester Sports Partnership as well as a number of voluntary sector organisations and the national governing bodies of the sports represented.

The Community Sport Activation Fund builds on previous funding campaigns, which have shown that the key to success is finding out what people want from sport, and what's stopping them from getting involved, before designing an offer that's appealing, accessible and secures their long-term involvement.

Sport England's Community Sport Director, Mike Diaper, said: "This fund was created to respond to the demand among local communities for investment to reach down to the local level. By working with new partners, taking a flexible approach and investing in innovative ideas, we're offering people the chance to get into sport in a way that most suit their needs and aspirations."

Local government, voluntary and third sector groups and organisation are among those receiving funding and alongside Sport England's investments, all of the projects are contributing partnership funding towards their multi-sports programmes that will run for up to three years.

The Community Sport Activation Fund will invest a total of £40 million of funding over five funding rounds. The second round of funding is now open and closes on 1 July 2013. Community groups, charities and councils are among those that can bid for funding for up to three years, with grants between £50,000 and £250,000 available for a wide range of projects.

Successful projects bidding to this fund will demonstrate a focus on a defined geographical area and community; understanding of what local people want from sport with ambitious but realistic plans to get more people involved together with strong local partnership, including other funding sources.

Leader of Rochdale Council, Councillor Colin Lambert said: "I am delighted that our partner Link4Life is working with Sport England in this exciting project, increasing sporting opportunities for people throughout our borough. We are seeing more people participating in sport since the Olympic and Paralympic Games and I very much want to see grass roots sport continue to grow. This is a great example of how we can support a different approach to health within the community."