A pioneering project by BH Live, to help local people on a low income become more active and healthier, has won backing from Sport England.
The social enterprise has been awarded £5,750 funding as part of Sport England’s strategy to improve people’s health and physical, mental and emotional wellbeing through sport and activity.
Sport England is funding a wide range of projects around the country, using varying approaches to help people to feel healthier, happier, more confident and able to cope with life’s pressures, or more connected to their families and communities.
Sport England research[i] shows that a third of people on low incomes are inactive, meaning they do less than 30 minutes of exercise that gets them slightly out of breath each week. And inactivity in people on a low income is twice that of people on a high income.
BH Live’s project focusses on Boscombe in Bournemouth. This is one of the town’s most deprived areas with a life expectancy rate in men 10 years lower than other more affluent wardsii.
Together with neighbourhood workers, community groups, the council and Live Well Dorset, BH Live will deliver low-cost, or free, community-based weekly activity sessions for up to 100 people who are currently inactive. In addition to the physical health benefits, the project aims to address issues of social isolation. Evidence has shown that engaging in physical activity has a positive effect on an individual’s mental health and can assist people who are currently struggling, or have in the past struggled, with addiction or substance misuse.
A variety of sport and activities will be offered to local residents. These could include 5-a-side football, basketball, dodgeball, circuit training and health walks. Regular attendees will be encouraged to support and recruit newcomers. They will also be rewarded in the form of receiving training opportunities, thereby supporting participants’ economic wellbeing; another of Sport England’s strategic outcomes.
Mike Lyons, BH Live’s Director for Sport and Leisure said, “Working with organisations including Sport England, health partners and community contacts we hope to inspire more people to get active.
“As well as the physical benefits, the mental and social advantages are also well reported. If we can run more schemes like this we have a much better chance of improving the health and wellbeing of our local community.”
Sport England Executive Director, Mike Diaper said, “BH Live has a strong track record of working with their local community and we’re very excited by how their project could make such a positive difference to people’s lives.
“We know that people on a low income can face many pressures that make it difficult for them to be as active as they would like to be. So we’re working with community-focused organisations across the country to find ways to help people fit physical activity into their lives in ways that work for them.
“The lessons we learn from this local project will really help to shape our work with similar groups across the country.”
A free-to-attend community event to launch the programme, ask residents about the activities they’d like to be included and showcase other community services is taking place in Boscombe’s Churchill Gardens on Friday 13 April from 2-6pm.
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Notes to Editors:
About BH Live
BH Live is the south coast’s leading operator of leisure and event venues; a social enterprise that designs and builds engaging experiences to inspire people and enrich lives.
With 3.4 million visits a year and over £39 million turnover we are changing lives and are at the heart of the UK’s growing social economy.
In 2016/17 we had 2.9 million leisure centre attendances, hosted more than 500 events and sold over half a million cultural, sporting and entertainment event tickets. We also welcomed 100,000 conference and exhibition delegates into our venues. This contributed an estimated £44 million to the local economy through business and cultural tourism.
For more visit bhlive.org.uk
Get social with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter @BHLIVE_UK
For more information about BH Live please contact:
Elizabeth Symmons, PR & Corporate Communications Executive
E: press.office@bhlive.org.uk
T: (01202) 055562
About Sport England
Sport England is a public body and invests more than £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.
It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.
Sport England has pledged to invest more than £250 million over four years encouraging inactive people to become active. This award is one of 26 just announced by Sport England, with a further £3 million funding specifically aimed at helping people on lower incomes to be announced later this year.
The health benefits of becoming active include reducing the risk of many chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, some of the most common cancers, and many mental health conditions.
For more information about Sport England contact:
Martin Oxley on 020 7273 1593 or media.team@sportengland.org
[i] Source: Sport England Active Lives Survey Nov 15/16.
Inactivity rate for lower income groups, such as shops assistants, waitress, long-term unemployed or never worked is 33.5%
Inactivity rate for higher income groups, such as chief executives and doctors, is 16.7%
[i][i] Source: Boscombe Commitment and Action Plan 2012-2015