£10 million grant to get Essex active

5 February 2019, 07:12 | Updated: 5 February 2019, 07:15

Essex has been awarded £10 million to get residents more active.

The National Lottery grant from Sport England will support a three-year plan to tackle the inequalities which prevent 391,600 people in the county from enjoying the physical, social and mental health benefits of an active lifestyle. 

Currently, one in four (27%) Essex residents are inactive and carry out less than 30 minutes of physical exercise each week, while people on low incomes are twice as likely to lead sedentary lifestyles.

Getting families, the elderly and people with poor mental health more active is the priority. 

The successful bid was made by the Essex Local Delivery Pilot (Essex LDP), which is led by the Essex Health and Wellbeing Board, Active Essex, and more than 20 partners including public, community and voluntary sector organisations. 

Essex is one of 12 pilot areas selected by Sport England, with around £100 million of National Lottery funding being invested in the pilots over the next 3 years to build healthier, more active communities.

Basildon, Colchester and Tendring have been chosen as the initial focus for the Essex pilot as each of these has areas where there are high levels of inactivity and associated health inequalities. 

The plans include creating new walking and cycling routes and improving outdoor spaces like parks to make them more appealing.