Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield partnering with Sport England to get more people active

Three places have received funding from Sport England to boost levels of physical activity among those in greatest need, from the most inactive communities.

Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield are among the 27 places set to benefit from a share of Sport England’s £250million investment into the heart of communities across England, designed to tackle inactivity and inequalities by making sport, physical activity and movement accessible for everyone.

Our place-based approach is explained here. Read a blog by Gayle Elvidge, Director for South Yorkshire and James Brown, Director for West Yorkshire. 

Sport England research calculates that active lifestyles save £8 billion a year for the healthcare system through illness prevention. This relieves some of the NHS burden, preventing more than 3.3 million cases of chronic health conditions a year – including 1.3m cases of depression, 900,000 cases of back pain and 700,000 cases of type 2 diabetes.

Less than half of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for daily physical activity and women, people from lower socio-economic groups and Black and Asian people are still less likely to be active than other adults.

To tackle these stubborn inequalities and break down barriers to a more active life, Sport England is taking a ‘Place-based approach’ - partnering with local organisations and leaders who understand both the specific needs of their communities and the local assets that are available - to support people to play sport and get active.