Sport England’s strategic lead for low socio-economic groups says the funding body has learned a lot from the first year of its ‘Tackling Inactivity and Economic Disadvantage’ (TIED) programme.
The TIED fund was created after insight showed that a third of people in low socio-economic groups are classed as inactive – doing fewer than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week.
Nearly 5,000 people have been helped to get active across 35 projects thanks to more than £4million in National Lottery funding, and the work will help inform Sport England and its partners on how to engage with similar participants in the future.
PATIENCE
Strategic lead Viveen Taylor said: “I’m delighted that we are investing in projects and organisations that wouldn’t traditionally approach us to support their work.
"What we're learning from TIED will help us to share more widely the need to think and respond differently to this important group of society when designing programmes that support people from low income groups to think differently about their physical activity.”
Programmes with such groups can require more time and patience as it is vital that strong relationships and trust are built up. This means that projects tend to be more expensive and can take longer than average to become established.
JOINED-UP
“We must acknowledge that beneficiaries in this group face daily challenges which can impact on their ability to engage in and ultimately sustain physical activity habits,” Viveen added.
“We are beginning to understand some of these challenges, capturing outcomes and highlighting key successes with some of the projects we have invested in.
“However, we know that success in engaging this audience will rely on a joined-up approach with colleagues and lots of different partners – the changes we are looking for will not happen overnight.”
If you did not receive TIED funding or did not apply but think you have a project that could benefit from funding, you could try Sport England’s Small Grants fund.
Pic credit: Sport England.
