Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind wins National Lottery funding to help people on a low income become active.
The local mental health charity has been awarded £74,142 of funding as part of Sport England’s strategy to improve people’s health and mental 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 research1 shows that a third of people in lower paid and routine jobs, are inactive, meaning they do less than 30 minutes of exercise that gets them slightly out of breath each week.
The new project ‘Energise’ will support women in Middlesbrough and Stockton to become more active with free access to gyms, groups and other ways to get involved.
Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind Service Manager, Paul Christon, said: “Regular physical activity is proven to be beneficial for good mental health as well as good physical health. The Energise project is really important for women in Middlesbrough and Stockton as they find it harder to access sporting activity than men but are just as keen to do it.
“The project will work with sports and activity providers and our wonderful volunteers to help remove the barriers that get in the way of women being more active”.
Sport England Executive Director, Mike Diaper, said: “Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind has a strong track record of working with their local community and we’re very excited by how their project will make a positive difference to people’s lives.
“We know that people on a low income can face many practical and emotional challenges 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 and sport 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.”
Energise is one of 34 projects to receive a share of more than £3.36 million in this latest round of Sport England funding specifically aimed helping people on a low income get active.
For more information about the project and the local mental health charity, visit www.middlesbroughandstocktonmind.org.uk.