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Jul 22

Liverpool receives £250,000 to boost local sport

A RANGE of exciting activities to get people into sport will be developed in parts of Liverpool – thanks to £250,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Sport Activation Fund.

The Liverpool East Activity Programme (LEAP) run by Liverpool City Council is among 88 projects to receive a share of £15 million of funding to support grassroots sport activity across the country. The scheme is designed to get more young people aged over 14 in deprived areas taking part in physical activity.

The project team will work with local partners to target residents in Tuebrook and Stoneycroft, Kensington and Fairfield, Anfield, Knotty Ash, West Derby, Clubmoor and Old Swan who are living with, or at risk of developing, a long-term health condition or engaging in anti-social behaviour.

The aim is to improve their health and wellbeing and life chances. The funding will enable the project to run for three years.

Assistant Mayor, Councillor Wendy Simon, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive funding from the Community Sport Activation Fund.

“Getting people into sport helps give them something positive to do, improves fitness and encourages team building and social skills.

“We will be offering a selection of exciting activities such as kayaking, taekwondo and skateboarding as a way for people to get into sport, and encourage them to continue doing it in the long-term.”

Designed in response to local demand, the Community Sport Activation Fund allows local authorities, charities and other organisations to apply for funding for innovative projects that will get more people playing sport.

Mike Diaper, Sport England Director of Community Sport, said: “It’s great to be working with innovative projects, like LEAP to offer people the chance to get into sport in a way that best suits them.

“The investment being made through the Community Sport Activation Fund is making a real difference at a very local level. I’m particularly pleased that more than half the funding is going into projects in deprived areas, helping more people develop a lifelong sporting habit.”

The Community Sport Activation Fund is investing a total of £47.5 million of funding over five funding rounds across the country. Already 156 projects have shared in £27.2 million of funding over three rounds, receiving grants of between £50,000 and £250,000 to provide grassroots sport at a very local level.