Sport England invests £7.5m in developing sports in deprived areas

The latest round of Sport England's £47.5m Community Sport Activation Fund has opened, with £7.5m specifically dedicated to boost sporting opportunities in deprived communities.

A further £7.5m is available for for what Sport England calls innovative, local projects anywhere in the country that meet local demand.

The Community Sport Activation Fund was designed to meet demand by local authorities, charities and other organisations for investment into projects that will get more people playing sport. It has already boosted sporting opportunities at a very local level across England and by ring-fencing £7.5m for projects from deprived areas it is hoped that many more communities will benefit.

Mike Diaper, Sport England Director of Community Sport, said: "Our investment is already making a real difference at a very local level. To help extend this work we're investing an additional £7.5m through the latest round of funding, taking the total amount available to £15m.”

The announcement of the boost in funding comes as 36 projects celebrate a share of £5.9m from the second round of funding. Amongst these are the Salmon Youth Centre which has been awarded £147,261 to offer 14- to 25-year-olds in Bermondsey a comprehensive programme of sport sessions in the four-court sports hall.

Also benefiting are the Lake District Calvert Trust, which works with disabled people in the heart of the Lake District. The trust has secured £234,000 of funding to enable them to work with disabled young people from throughout the North West.

Elsewhere, Derby City Council has received £224,020 for its Coached off the Couch programme, a behavioural change scheme aimed at getting young people and adults more active; and Toxteth Firefit Hub in Liverpool, which has been awarded £194,630 for its Active 8 project designed to deliver a diverse programme of sports activities for young people and adults in the Dingle and Toxteth area.