Darnall Forum wins funding from Sport England to help local women become more active

People on a low income face many pressures that can make it really difficult for them to fit physical activity into their lives     This project will focus on local minority ethnic women and support them to get more physically active     It’s funded by Sport England through a grassroots programme they are running to improve people’s health and mental wellbeing through sport and activity

A pioneering project by  Darnall Forum to help local people on a low income become more active and healthy has won backing from Sport England.

The Forum has been awarded £8,180 as part of Sport England’s strategy to improve people’s health and mental wellbeing through encouraging more grassroots sport and physical 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 research[i] shows that a third of people on low incomes do less than 30 minutes of exercise that gets them slightly out of breath each week. People on higher incomes get twice as much exercise.

Zahira Naz, the community development worker at the Forum, has worked hard to raise awareness among local Black and Minority Ethnic women about opportunities to get more physical exercise, and she finds that they often respond very positively, but they also face even more obstacles than other people in getting involved in sports and physical activity. ‘This project will help us, and local sports venues such as Davys Sporting Club in Darnall, which is a not-for-profit sports facility, to get more BME women involved in sport and keep fit activities,’ she said.

Sport England Executive Director, Mike Diaper, said: ‘Darnall Forum has a strong track record of working with their local community and we’re very excited by how their project could make such a positive difference to people’s lives.

‘We know that people on a low income can face many pressures 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 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.’

Zahira said, ‘To find out more please email me on zahira@darnall.og.uk, or drop in to our office or ring 0114 249 0099 on any weekday afternoon.’

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About Sport England

Sport England is a public body and invests more than £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.

It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active - like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.

Sport England has pledged to invest more than £250 million over four years encouraging inactive people to become active. This award is one of 26 just announced by Sport England, with a further £3 million funding specifically aimed at helping people on lower incomes to be announced later this year.

The health benefits of becoming active include reducing the risk of many chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, some of the most common cancers, and many mental health conditions.

About Darnall Forum

Darnall Forum is a local community organisation and registered charity based in Darnall. It aims to regenerate Darnall and build the capacity of local people and community groups to bring about positive change in their lives and their neighbourhoods.

[i] Source: Sport England Active Lives Survey Nov 15/16.

Inactivity rate for lower income groups, such as shops assistants, waitress, long-term unemployed or never worked is 33.5%

Inactivity rate for higher income groups, such as chief executives and doctors, is 16.7%