Cumberland To Benefit From Share Of Sport England £250 Million Investment
March 3, 2025
Cumberland is among 53 places set to benefit from a share of Sport England’s £250million investment into the heart of communities across England, designed so that those in greatest need are able to be physically active.
Three places in Cumberland have been selected to be part of this work. They are Flimby, Ellenborough and Broughton Moor (Maryport), Workington West (Workington), Mirehouse, Kells and Woodhouse (Whitehaven).
Each of these places is in the top 10% of the country for inactivity, social need, deprivation and health inequality.
Sport England research calculates that active lifestyles save £10.5 billion a year for the health and social care system. This relieves some of the NHS burden, preventing 1.3 million cases of depression, 600,000 of diabetes and 57,000 of dementia (the UK’s leading cause of death) annually.
Less than half of children are meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for daily physical activity and women, people from lower socio-economic groups and Black and Asian people are still less likely to be active than other adults.
To tackle these stubborn inequalities and break down barriers to a more active life, Sport England is taking a ‘Place-based approach’ - partnering with local organisations and leaders who understand both the specific needs of their communities and the local assets that are available - to support people to play sport and get active.
Lisa Dodd-Mayne, Sport England’s Executive Director for Place, said:
“We are proud to announce our partnerships with 53 new places in every corner of the country today.
“We know that where someone lives plays a huge part in how active, or not, they will be.
"Through our Place Expansion programme we will work with local partners and communities to break down the barriers to physical activity so that everyone has equal access to a more active life.
“We are excited to see what we can achieve together in Cumbria.”
Under the name 'Let's Move!', local partnerships in each place have already been formed, bringing together key stakeholders from the public, voluntary, and private sectors each with a keen interest to support their communities to be more active.
Cameron Wilson, Development Officer at Active Cumbria, said:
“The place-based investment is an exciting opportunity to make a lasting change within the communities selected in Cumbria to ensure that more people can live active lives for longer.
“The data highlights lots of the challenges faced within the communities selected, but to really understand these communities on a local level there needs to be a huge focus on collaboration and a partnership approach to tackling issues.
“We are extremely excited to see the impact of this work within Cumbria, bringing communities together to create opportunities for all to move more.”