We’re pleased to announce that the Council has been awarded £199,955 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to help families on the Isles of Scilly get active with their children.
The funding will support a three year project – Move Scilly – offering weekly subsidised swimming sessions, one-off events, and short programmes of ‘kick-start’ family activities on all the islands. The project will also explore ways to help families track their activity levels and support one another to move more. The funding will help to break some of the barriers to participation – for example, by providing transport (boating or taxis) to activities where required.
Sport England’s Active Lives Children and Young People Survey reveals that around a third (32.9%) of children are not active enough, doing fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a day. The Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines say they should be doing at least twice that – 60 minutes of activity a day, every day of the week.
Sport England has dedicated a £40 million National Lottery funding pot to address this by helping families get active together, and the Council of the Isles of Scilly has received its award in the latest round of investments.
The fund is a key part of Sport England’s focus on helping young people have an enjoyable experience of sport and physical activity so they develop a positive attitude towards being active at an early age and continue being active in later life.
Sport England are funding organisations that help families get active together, because parents and close family members can have a big impact on children’s experiences. As well as giving children direct access to sporting opportunities, Sport England research shows that they are also significant role models in helping their children get active – because how a parent behaves impacts what a child sees as important.
Mike Diaper, Sport England's Executive Director, said: “Parents have many demands on their time and can lack confidence in how to get active with their children. That’s why Sport England is working hard to make getting active or playing sport with your children an easier choice. It doesn’t matter what people do or how good they are, having fun together is what is important and helps ensure children continue to be active adults.”
With this new National Lottery funding, the Council of the Isles of Scilly will be able to provide convenient, low cost activities to families, some of them based at Active Scilly facilities (such as Normandy Pool or the Sports Hall), and others elsewhere in the community. From treasure hunt trails to laser tag, and from badminton to beginners’ running sessions, this project will offer a range of active opportunities that might not otherwise be available to local families.
Cllr Joel Williams, the Council’s Lead Member for Children and Young People, said: “I am really excited by this project. Council staff have put together an excellent application that has been recognised by Sport England in their award of almost £200K of National Lottery funding. Getting children active from a young age is an essential component of good health and wellbeing that will hopefully pay dividends in later life. This project complements many Council priorities and ensures we are able to deliver strong outcomes for children, young people and families over the coming years”