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£1.4 million pound project:

Released on 18 Sep 2008

More than £1million pound is being ploughed into a major new project aimed at getting people in Oxfordshire more active.

Over the next three years £1.4 million pounds will be invested in the Get Oxfordshire Active (GO Active) project. This aims to get adults aged over 16 to do moderate exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week. At present only 23.2% of adults in the county achieve this amount of exercise.

Sport England's South East Regional Sports Board has given the project £635,490 - its largest ever award. GO Active is led by the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership and brings together the county's key health and leisure providers, including Oxfordshire's five district councils and the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust who are contributing £255,000 as part of their work to tackle obesity.

Staff will be based across each of the districts councils working to promote and create opportunities for people to take part in physical activity. They will steer people towards existing services such as swimming, exercise classes and gyms, and will set up extra activities tailored to meet local needs. They will also work closely with GPs to identify people who would most benefit from being more active. 

Rich Beer, Sports Development Manager of Oxfordshire Sports Partnership, which includes agencies involved in education, community and sport said, "The project is in its very early stages but has massive potential to make a real difference to the lives of Oxfordshire people.  Oxfordshire is by no means the least active county in England and is 1.2% higher than the national levels of participation (21%), but there is a real opportunity here to reach out to the 76.8% who would benefit from leading a more active lifestyle. We are currently in the process of recruiting project staff and will be looking to launch this later in the year."

Councillor Bob Timbs, Executive Board Member for Sport and Leisure at the Oxford City Council, said: "Oxford City Council is very pleased to announce The GO ACTIVE initiative and hope that it will further increase participation across the City. We are currently reviewing our leisure facilities, both indoor centres and sports fields and we support people of all ages getting active and improving their health in all manners of exercise." Kate King, Health Improvement Practitioner, Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust said, "The PCT is committed to supporting people and families in their efforts to lead healthier lives. The Get Oxfordshire Active project is one of the many local initiatives we are commissioning as part of our strategy to tackle rising levels of overweight and obesity and improve the health and well being of local residents."

Hannah Bladen, Interim Regional Deputy Director, Sport England South East said, "We are excited by the potential that the GO Active project has to increase participation in sport and physical activity in Oxfordshire. The project partners identified that there was a shortage of professionals and volunteers working in the county to address the barriers, which stop people participating. The funding we have provided will supply the workforce needed to provide more opportunities for the residents of Oxfordshire to get more active."

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