Sport England is investing in Swindon to improve physical health, after findings suggest fitness is a "postcode lottery."
New research by the public body shows that more than a third of adults living in the country’s most deprived areas are not getting enough physical activity.
It's raised serious concerns that health and wellbeing have become a "postcode lottery", as 34 per cent of less affluent adults fell within the category of not getting enough physical activity, compared to only 20 per cent from less deprived areas.
Keen to tackle this injustice head on, Sport England has now announced plans to invest in activity levels in more than 50 new places struggling to provide it - including Swindon.
The public body will partner with local organisations and leaders in 53 places, to identify the major barrier to physical activity each place faces and then work to dismantle them.
“We want to end the postcode lottery for physical activity.
"Sport and physical activity are not just good for health, they are acts of economic contribution.”
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Chair Chris Boardman added that health inequalities had “become embedded in our communities” and rising levels of inactive children were “a ticking time bomb for the long-term health and wealth of the country."
The newest investment into Swindon comes as less than half of children in the UK currently meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for daily physical activity.
A Sport England report published last year found healthy, active lifestyles save the health and care system £10.5 billion a year by relieving pressure on the NHS, preventing chronic illnesses and saving money through reduced use of health services such as mental health support.
The full list of places securing new Sport England investment includes:
- Ashfield
- Barnsley
- Barking and Dagenham
- Blackpool
- Boston
- Brent
- Castle Point
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Cumberland
- Darlington
- Derby
- Dudley
- East Lindsey
- Erewash
- Fenland
- Gateshead
- Gravesham
- Great Yarmouth
- Harlow
- Hartlepool
- Ipswich
- King’s Lynn & West Norfolk
- Kingston upon Hull
- Kirklees
- Knowsley
- Leicester
- Liverpool
- Milton Keynes
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Northamptonshire
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Portsmouth
- Rotherham
- Sandwell
- Sefton
- Slough
- Southampton
- South Tyneside
- Spelthorne
- Stockton-on-Tees
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Swindon
- Thanet
- Thurrock
- Tower Hamlets
- Walsall
- Warrington
- West Northamptonshire
- West Suffolk
- Wirral
- Wolverhampton
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