Clubs in Inverness and across the Highlands to benefit from launch of Get Active Scotland fund
A major new £1.1 million fund aimed at getting more people active - especially those in underserved urban and rural communities, including the Highlands - has been launched in Inverness.
Get Active Scotland is a two-year funding partnership between national and local partners - including the London Marathon Foundation, Sportscotland, High Life Highland and Glasgow Life.
The fund will be one of Scotland’s largest programmes focused on increasing participation in physical activity, particularly for the least active children and young people and communities living in areas affected by deprivation and rural isolation.
Community groups in the Highlands can now apply for a Get Active Scotland grant of up to £5000.
The launch of the new fund comes at a time when healthy life expectancy in Scotland - the number of years people can expect to live in good health with serious illness or disability - has fallen to its lowest level in nearly a decade, making new investment in physical well-being more important than ever.
Get Active Scotland will fund groups in two regions: the Highlands, managed by High Life Highland, and Glasgow, managed by Glasgow Life.
To mark the launch in the Highlands, Inverness track star and Olympian Megan Keith was joined by pupils from Kinmylies Primary School, leading the children’s Daily Mile activity at Bught Park.
Keith (23), who finished in 10th place in the 10,000 metres at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo earlier this month, says the fund will definitely prove to be a welcome boost to sport in the Highlands.
She said: “It is a fantastic initiative to have on the go. As a junior, you are unaware of what funding is available or the pressure on being able to keep grassroots sports improving and growing.
“Having seen how the pathway works, I feel that I am much more aware of how difficult it is to maintain both juniors and adults in sports and keeping them active in the Highlands.
“It is the most brilliant partnership that I want to get behind.
“We were so reliant on the clubs and motivated parents who self funded us and chauffeured us around the country. We were discussing issues like getting buses for people to get to clubs, they require so much support to make these clubs happen, but they are not insurmountable and it is brilliant to see the help to make these projects accessible.”
Speaking about running with pupils from Kinmylies Primary School at Bught Park, Keith says it is evident that there is plenty of enthusiasm for youngsters to get involved in sports in the Highlands.
She said: “I am happy to do what I can to keep that motivation going as when they transition in exams, it can force kids out of sport.
“I want to help try to maintain the enthusiasm that I was lucky not to have lost when I was in high school.
“I want to show that you can keep doing it the whole way through and it can take you some fun places.“
High Life Highland chief executive Steve Walsh says that the fund will be a welcome boost to sport in the Highlands.
He said: “Being able to support community sports clubs right across the region through this new partnership with the London Marathon Foundation and Sportscotland is most welcome indeed.
“From our youngest to our oldest residents, High Life Highland aims to make life better for everyone. With this, we want everyone in Highland to have the opportunity to be active.
“The Get Active Scotland Fund will significantly support our work with community clubs that in turn will enhance their capacity and enable them to provide safe, welcoming and inclusive opportunities for more people to be active within their local communities.”
Read: High Life Highland launches Wellness Month across the Highlands.
Sportscotland chief executive Forbes Dunlop said: “Club and community sport are at the heart of our vision for an active Scotland where everyone benefits from sport.
“So we are delighted to engage in this new partnership with the London Marathon Foundation and High Life Highland, which aims to support clubs, hubs and community groups to improve access to and inclusion in sport and physical activity.
“Through this new partnership we have a real opportunity to build on the great work being done in clubs and communities across the Highlands and to address some of the barriers to participation that are particularly felt in rural areas.
“That’s why Sportscotland is delighted to support this project with £500,000 of National Lottery investment and we look forward to seeing the impact it will have.”
The London Marathon Foundation has awarded £500,000 towards the two-year fund - the first grant it has made to solely support communities in Scotland.
The foundation is the parent charity through LME’s acquisition of Caledonian Concepts Ltd, one of Scotland’s leading providers of mass participation sporting events, including the Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running which takes place on Sunday.
London Marathon Foundation Group Funding and Impact Director Mike Diaper said: “Our vision is to inspire activity for all, and through Get Active Scotland, we’ll support community based initiatives for children, young people and those who need the most help to be active - making physical activity more accessible, inclusive, and part of daily life for everyone, no matter where they live.”
Caledonian Concepts chief executive officer Malcolm Sutherland said: “The Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running provide an incredible platform to inspire thousands of people very year across the Highlands and Scotland to get active.
“We believe this new fund has the potential to make a real difference in local communities and will leave a lasting legacy, beyond the events, for children, young people and communities across the Highlands to enjoy the lifelong benefits of physical activity and sport.”