Age Is No Barrier To Northumbria Project

The Northumbria Sport Foundation has successfully bid for a share of a £10m National Lottery pot made available to reduce the number of inactive over-55s across the UK.

More than £114,000 will be invested in the wellbeing of University staff - increasing their chances of remaining active after retirement.

In total 725 applicants made bids for a share of Sport England’s Active Ageing Fund. Only 20 organisations nationally were successful - including Northumbria Sport Foundation.

“Our project will be aimed at increasing activity levels amongst Northumbria University staff over the age of 55,” explained Northumbria University Sport Engagement Manager David Jones.

“We aim to improve overall health and increase the chances of older members of staff remaining active after retirement.

“It was a hugely competitive bid process but I felt we submitted an excellent proposal. We are committed to engaging staff and students through sport and this is just one example of how the Northumbria Sport Foundation can really make a difference.

“We can’t wait to get started.”

Sport England is investing the eight-figure sum into 20 projects across England to reduce the number of inactive older adults in the country.

Each of the partners has co-designed their project with the audience in mind and will use innovative approaches to help tackle inactivity.

Sport England has put tackling inactivity at the heart of its strategy Towards An Active Nation. There are roughly 5.8 million inactive people over the age of 55 in England and the number of inactive people is growing as people are living longer.

Physically active older people have higher levels of mobility and a lower of risk of disease than those who are inactive. Ill health often means the loss of independence and is linked to social isolation and depression.

Mike Diaper, Executive Director at Sport England said: “People are living longer but not necessarily in the best of health. We’re excited to be supporting these 20 partners with National Lottery funding to help get older adults get active. We’ll be sharing learnings so successful approaches can be scaled-up or replicated across the country so we can help more adults lead happier and healthier lives.”