A PROJECT run by the Lancashire Sport Partnership has secured important backing.

The charity has been awarded £9,950 by Sport England as part of its strategy to improve people’s health and mental wellbeing through sport and activity in Shadsworth, Blackburn with Darwen. 

The money will be put towards a new project that has been designed to help local people on a low income become more active and healthier. 

Sport England executive director Mike Diaper said: “Lancashire Sport Partnership has a strong track record of working with their local community and we’re very excited by how their project could make such a positive difference to people’s lives.

“We know that people on a low income can face many pressures that make it difficult for them to be as active as they would like to be.”

The new project in Shadsworth follows on from the great success that the Lancashire Sport Partnership has already seen through the Challenge Through Sport Initiative.

The initiative, which has also been running in other areas of the country, engages with people who are in recovery from substance misuse and other mental health issues.

Shadsworth is in the top 20 per cent of the most deprived areas in England, with over a third of its working population unemployed. 

Sport England research also shows that a third of people on low incomes are inactive, meaning they do less than 30 minutes of exercise each week. 

Lancashire Sport Partnership chief executive Adrian Leather added: “The success of this pilot project will open up doors for many people who have their own health and wellbeing problems and it will empower them to be responsible for their own community club.”