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 doing 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 5 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 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”.

Kate King, Health Improvement Practitioner, Oxfordshire Primary
Care Trust said, “The PCT is committed to supporting people &
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 & 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”.