Physical Activity Fund

Get Active – a Physical Activity Strategy for North Somerset sets out the priorities for physical activity in North Somerset over the next five years, supported by the vision:

'Every person has the opportunity to get moving, be active, and enjoy a healthier life in their local community'.

This vision reflects national, regional and local policy as well as local insight identified through the development of the strategy.

Moving more as part of everyday life is seen as a key part of our physical and mental wellbeing and supports us to learn, work and enjoy life to the full. Our population is ageing, people are living inactive lives and health inequalities have increased.  

Aims

We want to challenge inactivity in North Somerset and our four desired outcomes are:

• Active places: we will support and develop built and natural community assets that support and facilitate everyday physical activity for everyone
• Active communities: we will support and develop community-led initiatives to increase physical activity levels
• Healthy people: we will provide more opportunities to participate in physical activity as part of everyday life for all
• Partnerships and working together: we will improve partnership working to increase physical activity opportunities

The action plan sits alongside Get Active – a Physical Activity Strategy for North Somerset and maps out the actions we will take to increase participation in physical activity.

The action plan focuses on the main barriers and opportunities for improvement mentioned in the report. It includes general and specific actions to help everyone in North Somerset, especially those who need more support for their health and wellbeing.

To support the action plan, funding has been set aside for a small grant program. This will allow local community groups and non-profit organisations to apply for funding to help achieve the goals of the strategy and action plan.

The total fund is £63,000 and we are inviting proposals for actions, programmes or interventions that will help to achieve our aims. Individual proposals may have a value of up to £2,000.

Please use the form at the bottom of this page to submit your proposal to us. This information will help us prioritise what proposals we support so that we can achieve the best outcomes for our local population from available resources.

How funds will be allocated

Funding will be based on the priorities listed below and will focus on delivering the actions from the Physical Activity Strategy Action plan.

We are also targeting some inactive demographic groups who have been identified by the Active Lives Survey, these include:

• Disability and long-term health conditions: activity is less common for disabled people or those with a long-term health condition (48%) than those without (69%)
• Ethnicity: there are differences in activity levels based on ethnic background. Black and Asian ethnicity background (excluding Chinese) are less likely to be active (55%) than other ethnic groups
• Socio-economic groups: those in routine/semi-routine jobs and those who are long-term unemployed or have never worked (NS-SEC 6-8*) are the least likely to be active (53%)

Proposals need to demonstrate best use of resources and sustainability to create a long-lasting improvement to physical activity levels in North Somerset. 

Priority will be given to those organisations/groups who have not already received funding (grant or commissioned) from us for other health and wellbeing outcomes.

There will be three rounds of funding available, please complete and submit the template below by the following dates:

• Friday 19 January 2025
• Friday 26 April 2025
• Friday 20 September 2025 

Please note, funding will not be allocated on a first come first served basis. 

All funded projects will need to be completed by 31 March 2026 

The information will be reviewed by a panel of representatives from the North Somerset Physical Activity Strategy Steering group.

Funding will be allocated to proposals that show the best and most beneficial use of resources to support the strategy's goals and actions.

To apply, complete the application form below and send it to getactive@n-somerset.gov.uk.