Buckinghamshire will benefit from £510,000 of national Sport England investment to help tackle the deep‑rooted inequalities that prevent many people from being active. The funding comes through Sport England’s Place Universal programme, part of its £250 million place‑based investment across England aimed at supporting communities to create long‑term change using a whole‑system, place‑led approach.
Locally, the investment will focus in Aylesbury South‑West, an area identified as experiencing some of the highest levels of need in the county, with high levels of deprivation, twice the county rate of children living in low‑income households, and only 44.9% of children and young people active.
Rather than funding short‑term or isolated programmes, the investment will be used to support partners and residents to work together to address the systems that shape everyday life, including transport, safety, housing and access to green and blue space. Learning from the work in Aylesbury South‑West will be shared across Buckinghamshire to support wider, long‑term change.
This builds on Sport England’s learning from their Local Delivery Pilots, demonstrating that sustainable progress requires shared leadership, collaboration and meaningful community involvement.
Leap, the Active Partnership for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, applied for and secured the funding, which will be overseen by a multi‑agency Place Universal Offer Board chaired by the Director of Public Health for Buckinghamshire. The investment runs until March 2028 and will support partners and communities to address the wider systems that shape everyday activity.
David Munday, Director of Public Health for Buckinghamshire commented on the investment,
“We know being physically active is linked with lots of positive mental and physical health outcomes. I am really excited about this project which will work effectively with the local community, understand the existing strengths and positive features locally and build upon these to address any challenges. This will help us work together in new ways to address underlying barriers to improve physical activity levels in South-West Aylesbury.”
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