Launched in April this year, the £1million Changing Lives Through Sport and Physical Activity Fund will benefit a total of 17 projects nationally, with each receiving between £42,151 and £69,985 over a period of two years.
Each of the projects will intentionally use the power of sport to effect positive change in local communities.
The Changing Lives Fund is a partnership between the Scottish Government, sportscotland, the Robertson Trust and Spirit of 2012.
It is part of a wider £1.8million programme that provides additional resource into the sporting sector and community sectors to better address individual and community needs through sport and physical activity and to support participants to become and stay active.
The wider Changing Lives programme has a specific aim of increasing capacity and skills of people within the sporting sector to help them meet the needs of the community and deliver positive change for participants.
The programme and fund are aimed at projects that demonstrated a clear commitment to the below key themes:
- Sport for Inclusion
- Sport for Health and Wellbeing
- Sport for Skills
- Sport for Communities
Among the projects to benefit from the fund are Scottish Sport Futures (SSF) and the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) who are receiving £61,205 to deliver a joint programme that will promote positive mental health for young people and address the stigma and discrimination felt by those with mental health problems.
Sport Minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “Sport has the power to change lives and we know that being physically active is one of the best things we can do for your physical and mental health. That is why programmes such as this are so important. These projects specifically use sport to deliver real change in communities across the country, bringing them together, helping health and wellbeing and developing useful skills.
“The recipients of this fund have shown a very real commitment to the aims of the programme and it’s great to see the fantastic partnership between SSF and SAMH, who have combined to show that sport can make a meaningful difference to the lives of young people through promoting the benefits of positive mental health.”
The wider Changing Lives programme was developed following publication of a Sport For Change report in 2017 which demonstrated that being active brings about positive changes beyond participation and can impact positively on the health and wellbeing of individuals, on their skills and learning, and on communities.
The fund is delivered by Spirit of 2012 as part of the associated programme. Funds will be awarded to:
- Inch Park Community Sports Hub
- North Ayrshire Leisure
- Active Stirling
- Forth Valley College
- Street Soccer Scotland Ltd
- Scottish Sports Futures
- Youth Scotland
- Sporting Memories Network
- Greenock Morton Community Trust
- Big Hearts Community Trust
- Lords Taverners
- Sport Aberdeen
- Active Communities
- Scottish Association for Mental Health
- Paths for All
- Achieve More Scotland
- Netball Scotland