Barking and Dagenham Council have been shortlisted to apply for funding for a Football Foundation programme called ‘Active Through Football’. The funding will support increased physical activity and wellbeing for people aged 16 and over - and a consultation exercise is underway to gather ideas.

In partnership with the Essex FA and organisations such as the West Ham United Foundation, London Sport, Coventry University and others, the ambition of Active Through Football is to increase activity levels and create longer term behaviour change. A key element of the success and sustainability of the project is community engagement, and a survey is currently ongoing to gain the views of local residents and organisations so they can help develop this project.

Physical activity is so important for the health and wellbeing of our residents, and a project like Active Through Football is vital for our borough and I welcome the scheme.

There are many ways this programme can be delivered, including recreational football, female sessions, Walking Football and ‘football for fitness’ classes. The eventual delivery, location and time will be fully dependent on the feedback from the local community.

Ideas and suggestions will be taken on board to help shape the project in the future. The areas shortlisted have been selected strategically through a mapping tool which uses levels of deprivation and physical activity, as well as socio-economic group classification data.

The council really wants feedback from residents, and they can do that by completing the survey on the council’s One Borough Voice website at: www.oneboroughvoice.lbbd.gov.uk/active-through-football.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Cllr Saima Ashraf said: “Physical activity is so important for the health and wellbeing of our residents, and a project like Active Through Football is vital for our borough and I welcome the scheme. But it is important we get the feedback from residents to help us shape this programme and to secure further funding to deliver it. So, I am asking everyone to complete the survey and help us bring Active Through Football to Barking and Dagenham.”

Parklife Development Officer at the Essex FA, Sean Harris said: “This is a great opportunity for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to secure funding to support a sustained increase in physical activity and behavioral change. How it looks, is entirely down to the feedback we receive from community engagement. The programme will be built for the residents by the residents and a wide range of options are available through Active Through Football. It would be great to hear from as many residents and organisations as possible to ensure we deliver a sustainable project for the borough."

To find out more about the project, contact Sean Harris via sean.harris@essexfa.com.