Broseley and Barrow Active Towns project needs your vote

Residents living in and around Broseley and Barrow are invited to vote for their top three projects that will best help local people to become more active, especially those who are least active.

The Everybody Active Broseley and Barrow voting events will be taking place at Victoria Hall, Broseley, on Saturday 26 November 2016 at 3pm-6pm and 7.30-9pm, and at the Downes Shop and Broseley Library between 21 November 2016 and 25 November 2016.

The events form part of Shropshire’s Everybody Active Towns community fund project, set up by Shropshire Council’s public health team to help motivate communities to come up with ideas and sustainable projects to improve physical activity within their locality. The campaign invited residents, community groups and organisations in Broseley and Barrow to submit their projects up to the value of £30,000.

Fifteen projects have made it to the final voting event, and everyone young and old will have the opportunity to vote for their top three projects which they feel are most needed, and that will benefit their local community in the long term. Projects you can vote for are:

1. Wyldwood ‘Family Fit’ Cost £5,000 – To encourage people of all ages to get more active by taking part in green woodcraft, gardening, chopping wood and walking the beautiful surrounding countryside.
2. Barrow School ‘The Barrow Mile’ Cost £600 – To get all pupils engaged in a regular, fun activity, while keeping fit, by providing the opportunity to walk regularly during the week.
3. John Wilkinson Primary School ‘Cycle Track/Access to Bikes’ Cost £5,000 – To establish a cycle track and access to bicycles for families, children at local schools pre-schools and community organisations.
4. The Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) Group ‘Games for All’ Cost £3,524 – To encourage adults particularly (female and older people) to join in informal sessions of football and other physical activities.
5. Broseley C of E School ‘Orienteering for All’ Cost £627.50 – To create a new orienteering course in the grounds of the school and onto the nearby public playing fields for all local children to use during the school day, as a club during lunch and after school.
6. Broseley Youth Partnership and Town Council ‘Play Equipment’ Cost £5,000 – To create a new play area on open space at Guest Road on the Tileries ,to get children active whilst having fun. Currently there is no children’s play equipment here or anywhere else within a safe walking distance.
7. Broseley Youth Partnership ‘Road Safety skills’ Cost £2,485 – To teach pre-school and primary school children road safety skills. There will be some balance bike training which will ready children for learning to ride a bike. Equipment will be available for the community to use.
8. Broads with Nicola Carmichael School of Dance ‘Dance Fun and Fitness ’ Cost £2,000 – To offer sessions in dance and movement to anyone 16+, whatever your ability or level of fitness. Sessions will give people the chance to enjoy dancing that really appeals to them.
9. Broseley Town Council and Barrow Parish Council ‘Folk and Gentry Walk’ Cost £2,570 – To produce way-marked walks and install benches through our local beautiful countryside. Open to all communities to stroll through our local history, past workers cottages and a stately home.
10. The Friendly Bus ‘Swimming for All ’ Cost £2500 – To get everyone, especially older people, active, through swimming at regular weekly sessions in a safe and welcoming environment.
11. The Haycop Nature Reserve ‘Footpath Improvements’ Cost £5,000 – To improve the footpaths and bridleway on the Haycop to make access easier and more enjoyable for the local community and visitors, particularly those less physically fit.
12. Broseley Joggers Couch to 5K Cost £1,486 – To run a 9 week programme specially designed to get complete beginners off the couch and running 5K in easy and manageable steps.
13. Broseley Youth Club Active Youth Club £4,700 – To run interactive fun sessions at Youth Club that will encourage young people who attend to be more active and to also encourage other young people to attend. young people.
14. The Birchmeadow Park Committee Outdoor Fitness Equipment Signage Cost £2,500 – To install new information boards for the outdoor gym equipment and running track.
15. The Crossbar Foundation Family Fitness Cost £4,940 – To identify and encourage local people to take part in regular exercise in the form of fun fitness camps for families which are tailored to promote active lifestyles, community building and cohesion.

Kerry Rogers, community enablement officer, and Everybody Active Broseley and Barrow lead, said:

“Everybody Active Broseley and Barrow has been set up so communities can select projects that they decide are most needed. This is a competition to find out which projects your town decides will best help people to become more active, especially those who are least active. For projects to win this funding people need to get out and vote.

“So please come along to our voting events and choose your top three that you think best will help people who need it most, is good value for money and that will bring long term benefits to the people of Broseley and Barrow.”

Karen Calder, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for health and well-being, and Chair of Shropshire’s Health and Well-being Board, added:

“We are committed to encouraging people of all ages to be more active.

“Whatever your age, there are huge benefits both physically and mentally of being and staying more active. These can range from weight loss and control, increased energy and better flexibility and movement, to better mental health, as exercise increases levels of seratonin and dopamine in the brain, which is linked with improved mood. Most importantly, physical activity can also help reduce the risk of long term conditions such as type 2 diabetes, strokes, dementia and cancer.

“The Everybody Active Towns project is a fantastic initiative that gives local communities the opportunity to work together and come up with sustainable ways to tackle physical inactivity in their community. The success of this project is very much dependent on the response of local people, so I would really urge local residents to get involved and come along and take part in the voting events.”

Voting is open to people 8 years old and over who live, work or are currently being educated in Broseley and Barrow.

Further details about the projects and information about Everybody Active Broseley and Barrow can be found here.

For more information about Shropshire’s Everybody Active Towns project visit http://www.healthyshropshire.co.uk/topics/physical-activity/everybody-active-towns-project/.

Further information

Physical inactivity can pose serious health risks to the individual and is now one of the key health issues in the UK, responsible for one in six deaths and costing the country an estimated £7.4 billion a year. Those who aren’t active enough risk developing a series of conditions– depression, dementia, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer and more.

Everybody Active Broseley and Barrow is part of Shropshire’s Everybody Active Towns community fund project currently being piloted in in four areas across Shropshire. Other towns include Craven Arms, Whitchurch and Wem.

The community fund project was set up by Shropshire Council’s public health team to help motivate communities to come up with ideas and sustainable projects to improve physical activity within their locality.

The projects can be targeted to any or all ages across the life course, from early years to later life. Proposed projects will compete for funding through a public vote in their town.

The maximum amount available to each of the four communities is £30,000, but will be adjusted according to community response and to ensure a genuine competition can take place. The response to this competitive process will indicate the level of successful community engagement.