Active Essex’s work through the Sport England Together Fund has created the opportunity to support more seldom heard communities facing inequalities in activity levels and health across Essex, Southend and Thurrock . Through listening to community groups and co-producing projects, Active Essex has supported a variety of activities and opportunities tailored to the participant’s needs.
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- Essex Cultural Diversity Project
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- Ghana Union Harlow
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- Efua Sey
Together Fund
Sport England announced the Together Fund (also known as Tackling Inequalities Fund) in April 2020, which was a new approach to deliver much needed funding to address inequalities in our local communities.
The 4 focus groups for the funding is targeted at:
- Lower socio-economic groups
- Ethnically diverse communities
- Disabled people
- Individuals living with long-term health conditions.
What has been achieved so far
Phase 1
In Phase 1 of this fund, Active Essex was able to fund 24 organisations from all 4 focus groups quickly, to efficiently meet the immediate need for support. Many groups were able to develop new initiatives for their participants to get active during a difficult time, including new virtual offers.
Phase 2
During Phase 2 of the fund, a commitment was made to allocate all of the funding to ethnically diverse communities in Essex as there was an under-representation in Phase 1. By doing this, new networks and relationships were established, ensuring the funding reached communities who needed this support the most.
By working in partnership with the Essex Cultural Diversity Project and African Families in the UK, who are trusted organisations to many ethnically diverse groups in Essex, Active Essex were connected to 25 groups we hadn’t previously worked with.
Phase 3
For Phase 3, the funding was focused on working with organisations and groups supporting disabled people and those with long-term health conditions, with 40 projects supported. An additional element to Phase 3 was to support organisations build their resilience coming out of the pandemic, with 17 organisations supported with expert guidance ranging from setting up the most appropriate legal structure to creating a robust business plan and fundraising strategy.
Phase 4
Phase 4 funding supported all 4 Together Fund audiences but with a focus on Levelling Up areas across Essex (Tendring, Colchester, rural Braintree, Harlow, Basildon & Castle Point) plus Southend and Thurrock. We supported 45 organisations in Phase 4 and continued the resilience building support.
It has been invaluable to connect and build trust with new community groups and as a result, Active Essex has also been able to support them further through levering in funding for other initiatives such as food insecurity, which was affecting many of the groups. It is Active Essex’s intention to continue to work with these organisations and help them continue to embed physical activity within their communities for the long term.
Check out some of the amazing community organisations below:
