COMMUNITIES are to reap the benefits of a major project that aims to help people towards physical and mental fitness.
Target: Well-being, managed by Groundwork, is an £8.9m regional programme awarded by the Big Lottery Fund. It will fund eight initiatives in Ellesmere Port that help to increase physical activity, encourage healthy eating and improve mental health.
Helen Bellairs, chief executive of Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust said: 'We'll be able to really help the most disadvantaged parts of Ellesmere Port with a range of practical, innovative schemes that will see local people, community and voluntary organisations working together to take more exercise, increase healthy eating and improve mental well-being.'
Projects to benefit include walking groups, workplace health advisers, recruitment of community health workers and support people at risk of mental ill-health by helping them re-enter the job market.
Age Concern Cheshire is to targets excluded and/or isolated older people, aiming to increase well-being through an arts initiative and a range of physical activity sessions and themed activity weeks.
Lots of Plots - Groundwork Wirral aims to encourage local communities to discover the benefits of growing their own food, and to maximise the productivity of local green space, including communal gardens, allotments and school grounds.
Mental Health and Well-Being - CHAPTER (West Cheshire) Ltd will focus primarily on interventions to prepare beneficiaries for employment.
Out and About - Groundwork Wirral will work with communities and partner organisations to encourage the use of parks and green spaces as a leisure and healthy lifestyles resource through a programme of activities.
