Sport England has announced a funding overhaul to target regional disparities in access to physical activity.
The non-departmental government body will spend £250m on its ‘place partnerships’ programme.
Over the next five years, £190m will be used to expand the programme to an additional 80-100 low-income areas that have poor access to sports facilities and opportunities.
Of the remaining funding, £35m will go to existing place partnerships and £25m will be used to create a universal offer of key tools and resources, which will be available across England.
Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth said: ‘Where a person lives and the environment around them has a huge impact on how likely they are to be physically active.
‘This is manifestly unfair – and must be addressed as a real priority.
‘That is why our expanded place partnership programme will unashamedly see us target our resources and efforts on communities that need the greatest levels of support and experience the greatest levels of inequality.’
