SWINDON Council's Tri-Active project has been given a boost, thank to National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Sport Activation Fund.

The project, which aims to get inactive people living in the area involved in the sports of cycling, swimming and running, has been awarded £240,000 and will build on existing local and national partnerships with NHS Swindon, WASP, British Cycling, Run England and the Amateur Swimming Association.

The Community Sport Activation Fund builds on previous funding campaigns, which have shown that the key to success is finding out what people want from sport – and what‘s stopping them from getting involved – before designing an offer that’s appealing, accessible and secures their long-term involvement.

Sport England’s Community Sport Director, Mike Diaper, said: “This fund was created to respond to the demand among local communities for investment to reach down to the local level. By working with new partners, taking a flexible approach and investing in innovative ideas, we’re offering people the chance to get into sport in a way that most suit their needs and aspirations.”

Sport England is investing over £5.1 million of investment in 32 projects across England. All of the projects are contributing partnership funding towards their multi-sports programmes that will run for up to three years.

Hugh Robertson, the Minister for Sport and Tourism said: “Congratulations to the 32 projects that will be receiving a share of this £5.1mi National Lottery fund. They will help improve the sporting offer in communities across the country and drive up sport participation levels.”

Local government, voluntary and third sector groups and organisation are among those receiving funding.

This is the first of five rounds of the Community Sport Activation Fund, which will invest a total of £40 million.

Bids are now being accepted to the second round of funding, which closes on July 1. Community groups, charities and councils are among those that can bid for funding for up to three years, with grants of between £50,000 and £250,000 available for a wide range of projects.

Successful projects bidding to this fund will demonstrate: a focus on a defined geographical area and community, understanding of what local people want from sport with ambitious but realistic plans to get more people involved, strong local partnership, including other funding sources.

You can find full details of the fund at www.sportengland.org/funding/csaf.aspx