Next year’s London Olympic Games could not have fallen at a better time for Bradford.

The landmark event kicks off as Bradford begins a new chapter in the future of sport across the district.

Sunday’s Bradford City Run saw the launch of a district-wide, five-year plan to encourage more people to get involved in sport or other leisure pursuits.

Developed by Bradford Council along with other partners from the district’s Community Sports Network including the University of Bradford, Bradford and Airedale PCT and Bradford College, it aims to help adults and children to become more active, healthy and successful through getting up and heading out to have fun.

Not that Bradfordians are a bunch of couch potatoes. More than half the adults in the district take part in some activity every week, and almost all children and young people take part in more physical education and sport than they did five years ago.

“But there is more to be done if the district is to fulfil its sporting and active potential”, says the plan, or to give it its official name, the strategy for sport and physical activity.

“We have been working on this strategy for about two years – it is fortuitous that it has come together at this time, to be a legacy for the Olympics,” says Phil Barker, the Council’s assistant director for sport and leisure.

If all goes to plan, it is hoped that by 2015 there will be 20,000 more people across the district being physically active.

One of the key thrusts of the strategy is participation by children and young people. Next year, as part of the national Olympic and Paralympic programme, secondary schools across the district will take part in a country-wide school games competition.

“Elements of the Olympic programme are locally-led, and a lot of work is going into that,” says Zuby Hamard, sport and physical activity manager with Bradford Council. “There is a lot happening and the strategy works well in taking the best out of that.”

A number of sporting programmes up and running in Bradford, including Playing For Gold and Gateway To The Games, have been awarded an ‘inspire mark’ from the 2012 Olympic organising committee.

Playing For Gold engages with young children through traditional activities, such as egg and spoon racing and imaginative arts and crafts, while Gateway To The Games centres around aquatics.

“These are seen to be inspiring and go the extra mile within the ethos of the Olympics,” says Zuby.

The strategy’s aim is to increase the number of children and young people who are taking part in physical activities through measures such as improving the quality of PE and school sport, increasing the number of young people developing leadership and volunteering skills through sport, and working with the private, public and voluntary sectors to deliver high-quality coaching.

A new programme, Back To Sport, targets 19 to 40-year-olds. “We are going to do outreach work to encourage people to look at what facilities are on offer, such as sports centres,” says Zuby.

Adds Phil: “We are looking at how things will look after the games and how we shape sport.”

He stresses the vital role of working in partnership. “In the past, a lot of people have done excellent work in isolation. This is about working together and building on our strengths.”

“A key player will be the voluntary sector,” he says. In Bradford, more people voluntarily help to run sports clubs and activities than in any other area of West Yorkshire. Involvement does not always centre on sport, but other skills such as finance and administration.

Greater participation in sport brings benefits in other areas. Obesity is a major issue for the district: 57.5 per cent of the adult population and 34 per cent of children in Year Six are overweight or obese.

“People become fitter and less of a burden on health services,” says Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq, with responsibility for environment and sport.

“Sport also brings communities together, people from all walks of life – that is the beauty of it.”

Bradford is benefiting from playing host to Pre-Games Training Camps for Olympic competitors, which should also generate much interest and spur people into taking up a sport.

Adds Coun Khaliq: “Because of the Olympics, I believe that more and more people are going to engage in leisure activities, which is good for everyone in many ways.”