A PROJECT working with young children and their families in some of Bradford’s most deprived neighbourhoods has received a grant of £6.6 million to fund its work.

The ActEarly project, which is linked to the Born in Bradford programme, will benefit from the funding which has been granted by the UK Prevention Research Partnership.

The UKPRP is providing the funding to understand and influence the social, economic and environmental factors which affect our health.

The Born in Bradford project is tracking the lives of thousands of children and their families in Bradford to find out what influences families’ health and wellbeing, to develop ways to tackle and prevent poor health.

The ActEarly Project is being spearheaded by Professor John Wright, of the Bradford Institute of Health Research.

It is designed to promote good health and wellbeing and the £6.6 million will fund research into improving the life chances of children in Bradford’s most deprived areas.

It will be focused on encouraging healthy places, healthy learning and healthy livelihoods.

The money will fund research over the next five years, and will also cover work done by the Bradford Institute of Health Research in Tower Hamlets in London as well as Bradford.

Bradford’s ActEarly project is one of eight projects chosen by the UKPRP to share £25 million in funding, and is the joint-biggest beneficiary alongside a project in Bristol.

The UKPRP said the funding will help tackle a specific challenge to prevent people becoming ill - primary prevention - and aim to generate and implement new ideas that can deliver change at a population-level.

Professor Dame Sally Macintyre, chair of the UKPRP scientific advisory board and expert review group panel said: “These newly funded, well designed projects will help to lift the lid on the social, economic and environmental factors affecting our health.

“By investing in these interdisciplinary teams and drawing on a wide range of knowledge and expertise, UKPRP is supporting work that will have real life benefits for both policy makers and the wider public alike.

“Non-communicable diseases place a huge burden on us all and we hope that this investment will help to provide practical and tangible solutions that will positively impact people’s lives and health.”

The UKPRP is planning to open applications for further funding in the autumn.