CHILDREN in Bradford have been enjoying a series of events designed o get them more active in their local parks.

Bradford has been awarded £3 million of lottery funding to increase physical activity levels in children in the North of the city.

Although the funding was first announced in 2017, the project, called JU:MP (Join Us Move Play) started in earnest in the past few weeks and has held sessions at parks including West Park and Peel Park.

Bradford had been announced as a pilot scheme for Sport England’s project - one of 12 locations in the UK to trial ways to get local communities more active.

In Bradford the focus would be on children aged 5-14 who rarely exercise. The scheme will encourage them to make the most of parks, play areas and other facilities in their communities, and research what a difference it has made in these areas.

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Later today there will be sporting activities in Bradford Industrial Museum in Eccleshill.

Research has found that 77 per cent of five to 11 year olds in Bradford didn’t get the recommended 60 minutes of exercise a day they need.

If the scheme in the North of the city proves to be a success it would be rolled out to the rest of the district.

Nicola Marklew from the JU:MP scheme said: “The focus around the country is to target people who are completely inactive or currently do so little exercise it doesn’t really benefit them.

“It is making sure what we do is sustainable - making use of the resources that are already there. A lot of the work is working with families to change perceptions about ways to keep active.”

The programme involves local groups Active Bradford and Born In Bradford.

One aspect the project is looking at it working with mosques and Madrassas. Many Muslim children in these areas attend madrassa after school, and so have less time to exercise.

The project will also work with Bradford Council to find the best ways to utilise parks in the heart of communities.

Mrs Marklew said: “We have to make sure parks are places that people want to go to.

“We had an event in Peel Park that saw hundreds of families come along. We’ve also run events in West Park where we had more than 200 kids taking part in activities.

“Putting lots of activities on isn’t enough, the project is about making sure events are happening that children are excited to take part in.

“It is getting people more active while having fun. There is a big health inequality and it is important we do something about it.

“It is about working with what we’ve got and what people want to do. There are so many good facilities in Bradford, but a lot of people don’t make the most of them, whether they don’t know they are there or have trouble accessing them.”

Part of the programme is a grants scheme where local organisations can apply for up to £5,000 to run local events that promote keeping active.

For more information visit activebradford.com/ldp/