New Fund To Help Communities 'Move More And Eat Well – to Feel Better'

Belfast City Council and the Public Health Agency (PHA) a new funding pool to help local communities to 'Move More and Eat Well – to Feel Better'.

Up to £1000 of funding is being offered to local communities under a project developed by Council's Active Belfast partnership with the PHA.

The funding opened for applications today (Monday 6 February) and takes a participatory budgeting approach.

This format encourages residents to pitch and vote on small-scale projects that will have a positive impact on physical activity and healthy eating in their area.

Chair of Belfast City Council's People and Communities Committee Councillor Micky Murray is keen to encourage applications and said: "Groups can apply for up to £1000 for ideas that they think their community will benefit from - as long as they're based around moving more and eating well as the title of the scheme suggests.

"Physical activity and healthy eating remain priority areas within the refreshed Belfast Agenda and our new draft action plan includes a clear commitment to trial and pilot participatory budgeting in the city.

"The fantastic part about this fresh initiative is that it is completely led by local people and allows them to identify their own needs and wants in their own communities. It gives residents a voice, brings people together and perhaps most importantly, enables them to have the final decision on which projects are brought to life."

David Tumilty from the PHA and Chair of the Active Belfast Partnership (ABP) said: "In line with the Belfast Agenda and on behalf of Belfast Community Planning Partnership (BCCP), ABP is committed to delivering the first 'test & learn' pilot of participatory budgeting in Belfast, providing a way for local people to make decisions about how public money is spent.

"We are delighted to be running 'Move More and Eat Well – to Feel Better' and I want to thank all the community, voluntary and statutory partners who have worked together to make this happen. We hope this initiative will be a success, and that we and others will be able to learn from its development and delivery to inform the development of future participatory budgeting approaches."

Active Belfast is a partnership that includes a wide range of stakeholders from statutory, community and voluntary sectors who support the physical activity and healthy eating agenda in Belfast.