Move to help addicts discover an active life
Cash to to assists people with alcohol and drug problems
More than £42,000 has been allocated to a new project in Stirling to help people with alcohol and drugs problems turn their lives around through getting active.
The `inclusion through activity’ programme will run for two years and be delivered by Active Stirling, on behalf of Stirling Council, working in partnership with charity Signpost Recovery.
By referring service users to sport and physical activity at the earliest point of contact, it will aim to bring positive and sustainable lifestyle changes and remove the barriers to participation.
Organisation Changing Lives through Sport and Physical Activity Fund is funding the scheme. It’s a partnership between the Scottish Government, sportscotland, Robertson Trust and Spirit of 2012.
Community planning and regeneration convener Chris Kane said: “We want to change lives in Stirling through sport, physical activity and healthy living, and I am delighted we have secured funding for this innovative project, which will allow Active Stirling to work more directly to reduce the health risks brought on by problematic alcohol and substance use.”
Active Stirling community activation manager Jude Deacons said: “We know physical activity can benefit those in recovery, however, this project will allow us to better understand the wider life-changing benefits of building physical activity in at an earlier stage to those facing health inequalities and barriers to participation through alcohol and drug use.”
Signpost Recovery works with over 200 individuals in Stirling and will aim to engage a minimum of 25 per cent of them during the project. This mirrors the Forth Valley Alcohol Drug Partnership target of service users achieving employability/education or training when discharged.
Launched in April this year, the £1million Changing Lives Through Sport and Physical Activity Fund will benefit a total of 17 projects nationally, with each receiving between £42,151 and £69,985 over a period of two years.The fund is being delivered by Spirit of 2012.
Tory physical activity spokesperson Councillor Bryan Flannagan said: “Active Stirling continue to do a great job of delivering really important projects across the Stirling Area. We must ensure Active Stirling is properly funded so it can keep delivering.”