A £250,000 grant confirmed this week means that North Herts District Council can press ahead with a programme of initiatives which will encourage people in Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston and surrounding villages to become more active.

The Get Active North Herts programme will launch in the spring and target people of all ages and abilities. The initiative will also cover a wide range of projects and activities including women’s cycling and health and fitness MOTs.

The council’s programme is one of more than 40 projects to receive a share of the £8.2 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England. The grant will help the council make exercise more accessible to local communities and encourage them to build sport and physical activity into their everyday lives. The plan is also backed by £62,000 worth of funding from Hertfordshire’s public health team, which helped seal the Sport England funding.

The council will be working with organisations including Hertfordshire Youth Connexions, Stevenage Leisure Limited and North Herts Disability Sports Association as well as sports clubs in the district to help deliver the projects.

Councillor Tony Hunter,the council’s executive member for community engagement said: “We are delighted to receive the Sport England funding. This will enable us to encourage more people to give sport a go and reach out to people who for one reason or another don’t exercise.”

Sport England director of community sport Mike Diaper said: “It’s great to be able to work on projects that offer people the chance to get active in a way that suits them best. Given the overwhelming benefits of being active, it’s important that age, gender, or income never prevents anyone from taking part.”