EFL Trust Wins £0.5 Million for Active Ageing

The Trust will receive £0.5M of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Active Ageing fund to help older adults stay active.

The ‘Extra Time’ project will harness the power of football clubs in the local communities to create Extra Time Hubs.

Research shows inactivity among older adults (the over 55’s) is responsible for as many deaths as smoking. 36% of over 55’s are inactive compared to 26% of the population as a whole. Research also shows those who do the least exercise stand to benefit the most.

Starting in 2018, twelve EFL clubs will run ‘Extra Time Hubs’ . The hubs will be a regular gathering place for older people to come together to socialize and to prove that you’re never too old learn to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.


Based within the stadium and utilising the clubs facilities, the programme will create a community of like-minded people to shape what’s on offer. The activities will be peer led and could include anything from archery to zumba, bowls to walking football. Nothing is off the menu. The members can contribute to organising and running the groups and sessions, or just come along for the fun.

Mike Evans, The EFL Trust Director of Operations, comments:“With the support of Sport England’s Active Ageing fund, our programme will directly address inactivity in older adults right in the heart of UK communities.

”The power of our football club badges will bring people together in a comfortable, familiar environment and allow them to shape their future path to improved health and well-being.”

Sport England is investing £10 million of National Lottery money into 20 projects across England to reduce the number of inactive older adults in the country. The 20 funded projects will use activity to help tackle problems including poor mental health, dementia, loneliness caused by bereavement, and addiction.

Mike Diaper, Executive Director at Sport England said: “People are living longer but not necessarily in the best of health. We’re excited to be supporting these 20 partners with National Lottery funding to help get older adults get active. We’ll be sharing learnings so successful approaches can be scaled-up or replicated across the country so we can help more adults lead happier and healthier lives.”

Sport England has put tackling inactivity at the heart of its strategy ‘Towards An Active Nation’. There are roughly 5.8 million inactive people over 55 in England and the number of inactive people is growing as people are living longer.

Being active is one of the most important things people can do to maintain health and wellbeing as they age. Physically active older people have higher levels of mobility and a lower of risk of disease than those who are inactive. Ill health often means the loss of independence and is linked to social isolation and depression.

For more information on the Active Ageing fund please visit:  www.sportengland.org/funding/active-ageing-fund/

About Sport England

Sport England is a public body and invests more than £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.

Sport England’s Active Lives survey November 2015 – November 2016 shows inactivity levels for age 55-64 (28% inactive), 65-74 (31% inactive) 75-84 year olds (49% inactive), 85+ (72% inactive)

Sport England’s Active Lives survey November 2015 – November 2016.

The number of people aged 60 or over is expected to pass the 20 million mark by 2030 (Office for National Statistics, 2015).