New £550,000 Get Active Glasgow Fund will help boost physical activity across city

A new £550,000 fund set up to help more people get active in Glasgow is now open for applications from sport clubs and organisations throughout the city.

The ‘Get Active Glasgow Fund’ is a two-year co-funding agreement involving Glasgow Life, sportscotland and the London Marathon Foundation. Together with High Life Highland, the organisations have formed the £1.1 million ‘Get Active Scotland’ funding partnership, which commits to improving health through sport and physical activity, particularly among the least active and those facing barriers due to deprivation.

This summer, Glasgow Life and sector partners launched a new strategy to make physical activity and sport a cornerstone of everyday life in Glasgow. Active Glasgow: A Physical Activity and Sport Strategy for Glasgow 2025-2035 aims to make Glasgow a city where everyone thrives and its communities grow stronger through the benefits of physical activity and sport.

Glasgow Life exists to improve people’s mental and physical wellbeing through culture and sport. As the charity which leads culture, events and active living in Glasgow, Glasgow Life will manage the award of £275,000 of Get Active Glasgow funding each year for the next two years to help more Glasgow residents enjoy the benefits of being and staying active.

The initiative will support not-for-profit clubs, hubs and community groups across the city to help people get active through sport, movement and play. Grants will go to projects which offer new or existing opportunities for underserved groups in Glasgow like children and young people, women and girls, people from ethnically diverse backgrounds, LGBTQI+ communities, those with disabilities, communities facing financial hardship and older adults.

The Get Active Glasgow Fund is one of the country’s biggest programmes aimed at boosting participation in physical activity, particularly among the least active children and young people and in the most deprived communities.

Sport and physical activity opportunities have never been more important; the opening of the Get Active Glasgow Fund comes at a time when healthy life expectancy in Scotland – the number of years people can expect to live in good health without serious illness or disability – has fallen to its lowest level in almost a decade (Public Health Scotland, 2025).

In Glasgow, 34% of adults and 31% of children do not meet the NHS’ recommended physical activity guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week.

The Get Active Glasgow Fund will help to tackle inequality and boost wellbeing, with grants to be awarded to projects which widen access to sport and physical activity, particularly in the least active parts of the city and areas with barriers to participation.

To mark the launch of the fund, partners met with leaders and members of Drumchapel Community Sport Hub, which is one of many organisations looking to secure a Get Active Glasgow grant to improve more people’s lives through sport and physical activity.

Drumchapel Community Sport Hub has grown significantly since opening in 2012 and now has more than 2,000 members. The hub is home to a range of clubs which offer weekly activities for all ages and abilities, including table tennis, cycling, pickleball, gymnastics, boxing and tennis.

Terry McLernon, Chair of Drumchapel Community Sport Hub, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to see this new funding opportunity launched in Glasgow. It’s a real boost for clubs and will help us reach new people in the community who might not otherwise get involved in sport or activity. It’s also a chance for us to try new ideas and build on the success we’ve already achieved.”

Forbes Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer of sportscotland, said: “Club and community sport are at the heart of our vision for an active Scotland where everyone benefits from sport, so we are delighted to engage in this new partnership with the London Marathon Foundation and Glasgow Life, which aims to support clubs, hubs, and community groups to improve access and inclusion in sport and physical activity.

“We know that there is a fantastic network of clubs and community sport projects across Glasgow and through this partnership we have an opportunity to provide additional support to build on the great work they are doing and address some of the barriers to participation. That’s why sportscotland is delighted to support this project with £400,000 of National Lottery investment and we look forward to seeing the impact it will have.”

Helen Killingley, Head of Funding at the London Marathon Foundation, said: “Our vision is to inspire activity, and through the new £1.1 million Get Active Scotland Fund, we’ll be supporting community-based initiatives for children, young people, and those who need the most help to be active.

“It's great to see Get Active Glasgow now open to applications, so groups right across the city can apply for the funding they need to run activities today. We’ll be supporting new or existing opportunities that make physical activity more accessible, inclusive and a part of daily life for everyone, so more people can look after their physical and mental wellbeing by being active.”

Community groups and organisations throughout Glasgow can apply for a Get Active Glasgow grant of between £1,000 and £5,000 and find more information via the webpage at www.glasgowlife.org.uk/sport/funding/get-active-glasgow-fund.

The Get Active Glasgow funding panel will review applications every month. Applicants have until the end of each month to be considered.