What a BidBuilders draft looks like

Funder: The National Lottery Community Fund — Awards for All England
Amount requested: £9,850  ·  Applicant: Riverside Community Trust (CIC), North Tyneside

1. What would you like to do? (max 300 words — currently 168)

Riverside Community Trust will run Active Together, a 40-week programme of low-cost physical activity for adults over 55 in Whitley Bay and North Shields. Two sessions each week — seated exercise and walking football — will take place at Marden Bridge Sports Centre, led by a qualified coach and supported by trained volunteers. The programme targets older adults who are isolated or living with long-term health conditions, and who tell us that cost and confidence are the biggest barriers to staying active.

The grant covers coaching, venue hire, equipment and a small volunteer-training budget, enabling us to offer 80 places a year at no cost to participants. We will run a taster fortnight in week one, then settled weekly groups, with a shared cup of tea built into every session because — as our members put it — “it's the company as much as the exercise.”

2. Why is your project needed? (max 300 words — currently 191)

North Tyneside has an ageing population, and the wards we serve — Chirton, Howdon and Riverside — sit among the 20% most deprived nationally. [TO CONFIRM: your local figure for over-65s living alone, if you have it from the JSNA or a ward profile — this makes the case far stronger.] Our own waiting list stands at [TO CONFIRM: number] people, and a recent conversation round at our lunch club found that most had not taken part in organised physical activity since the pandemic.

National evidence is clear that physical inactivity in later life increases the risk of falls, isolation and preventable ill-health, and that group-based activity improves both physical function and mental wellbeing. Locally, there is very little free, welcoming provision pitched at complete beginners in this age group — most gym and class offers assume both confidence and money. Riverside Community Trust is trusted in these neighbourhoods, already reaches these residents through our existing lunch club, and is well placed to convert that trust into regular activity.

3. What difference will your project make? (max 250 words — currently 143)

By the end of the 40 weeks we expect: at least 60 of 80 participants still attending regularly at six months; a measurable improvement in self-reported wellbeing (using a short before-and-after question funders recognise); and at least 12 participants trained and volunteering as session helpers, so the groups can continue beyond the grant.

We will know we have succeeded through weekly attendance registers, a simple wellbeing check at weeks 1, 20 and 40, and short participant stories gathered with consent. [TO CONFIRM: whether you're happy to collect a first-and-last wellbeing score — it's optional, but it's the single most persuasive piece of evidence for a future funder.]

4. How will the project continue after the grant? (max 200 words — currently 96)

From month six we will introduce a voluntary £1 session contribution, keeping cost a non-barrier while building a small sustainability fund. Twelve trained volunteers will reduce our reliance on paid coaching, and we are in early conversation with the sports centre about reduced off-peak hire. Together these give Active Together a realistic route to continuing without repeat grant funding, or to being ready for a modest continuation bid on the strength of a proven first year.