National Lottery players help Swindon Derventio Housing Trust residents get active in Stanton Park
Players of the National Lottery have been helping Swindon housing trust residents who lack opportunities for exercise to get active in their local park.
Derventio Housing Trust, which is providing homes to nearly 200 people in Swindon who would otherwise not have one, has been helping residents enjoy the fresh air, socialise and improve their mental health through park walks delivered with a grant from Sport England’s Movement Fund.
The Movement Fund money has been used to support the trust’s housing and support officers take residents across the UK walking and swimming.
Derventio Housing Trust helps around 1100 people a year who are homeless or at risk of it through providing accommodation. Many residents have undergone severe trauma in their lives, have become estranged from family, and may be struggling with drug and alcohol use and their mental health.
Katerina Tsukui, a housing and support assistant team leader from Swindon, said the funding had been used to pick up residents from their homes, take them for a walk at Stanton Park, and provide a small lunch. She said:
We just see it as an opportunity to get them out and about and get them around nature. It’s a chance for them to socialise and meet other residents, trying to support their mental and physical health.
A lot of our residents are a bit isolated. Some of them don’t really have much of a social life. This gives them that opportunity.
Our residents have a range of struggles that they face. They are all coming to us classed as homeless. A lot of them have mental health issues.
It might seem really simple, just to take them for a walk. But for a lot of them, they are struggling to do that on their own.
We have had really good feedback from the walks we’ve done. They all found it really useful. It’s given them a chance to just have a different environment so they are not just at home all day. It gives them a chance to meet new people.
Just being out in a different environment helps them mentally, we have had residents make friends. They get chatting to each other. It gives them a chance to meet new people which they really like. It’s not too intimidating. They feel more comfortable. They all said how things like that have made a big difference.
The aim of the funding is to inspire and support people facing health inequalities to be more active. It is paying for Derventio Housing Trust to take small groups of residents on walks and for swimming sessions where they operate in Staffordshire, Derby and Derbyshire, Warwick and Swindon.
Sarah Hernandez, chief executive officer of Derventio Housing Trust, said:
We are delighted to have been awarded funding by Sport England through the National Lottery. Residents living in our accommodation can lack the opportunity or confidence to enjoy simple pleasures like a trip to the park and it has been proven that physical exercise is extremely helpful for people who may be struggling with their mental health. It’s brilliant that enjoying this opportunity through Sport England has inspired at least two residents to join a gym. Thank you to National Lottery players for giving residents living in our accommodation these fantastic opportunities.