Healthy Bodies / Healthy Minds

Aim

Helping a minimum of twenty East Lancashire ladies build confidence, friendships and healthier habits through gentle, supported movement.

Who are we?

Concord Connections CIC is a community organisation based in Padiham, supporting people across East Lancashire to build confidence, skills and stronger social connections.

Through our existing community work, we have met many women who would like to become more active but find taking that first step difficult.

Some are over 50, stay-at-home mums or unpaid carers. Some are on low incomes or from minority ethnic communities. What many have in common is that they would like to move more, but cost, lack of confidence, transport, body confidence or simply not having someone to go with can get in the way.

Healthy Bodies / Healthy Minds grew directly from those conversations.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are crowdfunding to help at least twenty women take part in an eight-week programme of gentle, enjoyable movement activities including walking, beginner line dancing and swimming.

The project is designed to make physical activity feel more accessible, social and enjoyable for women who may currently lack confidence or feel excluded from traditional sports and fitness settings.

We want to create a welcoming environment where women can try something new, meet others and discover forms of movement that feel achievable and enjoyable.

Sport England is supporting our campaign through the Movement Fund. Once we reach 25% of our £3,000 target from at least 25 supporters, we will unlock Sport England’s pledge. Once the full £3,000 target is reached, that funding will be secured.

This means that every supporter matters — even a small pledge can help us reach the number of supporters needed to unlock the additional funding.

How we’ll spend the money raised

The money raised will help cover the practical costs of delivering the programme, including:

• staff and session delivery

• venue and facility hire

• swimming and activity costs

• equipment

• travel support

• refreshments where appropriate

• promotion and community engagement

These costs will help us remove some of the practical barriers that can prevent women from taking part and create a supportive, enjoyable programme from beginning to end.

Community impact

We want women to feel more confident about being active, make new community friendships and discover forms of movement they can continue after the project ends.

For some participants, success may mean joining a regular walking group. For others, it may mean feeling confident enough to go swimming, attend a dance class or simply become more active in everyday life.

The wider aim is to reduce barriers and change perceptions of sport and physical activity so that movement feels achievable, enjoyable and welcoming for more women.

We also hope the project will create lasting social connections and encourage women to support one another beyond the initial eight-week programme.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways you can help us reach our target and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge
Every contribution helps. Even a small pledge can help us reach the 25 supporters needed to unlock the Sport England pledge.

2. Spread the word
Please share our Crowdfunder page with friends, family, colleagues and on social media. The more people we reach, the more likely we are to hit our target.

3. Offer a reward
If you are a local business and would like to donate a product, service or experience that we could offer as a Crowdfunder reward, we would love to hear from you.

4. Fundraise for us
You can also run your own small fundraiser or sponsored activity in support of the project. Use the “Contact project” button at the top of the page to get in touch.

Thank you for helping us create a project where women can move more, feel better and enjoy being active together.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 24th October 2026 at 12:00pm