A new scheme which aims to get people in Oxford more physically active has received a funding boost.

The Get Oxfordshire Active (GO Active) project has received a total of £1.4m in funding, including a £635,490 grant from Sport England's South East Regional Sports Board – its largest ever single award.

The three-year project aims to get adults aged over 16 to do moderate exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week.

According to council figures, less than a quarter of adults (23 per cent) in the region currently achieve this amount of exercise.

GO Active is led by the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership and brings together a number of health and leisure providers, including Oxfordshire's five district councils and the Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust, which is contributing £255,000 to the initiative.

Staff will be based across each of the districts councils working to promote and create opportunities for people to take part in physical activity.

They will steer people towards existing services such as swimming, exercise classes and health clubs, and will set up extra activities tailored to meet local needs.

They will also work closely with GPs to identify people who would most benefit from being more active.

Rich Beer, sports development manager of Oxfordshire Sports Partnership, said: "Oxfordshire is by no means the least active county in England and is 1.2% higher than the national levels of participation (21%), but there is a real opportunity here to reach out to the 76.8% who would benefit from leading a more active lifestyle.

Hannah Bladen, interim regional deputy director, Sport England South East said: "GO Active partners identified that there was a shortage of professionals and volunteers working in the county to address the barriers, which stop people participating.

"The funding we have provided will supply the workforce needed to provide more opportunities for the residents of Oxfordshire to get more active."