A £3m (US$3.7m, €3.5m) fund to engage inactive people from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds will be launched in April by Sport England.

The pot forms part of the quango’s overall fund to tackle inactivity across the country. Around £250m (US$310.7m, €292.7m) is being spent on getting inactive people active over the next four years.

This £3m fund will be split into two pots: £2m (US$2.5m, €2.3m) to support larger projects which require funding up to £500,000 (US$621,346, €585,358); and a £1m (US$1.2m, €1.2m) fund for projects looking for between £10,000 (US$12,426, €11,707) and £100,000 (US$124,250, €117,070).

The former will be aimed at people who have very little disposable income and who find it difficult to build physical activity into their lives.

The latter will be focused on people who are less likely to have a steady income and have a more chaotic background, with alcohol and drug misuse or mental health problems prevalent.

Organisations with “bold ideas” about taking on this challenge can begin bidding for money from the Tackling Inactivity and Economic Disadvantage fund from mid-April.

Money for this projects comes from Sport England’s National Lottery allocation.

Statistics from Sport England’s Active Lives survey revealed that 32 per cent of people in semi-routine or routine occupations (such as shop assistants and waiters/waitresses) are inactive compare to 17 per cent of people in managerial or professional occupations.