Social enterprise and leisure trust Tone Leisure has been appointed to deliver a new Active Villages programme in North Devon, following successful operation of the scheme in two other Devon areas.

Tone secured £11,000 worth of funding to deliver the scheme's pilot phase as well as phases one and two, across 11 North Devon villages starting in September 2011. The trust already delivers Active Villages programmes in the South Hams area of the county, as well as Mid Devon.

Created by Active Devon, a countywide partnership for physical activity and sports, Active Villages is a development programme designed to provide long term, sustainable sports opportunities for village residents of all ages. Funded by Sport England and Devon County Council, the scheme is positioned at the informal end of the sports spectrum, with the main objective being to offer rural communities the chance to experience the fun of sport and encourage people to adopt active lifestyles because they enjoy it. The project addresses Sport England's GROW objective, which aims to see one million people taking part in more sport, and more children and young people taking part in five hours of PE and sport a week.

Tone's new target is to engage around 700 residents from rural North Devon communities where access to sports and fitness facilities can be limited. The newly appointed Active Villages Co-ordinator for North Devon, Louise Harris, will work with organisations such as parish councils, community groups and schools to develop tailored packages that can be delivered within the communities themselves, overcoming the barriers to accessing sports and leisure caused by geographical locations and transport links.

Tone's Strategic Development Manager, Ben Maxfield, commented: "As a social enterprise, getting out into communities and extending our remit past the leisure centres that we operate is a major priority. Innovative programmes like Active Villages are a great way of engaging with people that may not always find it easy to get to the gym or the swimming pool.

"We're delighted to be expanding into another area of Devon following the scheme's successes in Mid Devon and the South Hams. Our Active Villages Co-ordinator will be looking to recruit and train local volunteer leaders and coaches to help us motivate and engage residents of all ages. There will be a huge emphasis on fostering fun, inclusive atmospheres as well as ensuring we're providing best value for Active Devon's investment against the targets we've been set."