The Village of Burns Lake is one of 17 communities in the Northern Health region benefiting from new funding to increase physical activity.
The village’s ‘Youthful hearts: seniors and elders fitness’ program has recently received over $20,000.
Apart from offering more activities for seniors, the program will have an education component about the importance and health benefits of being active.
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Although the program was expected to begin mid-October, Burns Lake Mayor Chris Beach says the program still hasn’t started because the village has been in the process of hiring a new recreation director. Beach was not able to provide further details about the program by press time.
According to Northern Health, the goal of this funding is to increase the number of opportunities for seniors to be physically active, especially during the winter months, as well as to increase the number of seniors accessing the Lakeside Multiplex.
Northern Health, in partnership with the B.C. Alliance for Healthy Living, has awarded a total of $353,800 in funds to 10 projects that will benefit 17 communities across the north. Projects are to be completed by October 2018.
Regional districts, municipalities and Aboriginal communities were eligible to apply for the ‘Active Communities’ grants. Successful applicants and communities were chosen based on their plans to strengthen community relationships and capacity through multi-sector partnerships for physical activity planning.
In 2015, Burns Lake was recognized as an age-friendly community by the B.C. government. To achieve this recognition, the village conducted an age-friendly assessment, which evaluated the community to determine what challenges residents face as they age and how to solve those challenges.
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