North Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust has pledged the money in the run up to the anniversary of the National Health Service on Saturday, 5th July as figures show that just 21% of people in the Lancaster district do a healthy amount of physical activity.

The money will be invested in supporting a range of fun and innovative projects for young and old that are already up and running in the Lancaster District.

Some of the funding will go to support Lancaster City Council's new Community Activity Programme, a project which will enable local residents to sample activities which take their fancy through a range of subsidised taster courses.

Other investment will support a partnership with Lancaster-based Ludus Dance, Britain's leading dance education company, to provide dance classes aimed at helping young women in Morecambe's West End achieve their targets for physical activity.

The money has been donated to match funding which as been offered to the area from Sport England, an organisation which helping promote the importance of exercise around the UK.

Dr Frank Atherton, Director of Public Health at North Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust says: "We've pledged this funding to getting people more active because we recognise the need to promote health as well as treat disease. It isn't about being a top athlete; even light, but regular exercise can make a big improvement to health.

"At the moment only 21% of people in Lancaster achieve the recommended daily amount of exercise, but through working with partners such as district councils and sport and leisure providers, we are aiming to improve this each year.

"To help us build better health, this funding will be concentrated on supporting initiatives which are providing ways for people to get active and try something new, sociable and fun such as through dance, cycling and rowing. We need to show that exercise isn't necessarily hard work."

Being physically active is essential in maintaining a healthy weight and avoiding conditions particularly back pain, diabetes, circulatory problems, and heart disease. It also improves your mood, helps you meet new friends, and helps you get a good night's sleep.

Department of Health guidelines recommend that we should all be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise, five times a week or more. This doesn't have to be intensive exercise, but is simply activity which gets people moving, such as walking to the shops, gardening or housework.

Getting active doesn't have to be blood, sweat and tears. Here are the NHS Trust's top ten tips for getting active.

1. Aim to be physically active for 30-60 minutes a day, five times a week.

2. You can build up your 30 minutes during the day by doing it in stages.

3. Be realistic: Fit the physical activity into your daily life to make it easier to achieve.

4. Do a type of physical activity you enjoy - for example it's a bike ride, or dancing.

5. Make it a social event: get active with a friend, in a group, or involve your family.

6. Park your car further away from your destination than usual and walk the extra distance.

7. Make sure you heart is beating a little fast and you are breathing a little harder to reap the benefits of what you are doing.

8. Do the housework more vigorously - it will get you moving, burn more calories, and your house will thank you for it!

9. Take a walking break, rather than sitting down.

10. Use the stairs instead of the lift.