Introduction

I’ve been running after my older brother ever since I can remember, it finally paid off when I beat a mixed field at a school sports day in secondary school. Running and specifically my membership with Bristol & West Athletic Club gave me a second home whilst growing up, friends for life and opportunities for further education.

I have been working for Wesport for 10 years starting as a temporary maternity cover hoping that they would find me a longer term home! I have recently come back from maternity leave after having a baby in 2023 and found myself for the first time in my life unable to run and facing a long rehabilitation post birth!

My role with Wesport has changed over the years, predominantly working on projects supporting community partners to access funding to deliver physical activity. We try to create an environment where partners are able to share, connect and learn from each other to enable future sustainability. When partners focus on delivery for women and girls they know their audience really well. Often they are working from lived experience and focus their projects and support on what they know will work to engage and ultimately sustain that person’s interest in activity.

Importance of Health and Activity

Movement and physical activity should be accessible for all, exposure and seeing other people who look like you represented in activities is crucial. Finding something you are passionate about that is easy to access can be difficult to sustain. Lots of factors can get in the way and make activity difficult to pursue. Building an active lifestyle and having the opportunity to work out what suits you and your lifestyle can help embed something for life.

I didn’t realise how much I needed to run until I wasn’t physically able to for a while. I’d heard so many stories about people who used the Couch to 5k app to start running and historically promoted it through work. I knew I wouldn’t be planning on running home from the hospital post birth, but I had managed to run through some of my pregnancy and remained active with free swimming at my local leisure centre in Easton and walking the dog! I did expect to be one of those parents you see magically multitasking dog leads / running buggy and ‘naps on the go’. This just wasn’t my reality after a traumatic birth, slow recovery and adjusting to this new life! When I finally got the sign off from my physio it came with strict instructions to repeat each week of the Couch 2 5k app and take it slow. I didn’t realise how much I had missed focussing on my breathing and just putting one foot In front of the other. The app eased me into the sessions and reminded me to go at my own pace. I’m glad I didn’t buy a running buggy as I very much value the time I have away to slowly build back up my fitness and the solo time!

Alongside the slow recovery post birth and in an attempt to reinstate regular activity I joined a boxfit class. My ulterior motive was to get out of 1 bedtime a week whilst we tried to remind my daughter that her dad was just as capable of managing bedtime and she didn’t need me constantly! Having time to be somewhere, in a small woman-only space gave me the confidence to try something new. I knew I needed to regain strength and wasn’t getting this just from running / gym time like I used to. I instantly felt stronger and recognised the benefit to my running after just a couple of weeks. It also forced me out of a comfort zone to learn a new skill, I am not very coordinated and don’t know the first thing about boxing – it took me a few weeks to realise why everything was in a ‘round’ lasting 3 minutes…I just thought it was a long session!

Importance of Opportunities for Women and Girls

Although we’ve seen huge shifts from big sporting moments like the Lionesses winning the Euros, the data says women and girls are still less active. We know how far ranging the wider benefits can be to being physically active for everyone. Its fair to invest more purposefully in people who have the least opportunities to access physical activity. Our lives are still frontloaded with the ‘norms’ in sport, coverage of women’s sport is still less than that of men’s but we know how important it is to see role models succeeding on the screen to help build the next generation of role models. We’ve just seen an Olympics dominated by outstanding female athletes (first ‘gender-equal’ Olympics!) who refer to London 2012 as their reason for success. 

Sport England have found through the This Girl Can community, that the top barriers are

  • Fear of judgement
  • Lacking confidence
  • Not having enough time

There are key figures available and further research here Gender | Sport England. They also know that the demand is there from women and girls but the complexity of the barriers stated above create a condition that renders women and girls at a disadvantage, across every age group.

The thought process about what steps must happen in order to be active has to be acknowledged for women and girls. Considering the statements above, there are far ranging practical issues that link into these which are wide ranging from girl to girl and woman to woman including periods, safety concerns, body confidence that can dictate how and why someone might feel hesitant about being physically active.

We’ve seen projects that have been co-designed with young girls have high success factors in terms of enjoyment level and follow-on continued activity levels. When projects are used to distil other support to young girls this has also contributed to them feeling safer in their communities and understanding pathways to access further support and help if needed. For example, when an informed deliverer who might not be a traditional ‘sports coach’ but a mentor / youth worker / person from similar community the uptake from participants has been stronger. We’ve also seen parents take on gaps they’ve found in communities and train themselves up to offer opportunities to girls who wouldn’t be able to access provision that isn’t already local to them. 

One key example saw the flexibility of a facility adapt to be more inclusive and deliver a women only swim session for the North Somerset British Bangledeshi Association (NSBBA). Taking on feedback and ensuring the conditions in the pool for access were key, listening to feedback and adjusting the ‘offer’ saw a huge engagement which has seen continued delivery: Together Fund investment helping to reduce barriers to participation in Swimming | Wesport 

The Role of Community and Support

Community offers a home from home and can deliver support in a safe and comforting environment. Parkrun have harnessed the power of community and created a sustainable opportunity that meets the needs of people on a global scale. Volunteer model – training – entry when not racing – competition element and ,championing of all.

Everything we do at Wesport wouldn’t happen without community support. We’ve moved from directly delivering anything to leaving this to the experts in their areas who know their audience thoroughly. More detailed examples of community partners accessing funding through the Together Fund reports here: The Tackling Inequalities Fund Report (wesport.org.uk)

We found the pandemic inspired a renaissance of the power of walking! When we only had an hour outdoors in the height of lockdown, people seemed to crave getting as far as they could within that time. We saw community partners able to reconnect with people on doorsteps and offer vital check in’s and deliveries of essentials items. Eventually partners were able to coax some more fearful participants out of their front doors and round the block for a walk and talk. This connection and opportunity to discuss fears, anxieties and opportunities saw some amazing projects offer really bespoke support to women and girls.

Active Being would take mums who were struggling with houses full of children through lockdown and walk in green spaces offering rest bite and a soundboard for an hour. Often just the act of talking through any problems with the director Charlie who became a trusted person gave them the confidence to take time out of their busy days to focus on themselves! Similarly, Bristol Stepping Sisters created a safe space for women of colour to connect in green spaces and enjoy rural spaces where previously they may not have felt welcome. Sophia and the team offer inclusive walks opening routes around the city but also in more rural areas to empower women to feel safe and confident to enjoy walking.

Practical Tips and Advice

Listen to people, understand what the needs are for your community by asking and not over promising. Work out what is deliverable within the request and then seek support that compliments this. Don’t try to make something fit into a funding application that then holds you accountable to something that you don’t want to deliver. Research and enquire what the funding is asking you do in order to demonstrate your impact. If it’s a good fit and you feel the funding is reflective of your values and offers you the support you need to achieve success then its worth dedicating the time to applying for it. Personal Reflections and Future Goals.

And finally, useful resources: