We’re proud to introduce our ground-breaking new campaign, This Girl Can – a sassy celebration of the women and girls who are doing their thing no matter how they do it, how they look or even how sweaty they get.
We believe it is unlike any other campaign currently in the sporting sector, as we aim to get more women and girls active and playing sport by liberating them from the fear of judgement when exercising – and we’d love you to be a part of it!
The stats behind the campaign
By every measure, fewer women than men take part in sport. But with 75% of 14-40 year-old women in England wanting to exercise more, we took a long look into what it is that is stopping them.
Reasons ranged from getting sweaty in front of people, believing that they’re not fit or good enough and not having the right equipment. Even the word “sport” has negative connotations for many women. And it’s clear that many sports clubs, gyms and the like are not designed to fit into women’s lives – or address their needs.
Our insight was screaming that something needed to be done to boost female participation in sport. And that ‘something’ needed to be very different indeed.
Fear of judgement
We looked closely at the various reasons behind the gender gap in sport participation and came up with one key insight that sums up why more women aren’t getting active. Women know they should be exercising – and most want to - but a huge amount of them aren’t. And it is the fear of judgement that’s getting in the way.
That’s where This Girl Can comes in – our big message to women that they come in all shapes and sizes and all levels of ability. It really doesn’t matter if you are rubbish or an expert. The point is that you are a woman and you are doing something. So whatever you do, and however you do it, remember…. This Girl Can.
What now?
Our chief executive, Jennie Price, spoke publicly about the campaign for the first time yesterday. It was at the Women in Sport conference at Lords. This is only the start though. We want to create a buzz around the campaign before it launches fully in the New Year.
How do I get involved?
- Email us at thisgirlcan@sportengland.org
- Check out the website
- Join the conversation – follow us on Twitter @thisgirlcanuk and use the hashtag #thisgirlcan