‘This Girl Can' campaign encourages women in sport
Posted on in Cycles News
According to a Sport England study, two million fewer women than men play sport regularly from 14 to 40 years old, but 75 per cent admit that they want to be more active.
Sport England has launched the This Girl Can campaign to increase the number of women actively participating in regular sport or physical recreation with the aim of knocking down the barriers that may stand in the way of those who have fears about actively exercising.
A representative for Sport England said: "The figures on participation are crystal clear. There is a significant gender gap, with two million more men than women exercising or playing sport regularly.
"I believe we can tackle this gap, because our research shows that 75 per cent of women would like to do more.
"Before we began this campaign, we looked very carefully at what women were saying about why they felt sport and exercise was not for them. Some of the issues, like time and cost, were familiar, but one of the strongest themes was a fear of judgment.
"Worries about being judged for being the wrong size, not fit enough and not skilled enough came up time and again. Every single woman I have talked to about this campaign - and that is now hundreds - has identified with this, and it is that fear of not being 'good enough' in some way, and the fear that you are the only one who feels like that, that we want to address.
"In This Girl Can we want to tell the real story of women who exercise and play sport. They come in all shapes and sizes and all levels of ability. They have a myriad of reasons for doing what they do.
"If you are wondering if you should join them - or carry on - this campaign says it really doesn't matter if you are a bit rubbish or completely brilliant, the main thing is that you are a woman and you are doing something, and that deserves to be celebrated."
Are you female friendly?
To help encourage more women to get into cycling and give them the confidence to shop instore, ACT and the Breeze network introduced the Female Friendly Bike Shop scheme as part of the ‘Closing the cycling gap' campaign.
Breeze's female-friendly bike shop scheme' promotes independent traders who offer a great service to women with straightforward advice.
Since then almost 400 independent bike shops across the country have started to promote themselves as Female Friendly, displaying a window sticker in their shop and appearing in the Female Friendly category on The Cycling Experts bike shop directory.
Become a Female Friendly Bike Shop
Recognition as a female friendly shop means you will benefit from national promotion on The Cycling Experts as well as promotion within the rapidly growing network of participants and volunteers of the Breeze network.
If you agree with all the statements below then you could qualify as a female friendly bike shop.
- We offer a selection of bikes suitable for women
- We offer advice and access to a range of women's cycling clothing
- We offer advice and access to a range of stock to support family riding
- We offer advice and services for correct bike selection, sizing and set-up
- We promote local cycling opportunities e.g. women's bike rides
- We have public liability insurance
If you think you qualify please fill out the form at the bottom of this page and a Breeze representative will be in touch.