I’m proud to support Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to get more women and girls active. I’d urge local sports clubs and community groups to apply for funding from Sport England and The National Lottery Grahame Morris MP
Grahame Morris MP

Easington MP Grahame Morris has lent his support to Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign which is helping millions of women and girls get active.

Sport England first launched the National Lottery funded campaign in 2015 in response to fewer women than men being regularly active – despite 75 per cent saying they would like to do more. It has received widespread praise for its realistic and empowering portrayal of women and girls, and to date has encouraged more than 2.9 million women to take up more sport or physical activity as a result.

Five years on, there’s still more to do – with recent research undertaken by Sport England showing that that 63% of women say that the way exercise is often portrayed on social media has a negative impact on them. With a range of new adverts featuring real life women of a range of backgrounds playing sport and taking part in activities from yoga to rock climbing to swimming, This Girl Can is proving that no matter what your age, ability or interest is, there is an activity for everyone.

The MP is also calling for local community groups, charities and sports clubs in East Durham to take advantage of the new funding Sport England is making available to help provide activities for women to get active, with the support of deodorant brand Sure Women. The This Girl Can Community Fund is open for applications until 25 February 2020 and will be awarding grants of between £300 and £10,000 to 50 community groups and projects across England who are creating opportunities for women to get active or play sport.

Grahame Morris MP said:

“I’m proud to support Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to get more women and girls active. The record numbers of women playing sport show that This Girl Can has really struck a chord but clearly more needs to be done.  I am delighted that the new adverts are showing a variety of activities that can be enjoyed at any stage of life, regardless of age, ability or experience, and tackling some of the perceptions that social media gives women about being active.

“I’d urge local groups and organisations – not just sports clubs, but any community groups who work with women and want to arrange activities or classes to encourage women in Easington to get active to apply for funding from Sport England and The National Lottery. More details can be found on the This Girl Can website: www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/communityfund

For more information about the This Girl Can campaign and to download free resources, please visit: www.thisgirlcan.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About Sport England  

Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.

About This Girl Can 

Since 2015, Sport England has been working to address the significant gender gap found in sports and exercise, to build women’s confidence around being active, and help them meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidance. The campaign was based on the insight that 75% of women say they want to do more sporting activities or exercise, but one of the unifying barriers found to be holding them back is a fear of judgement. This Girl Can’s objective is to encourage women to engage in physical activity regardless of shape, size, age or ability. This Girl Can ‘Fit Got Real’ campaign has launched in response to women feeling that conventional exercise doesn’t represent them or their lives.

This Girl Can Community Fund  

This Girl Can is opening up a fund for great ideas – supported by Sure – within local communities that encourage women to get active. Local organisations and community groups are urged to submit their ideas through a simple online form available at www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/communityfund/ Funds from as little as £300 to up to £10,000 are available.

About the Survey  

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1962 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th – 20th December 2019.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 16+)

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