The webinar begins with a video of three women doing squats while pushing prams on a park path. The title of the webinar, This Girl Can 2025 and Beyond, appears over the top of the video.
The video transitions to a still of three women jogging on a forest path, with ‘This Girl Can 2025 and Beyond’ also appearing on screen.
As this appears, the webinar’s host, Kate Dale from Sport England, begins talking – her live video is minimised to the side of the still image.
Kate D says: “Welcome to This Girl Can 2025 and Beyond webinar.
“A couple of bits of housekeeping before we start. We are recording this session, so that we can share and so that you can share the session and the deck through the recording with any colleagues or come back to it and also possibly for use on social media.
“So just so you're aware, and please do feel free to post any comments, questions, feedback, anything you want to share with us in the in the Q&A section. We are not planning to get to these. We’ve just got a really packed agenda today and lots of brilliant women to hear from.
“So I don’t think I'm going to be able to get to the questions and answers today, but we are going to come back on them and do sort of a follow-up communication with you all. Probably an email where we answer those questions and reflect on what you've been saying to us, so please don't be shy. Please tell us what you think. If you don't want your name involved in that, then you can use the anonymous function as well. So you have the option.
“To begin. This is really exciting. I've done a few of these before. Some of you may have heard from me before, I’m Kate Dale, I've been involved with This Girl Can from the very beginning. We've got some really exciting challenges to share with you today as we look at what the campaign needs to do over the next few years.”
As Kate is saying these words, the screen transitions to a still of two women in activewear pushing prams, with accompanying text that reads: ‘The aim for today’s session – to share our plans for the exciting next chapter of This Girl Can, showcase the opportunities it will offer and demonstrate how you can take part.’
Kate D continues: “And that's our plan for today's session. What this isn't is a big creative reveal. We are not at that stage yet. But we want to showcase opportunities and really demonstrate and really start talking to you about who you can get involved and you can help be part of what we do with the campaign next year. What we're going to cover – next slide, please.”
A photo of two women stretching while holding onto a barre in a studio appears, alongside text that reads: ‘What we will be taking you through – Introduction; Looking ahead; Strategy; Case studies; What’s next; Closing remarks.’
Kate D continues: “So what we'll be taking you through is a bit of an introduction. We’re going to look ahead, look at where This Girl Can needs to focus over the next few years and what that means for our strategy. Crucially, we're going to do what we always try to do with This Girl Can and listen to the women we're trying to reach, target, connect with, motivate. It's not about us. It's about our women. So those case studies are really important. Then into what next steps and how you can get involved. And then you'll come back to me for closing remarks.”
A slide titled ‘Introductions’ appears on screen, featuring thumbnail photos of the eight contributors to the webinar: Sport England’s Kate Dale, Director of Marketing, and Kate Peers, Strategic Lead for Campaigns; Sharon Jiggins, Managing Partner at TGC Collective; Amy Crees, Head of Campaign Development and Partnerships at Sport England; Rakhee Shah, Community Director at TGC Collective; Samin Mughal, founder of Loughborough Female Fitness; Yashmin Harun, Founder and Chair of the Muslimah Sports Association; and Gina McCabe, Outdoor Citizens Lead at YHA.
Kate D continues: “We have an illustrious panel today, so me you're already hearing from, it's not gonna be much from me today, you’ll be glad to know. Then Kate Peers, our Strategic Lead for Campaigns. And then Sharon, who is leading our TGC Collective, will talk through the strategy and Amy will talk you through timelines and next steps. And then we have an amazing panel ahead of that by Rakhee who will be talking through what this means in practice and listening to some of the insights from the women we’re trying to reach, through Samin, Yashmin and Gina. Next slide please.”
A slide titled ‘The start of an exciting new chapter for This Girl Can’ appears on screen, alongside a photo of a woman playing badminton.
Kate D continues: “And, yeah, this is the start of a really new and exciting chapter for This Girl Can. We're really proud of what we've achieved over the last ten years, ten years in January. It's been amazing. And if you've been any part of that, thank you so much for everything you've done. We could never have done what we've done, 3.1 million women getting active, as a result without you. And if you bought a Lottery ticket over the last ten years, thank you. This Girl Can is entirely National Lottery funded. This Girl Can because National Lottery players did. And that's really important.
“So thank you for everything you've done in helping us, helping all of us help women get this far, but we are only just beginning. There is so much more that we need to do if we’re to be true to our mission of no woman left behind. Next slide please.”
A slide appears on screen featuring a photo of several smiling women in a studio, with the overlaid title ‘Let’s hear it from our women’.
Kate D continues: “And yeah, that's enough from me. So as I said, let's start with hearing it from our women.”
A video begins with a woman who says: “I love physical activity.” A slide with the text ‘Our women tell us there are many benefits to being active…’ then briefly appears, before we see the woman again.
She continues: “I try to be active. I try to stay active. I actually cycle to work every day.”
The video cuts to another woman, who says: “Being physically active is very important for me because it’s a form of self-care.”
A third woman says: “It’s lovely just to meet up with a group of people who want to chat, but also want to exercise.”
A fourth woman says: “Yeah, I do use the gym and I feel like it keeps me at the same time it keeps you, like, healthy and then at the same time it refreshes your mind.”
A slide titled ‘But we know there are many barriers…’ appears briefly on screen.
The woman who spoke first returns on screen and says: “I have so much to do and so little time.
“And at the end of the day I feel like I haven’t done so much and have run out of time. If I have more time in a day, give me like 48 hours in a day, I would get active.”
A fifth woman says: “Classes for pregnant people are extremely expensive, so I think going to a general workout class, you can’t do a lot of the things that people can do when they’re not pregnant.
“So you obviously want to pay for classes that are designed for pregnant people and they are expensive and can be quite hard to access.”
A sixth woman says: “I think having a family now and taking care of family first and it is not how it used to be as well. It’s too much financial strain.”
A seventh woman says: “It’s really hard to be physically active when you’ve got a young family and young children and working on top of that. Having an employer who understands how important physical activity is and allowing you to be flexible and incorporate it in your day.”
An eighth woman says: “Quite often gyms aren’t set up for disabled people. I mean, look at wheelchair users. The disabled way of navigating a gym is entirely different from someone who is non-disabled and actually getting into the gym, let alone moving around the gym is something that is, you have to think about and if there are barriers to entry and to access, then why would a disabled person use that space?”
A ninth woman says: “Being a girl, especially a hijabi girl, sometimes you feel like you’re not included because there’s not enough space provided. Like, for example, in gyms, some gyms don’t offer like a women-only space where you feel that you’re comfortable to wear your attire and take your hijab off when you do an exercise. Because, like, a lot of the gym-wear that’s in place, it doesn’t really fit because they’re quite tight-fitted and stuff so it doesn’t really fit that, like when you’re wearing your hijab and stuff.”
The sixth woman says: “You have to have the right equipment. If you’re not trying out, if not financially, you give up before you can start. And I think especially coming from the African Caribbean, it has to be tailor-made for our enjoyment. Know what I mean? We like dancing, we like music. We like that kind of exercise and not just sitting down and doing press-ups and things, that’s not us. Music is what gives us our enjoyment.”
The video ends and is replaced by a slide titled ‘Vision’, featuring a photo of a girl running with a rugby ball.
A minimised live video of Kate Peers from Sport England appears to the side.
Kate P says: “Hi, I'm Kate Peers, I'm the Strategic Lead for This Girl Can.
“So some of that is hard to hear, but perhaps not surprising because we know there are still women who feel being active isn't for them or that they don't belong. And This Girl Can’s vision is to create a society where all women feel included in the world of physical activity, regardless of background, age, shape, size, or ability.”
A slide titled ‘Mission’ appears on screen, featuring two older women with walking poles.
Kate P continues: “And our mission, on the next slide, as listed here, is to narrow the gender gap in physical activity by inspiring, motivating and supporting women from all walks of life to become more active in ways that work for them.”
A collage of women taking part in physical activity appears on screen, with an overlaid title of ‘So who are we focussing on?’
Kate P continues: “So in order for us to achieve this vision and mission, we knew it was crucial for us, as always, to be led by the insight and the voices of our women and to understand the activity levels amongst different audience groups. So we have analysed the data to identify where we can make the greatest difference.”
A slide titled ‘Our women’ appears on screen, featuring two women running side by side.
Kate P continues: “And that is why this next chapter of This Girl Can is unapologetically focused on supporting women from underrepresented backgrounds, to get active. Women who face the greatest barriers to physical activity yet have the most to gain from being active.
“Now, they can be excluded from physical activity because they experience systemic, social, structural, cultural, and financial inequalities that they can't simply motivate themselves over. And this focus aligns with Sport England’s strategic priority to tackle inequalities and give everyone a chance to lead active lives.
“So our focus for the campaign will be to engage with women on lower incomes who additionally are from Asian Muslim communities, who additionally are from Black communities, who additionally are aged 55 years and over, and who additionally are pregnant and/or have a child under one. And taking an intersectional approach, the campaign will also need to meet the needs of our disabled women, as well as our women with a long-term health condition.
“And it's also important to mention here that our women are more than just statistics or characteristics. They are individuals with their own lived experiences of moving and barriers that they faced. So rather than referring to the women we want to engage with by social demographic labels, we have been calling the audience ‘our women’.”
A slide titled ‘What we want to achieve’ appears, featuring a photo of a woman using a seated weight machine in a gym.
Kate P continues: “And then on the next slide, you'll see over the next four years, This Girl Can has four overarching objectives. The first, and probably will come as no surprise - the first is to decrease inactivity levels, and this is encouraging those who aren't active yet to try some form of being active. The second is to increase activity levels, and this is about encouraging women who are a little bit active to become a bit more active.
“The third is to positively change attitudes, and this is about increasing the number of women from all backgrounds who feel that sport and physical activity is a place for them. And then fourth is to build a collaborative movement. And this is about supporting people like yourselves who create opportunities and reasons for women and girls to get active by providing inspiration, tools and assets.”
A slide titled ‘A significant step-change is needed’ appears on screen and Kate talks through the text.
Kate P continues: “So these ambitious targets require a significant step-change in how we next evolve This Girl Can. And we want the campaign to deliver behaviour change by celebrating all our women being seen and heard by society, and by working collaboratively with you, the organisations providing opportunities for women to get active, to ensure that we are collectively providing the conditions which women need to feel that they belong in physical activity.”
A slide titled ‘How we’re doing things differently’ appears, featuring images of women being physically active, as well as the logos of 23red, House of Oddities and MMC, under the banner of TGC Collective. Kate talks it through.
Kate P continues: “So we know it's a challenging brief, and to make it a success, we need to work in a really collaborative way to make sure we're developing representative work and learning from the many different organisations who are already so embedded in reducing inequalities.
“So to do this, we're working closely with a set of organisations who have invaluable knowledge, which they can share about engaging with our women. And this includes advisory panels, which are made up of influential figures from the Black and Asian Muslim communities. Shape and build group, consisting of representatives from a group of active partnerships, a Sport England cross-organisational panel, enabling us to align our work and work really closely with our system partners.
“And we will also be working collaboratively across our places and our partners. And to create the campaign, we have appointed a bespoke agency called the This Girl Can Collective. This is a multi-agency model bringing together a collection of specialists from diverse areas of expertise and leading the collective we have 23red, who are a purpose-driven creative agency that specialise in delivering behaviour change campaigns.
“We also have the House of Oddities, who are a creative agency where diversity of people and creative thinking are the core underpinning values. And we have MMC, who are audience experts who help organisations connect effectively with multicultural and lower income communities across the UK with the mission to reduce inequalities.”
A slide titled ‘Our strategy’ appears on screen, featuring a pregnant woman meditating during an outdoor yoga session.
Kate P continues: “And so over the next few slides, we will introduce our strategy and unpack some of the thinking and insight taken from our research, which were used to inform this strategy. And in truly collaborative style, to take you through this, I will hand you over to Sharon Jiggins, who's the Managing Partner from our agency, the This Girl Can Collective, and someone who has played a pivotal role in the campaign from its inception ten years ago. Over to you, Sharon.”
A slide titled ‘A plethora barriers exclude our women’ appears on screen as the minimised video switches to Sharon Jiggins, who talks through the text appearing in a table on the slide.
Sharon says: “Wonderful. Thank you. Kate. So our research has uncovered a plethora of barriers into why our women aren’t engaging in physical activity, as you saw in the video a little while ago. And we've listed a few of these here. So these are barriers that cannot simply be overcome through personal motivation alone.
“Now, some of these barriers are common among all women, such as the cost of taking part in exercise, the lack of local facilities, and the challenge of finding time amid conflicting priorities. However, there are some barriers uniquely experienced by certain groups, such as the lack of suitable provision. For instance, some women, including women from Asian Muslim communities, need female-only spaces, but there are not enough of these spaces around, and some of our Black women and Asian Muslim women talk to us about wanting to protect their hair when swimming. But standard swim caps simply are not designed for certain hair types.
“Or lack of information. Our pregnant women talked a lot about being unsure what activity was safe to do while pregnant, so avoided exercise altogether. And at a bigger societal level, our women feel underrepresented in exercise. They just didn't see women like them exercising. So in summary, our research demonstrated that our women are feeling excluded from participating in physical activity due to factors beyond their control.”
A slide featuring a photo of two women talking appears, alongside a quote that Sharon talks through.
Sharon continues: “And on the next slide, this quote from one of our ladies in the research beautifully sums up the challenge stopping our women. She said “I always thought I wasn't made for exercise, but it turns out exercise wasn't made for me.” And what she's articulating here is the feeling of exclusion. And this feeling of exclusion is real. All these barriers, some big and lots of small ones, all add up to our women feeling like they are excluded from the world of activity.”
A slide titled ‘Leading to an exclusion loop’ appears on screen, with Sharon talking through the circular diagram alongside it.
Sharon says: “And this leads to an exclusion loop. The reasons for feeling of exclusion are complex and societal, but when it comes to physical activity, our women feel excluded by their community, who feel excluded by society, so they self-exclude themselves from physical activity.
“So the role for This Girl Can is to break the exclusion loop. And we do that through belonging, because belonging creates an inclusion loop. And we're going to do this by making sure women feel included in society, by social norming, included by their community, by rallying the community to support them in getting active, and by shaping the system so they can include themselves in physical activity, by finding and accessing activities for them. And all this leads to our strategic proposition. We go into the next slide.”
A slide titled ‘Out strategic thought: Belonging starts with inclusion’ appears on screen, with Sharon talking through three points that appear in boxes beneath.
Sharon says: “Belonging starts with inclusion. So I'm just going to unpack these words briefly. So ‘belonging’: this is about getting all women to feel they are welcome in the world of physical activity. However they want to do it, on their terms. ‘Starts with’ is about the first step, because this is a journey that won't happen overnight, and ‘inclusion’ is about making the provision inclusive as well as their access to it. It's also about making sure everyone around our women and broader society plays a role in making our women feel they belong.
“So together, Belonging Starts With Inclusion is a strategy that seeks to reduce our women's barriers, that exclude them from physical activity by showing how women like them are getting active. And only when our women are seen, heard and included can they genuinely feel a sense of belonging within the world of physical activity.
“This strategy involves working closely with partners like you and community groups to shape the provision of activity, making it more accessible and inclusive for our women. And I'd like everyone on this call to remember a time you haven't felt included, whether that was in school or in a work or social situation. And think about, well, you know, what would have made a difference for you.
“So, for instance, we heard from one of our Asian Muslim women who said she had attended a ladies-only fitness class for the first time in a community hall. However, the hall had big windows where she would have been overlooked by men. She had to leave before the class even began. So, having made the big decision to attend a class she had never been to before, she was thwarted by the lack of blinds, something that no one had thought about. And this is just one example of many. But if we're able to solve some of these barriers for our women, this will benefit all women.
“Which is why we feel that as a strategic platform, Belonging Starts With Inclusion will work really hard for us.”
A slide titled ‘The role for communications’ appears on screen, again with three points in boxes that Sharon talks though.
Sharon continues: “And it gives us a very clear role for communications for the next phase of This Girl Can, which is to create a culture of openness so all women feel included in physical activity.
“There are three strands to this strategy. The first one is ‘Raise it’. So this is all about raising, voicing the need for change so all women can feel they belong. It's an insight-gathering phase among our women, surfacing the barriers to participation specific to them, and gleaning what motivations and support they need to get active. And these audience insights will be used to stimulate conversations and gain media coverage that demonstrates the importance of being inclusive. This phase sets the scene about why This Girl Can is needed now more than ever.
“‘Shape it’. Well, that's about working with you, our partners and supporters in the sector to build a more inclusive system. This will include packaging up the insights from our research to share with you, giving you the opportunity to hear more from our women about their wants and needs and what would make a big difference to them. We will also look to facilitate conversation, sharing best practices from those already working hard to be inclusive. And we've heard from you that it's always important to have more time to prepare for the launch of a campaign and to respond to any learnings, which is why we're speaking to you now, and we want to maintain open levels of communications from now until the launch of the next public-facing phase of This Girl Can, which will be next September.
“And this is the ‘Celebrate it’ phase, and this is all about championing and celebrating what belonging looks and feels like. This public-facing multimedia campaign will inspire and motivate our women to get active, generating additional business for you. So through broadcast media such as TV adverts and posters, we will increase representation. So our women feel one of many rather than one of few, rallying community support and galvanising society.
“And then through targeted media on a local community level, we will go where our women are, appearing in their spaces and places, and this phase will show our women, and indeed all women, that getting active is possible, motivating and welcoming for women and girls like them. This ‘Celebrate it’ phase will therefore be generating an increase in the number of women wanting to get active and using your services. So I'll now hand over to Amy, who will take you through the timings in more detail.”
A slide titled ‘Timeline’ appears on screen, with a graphic of a timeline that Amy Crees talks through, as her live video replaces Sharon’s to the side.
Amy says: “Thanks very much, Sharon. “So before I delve into the timeline, it's worth noting that this is actually the first time we've had funding secured over a four-year period, and what this allows us to do is plan much further ahead than we've previously been able to.
“And this is a real bonus for a couple of different reasons. So firstly, it gives us an opportunity to build momentum and really drive behaviour change over a more sustained period. Secondly, as Sharon said, we know from your feedback that giving you as much notice and lead time as possible really helps your planning. So we'll be sending regular communications to ensure you have clear sight of our plans and the time you need to capitalise on all the key moments we have planned for next year.
“So, starting from the left of the timeline at the purple Audience Research box, we start where we always do for This Girl Can, and that's with our women. Over the last few months, we've been undertaking further research to deepen our understanding and validate our key audience insights. These insights will underpin all campaign activity, and we'll want to share them far and wide with all of you, our partners and the influential voices who can support the next iteration of the campaign.
“Moving to the right. The campaign will celebrate its 10th anniversary on the 12th of January, and this is an important moment for us, not only to reflect on the impact the campaign has had to date, but also to thank everyone who has played a part, and that will be many of you, and to take a look forward to the work we still need to do.
“Following this, at the end of February, we'll have the start of our ‘Raise It’ phase in the red box when we'll be launching a big public-facing PR moment. Drawing on our insight to generate significant media coverage about the importance of being inclusive and to demonstrate why the next phase of This Girl Can is so needed.
“Soon after this in March we’ll be starting our ‘Shape it’ phase, where we'll be launching materials to share the insight generated by our research, as well as advice and guidance to any organisation looking to deliver inclusive opportunities for women. Along with these resources we’ll continue to communicate and collaborate with partners and the whole physical activity sector so you can capitalise on the campaign and help create the conditions for change.
“And then finally, in September is the start of our ‘Celebrate it’ when we will launch a heavyweight public-facing behaviour change campaign with advertising across major broadcast channels including TV, radio and out-of-home, as well as a targeted media plan which reaches our women in their communities, and on those channels and publications they trust and use in their everyday lives.
“So at this point, we want to give you the chance to hear from some organisations who are already doing an amazing job in helping to provide inclusive opportunities for women to get active. So I'll now hand over to Rakhee from MMC.”
A slide titled ‘Let’s hear from some organisations leading the way’ appears on screen, above thumbnail images of four of the guests previously introduced: Rakhee Shah, Yashmin Harun, Gina McCabe and Samin Mughal.
Rakhee says: “Thanks very much, Amy. And as you say, this is our opportunity to hear from a few organisations who are putting our women at the centre of their provision.
“We're delighted to welcome to the panel three inspirational women, Yashmin Harun, BEM, founder and chair of the Muslimah Sports Association, an organisation which offers women a safe and positive environment to participate in a number of different sports without compromising their religious or their cultural beliefs, a number of other prestigious positions, including Vice-Chair at London Football Association and Senior Independent Director of British Fencing.
“We're also joined by Gina McCabe, Outdoor Citizens Lead at the YHA. Gina is a leading thinker and practitioner in socially just solutions that really work to create a more equitable and inclusive outdoors. Through her consultancy, Gina is the lead for Outdoor Citizens, a free online and face-to-face community founded and hosted by YHA England and Wales, that centres the expertise and work of grassroots community groups at the heart of a more inclusive outdoors.
“And we're also joined by Samin Mughal, founder of Loughborough Female Fitness, a diverse and inclusive physical activity sports club for women of all ages, with a focus on youth and adult women of ethnic minority and Muslim faith groups. Samin also advises local government bodies, community organisations and active partnerships in creating inclusive, active environments. So Yashmin, Gina and Samin, thank you very much for joining us today. And welcome.”
At this point the slide is replaced by the full-screen view of the four guests in conversation.
Rakhee continues: “We've got a couple of areas of focus for today's panel discussion. The first question we had for you is how does your organisation support women in getting active, and what has the impact of this work been? And Yashmin, we’ll start with you.”
Yashmin says: “So MSA started over ten years ago, and it was because I identified a gap in the market actually, and funnily enough it was because I attended a This Girl Can session of badminton, and it was in the local town hall. And I went because it was a female-only session. But when I went, there were men walking through and I felt really conscious and I would stop every time a man walked through, I thought, this can't be right. I feel really uncomfortable.
“So what I did was I looked around to see what other activities were on offer for women, and I felt that I wasn't really comfortable joining those sessions. So I, started our own basketball activities, looked for a female coach and, it took a few months for it to get started, to get going. I had to engage the community, build that trusting relationship, because they didn't know what I was trying to achieve and what I was trying to do with those sessions.
“So I had to build a lot of trust and engage with a lot of the people within the community, but also the men, and bring them in as allies as well, because what I wanted to do was try and bring in exercise as a preventative measure rather than a reactive measure. So a lot of our women, what we tend to do is when we get ill or diagnosed with a disease such as diabetes or heart disease or arthritis or something, that's when we start thinking about exercising.
“And I wanted to build it into everyday lives, and we moved that sort of barrier of thinking it's not part of everyday life for women, especially from a Muslim background. And it started with basketball. And then eventually we started to get really, really good numbers in. So like 40 women coming every week. And then it grew into offering badminton and then from there we grew into offering football.
“And then I started to look at the workforce. And there weren’t as many women coaches out there either. So it limited the number of sports I could offer. And so I started working with national governing bodies, and especially the FA and Essex County FA, and talked about how we can tailor a programme that would engage the community, the females from the community, to do a tailored coaching course.
“So that increases representation and that would then increase the number of women that we were engaged in from the local community. And that took actually two years from inception to delivery. But we had 16 women come on that course, complete the course and get their FA level one badges. They started delivering in the local borough and then that grew our football provision as well.
“So now we have a football club. Everyone's on the football. Monday night we have over 100 women and girls coming to that session. Have a 5-a-side team. We have an under-14s team. We have a women's 11-a-side team. So we started to remove all those barriers. But it wasn't an easy journey. We had to change sort of the mindset of the women involved first, but also the community around us as well, because the men started to challenge us, started to ask questions about what are we trying to do here? What are we trying to achieve? Why are we trying to get women to exercise? What is our end goal here?
“So it was changing the narratives, but also then working with the national governing bodies to help them understand what our challenges were as a Muslim community, as well.”
Rakhee says: “Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing that, Yashmin. What a journey. And so much in there for everybody to take away, from community engagement to, you know, upskilling women from the community to, you know, to working with the national governing bodies. It's really, really interesting, to hear the journey of the MSA.
“We're going to move right over to Gina now, so, Gina, we understand that Outdoor Citizen supports a more inclusive outdoors. It would be great to hear how the programme supports women, and what impact this work has had.”
Gina says: “Thank you, Rakhee. Thank you Yashmin for going first. I really appreciated that. So I want us to give a little bit more of a background on Outdoor Citizens as well. I'll keep it really, really short. And then tie it into the topic.
“So the idea of Outdoor Citizens was to make the outdoors more accessible for everyone. But to do that in a way that recognises that some parts of society have a lot more representation, a lot more influence, and a lot more voice in the outdoors. And that how the outdoors has traditionally been represented needs to change if it's going to be more inclusive and accessible. So we need to move away from that idea of, it has to be the top of a mountain if you're going to be sort of authentically out there having adventure.
“So I look after the Outdoor Citizens Network on behalf of YHA. It's got 120 organisational members, the majority of which are not-for-profit groups. It's also home to some partners, systemic partners we would call them, national governing bodies, national landscapes, brands and so on, who've got a role to play in overcoming some of those systemic barriers. Those ones that can't be overcome by motivation alone. Like you said earlier, Sharon.
“So my role is to look after the day-to-day delivery of Outdoor Citizens. So I'm the main point of contact for members. And this is a free network. So I kind of sit in between, the community members, and YHA and some of, like I say, some of those systemic partners.
“And I also consult and advise and support YHA so that they can keep hosting and resourcing the network. Because it's been quite a journey. And it's something they really want to keep on supporting for as long as they can. And obviously it's quite an unusual setup. Not something that we think, another, big organisation like YHA has taken on before.
“So lots and lots of learning. And the activity of Outdoor Citizens includes, funded face-to-face events and online events throughout the year. And these are needs-led. So the intention is to support Outdoor Citizens members in connecting them with financial resources, funding, with other organisations, with training, all with the intention of supporting them to continue to grow and carry on in their community offer. But also a little bit about lifting the value, the voices of some of those community groups, in the work that they're doing.
“So we move away from the idea that, the solution is held by big organisations when actually there's a huge amount of work happening in communities, which is happening regardless of what some of the big organisations were doing. And so there's an incredible opportunity in partnership there.
“So in terms of how it helps women get active, I just looked at the Outdoor Citizens membership profile, and 55% of the organisations are either solely run by women and women-focused or have a really strong women's element. So there's a need there that's being responded to by community groups that is nothing to do with YHA in the nicest possible way. You know, it's happening. It's happening already. But through Outdoor Citizens, there's been an opportunity to channel some helpful resources to those groups.
“And the flip side of that is the relationships that YHA have now got with these women's groups has authentically developed over the last couple of years. So a lot of my work is in inclusive practice, particularly business-to-business models and how businesses and organisations can develop their commitment to being more inclusive and accessible. And I think Outdoor Citizens is a real exemplar model of that.
“So two years down the line, YHA are now a strategic partner with Sport England. And one of the reasons they’re a strategic partner is that they'd already put that legwork in to saying, ‘we don't have the answers, but we know there's a load of groups that do, and we need to find a fair and equitable way to work with those groups so that they can carry on doing what they're doing.’ We can be helpful in the right way, and the spin-off of that is more women are coming to stay at YHA hostels. YHA are learning how better to serve some of those audiences. They're changing their practices because they're getting first-hand experience of, oh, we had a group come to stay and we didn't get X, Y, and Z, right. So now we need to change that and that's going to be better for future groups.
“So I think the relationship with how it supports women get active is YHA have never at any point tried to invent and design new activities totally off their own back that will support women. They recognise that that was already happening. And actually what they needed to do was create the channels for that to continue happening. And so that growth of women participating in outdoor activity, is aided by the work of Outdoor Citizens. But in such a way that it really respects what's happening in those communities. I think that’s it!”
Rakhee says: “Thank you, Gina, thank you for giving us that context and the understanding around the unique work that the Outdoor Citizens programme is doing.
“I think, we're really lucky to have Samin with us today. And Samin, it is a similar question for you. But there is a bit of a twist, and I think that, you know, what you're going to be able to really bring to the conversation is that kind of understanding of, you know, that kind of partnership that you've had with the Outdoor Citizens programme.
“So it'd be great to understand, first of all, how Loughborough Female Fitness supports women in getting active. And also, it would be really interesting for us to hear from you around the impact, that your partnership with the YHA has had on this work.”
Samin says: “Thank you. Thank you Rakhee. Thank you Yashmin and Gina. Hello, everyone. Yes. So, we set up, Loughborough Female Fitness was set up in May 2021. By simply, sort of, I invited a few friends around and said, I'm doing this. Are you with me? Are you on board? And it was recognising that we don't have many women-only activity spaces at all locally in our town. But also when they happened, it was sort of either very short-term, so it would be like a little pot of funding that comes up to support women specifically and it would be for two or three months and then everybody would get engaged, and then it would sort of stop and it was like, well, there's no funding available.
“But we also live in a university town. You will have heard of Loughborough University. So a lot of the university research projects did focus on women, but only for the extent of that study. So they would come out to the community and say, we need to work with Muslim women or South Asian women. And then the minute the study was done, there was no longer support that would continue with that work.
“Because I myself was in physical activity and public health research before this, I sort of recognised this specific need within our community, and I live locally, I knew that there wasn't much at all in women-only spaces. So we set up, we started, and it was a very simple sort of intention. It was like, we will lead a few walks and if you run some, that will hopefully do the job.
“But within a few months of starting, we recognised that the need and the demand of our women, is just huge. And, you know, at that point, even for me, I was listening to statistics that physical activity levels in Muslim women, in South Asian women is at the lowest levels. So even I had kind of been sold this idea that we don't want to do exercise and we're somehow, you know, not wanting to participate.
“But actually then I recognise that is incorrect. The minute you start building that connection and that trust, which was really crucial for us, and it was an interesting learning point for me personally because I live and work in Loughborough, but I kind of had to restart building that trust with the community in terms of being able to organise and lead and deliver physical activities within women-only spaces.
“So I recognised that actually, women had previously been told this is a women-only space, but then turn up and it's a male lifeguard, for example, or they're told it's a women-only space, but it's not at all sort of fulfilling the modesty sort of criteria, if you like, of Muslim women, for example. So you want to be in a private space where you're not overlooked, you know, when you're being active.
“So anyway, we started and I have to say that, you know, three and a half years on, we now still our main job is to deliver, plan and organise weekly activities, walks, runs, hikes, Boxfit cardio sessions, all sorts. So we do many different activities weekly. But we've also started working with local organisations to advise them. And I sit in on the Active Together EDI panel to try and advise them because they recognise that we're doing this work and we're doing it sort of, you know, quite well.
“So we now advise, we lead youth leadership programmes, which means we connect our youth with nature, and the outdoors, and we also have residentials, etc. But in terms of YHA, the biggest support that YHA – of course, Gina sort of shooting off those emails saying, ‘by the way, there’s funding available here,’ is brilliant. That's something we always need. So that's been excellent, but actually it's so much more than that.
“The biggest thing that is done for Loughborough Female Fitness, is that we've been able to connect with other organisations across England, who are doing similar sort of work. And that's been crucial for us to survive, actually, because when you're doing this work, and regardless of your previous expertise or experience or whatever, it's actually quite isolating and it's quite difficult sitting here behind a computer and trying to kind of tackle this huge, aspect of organising women-only spaces.
“So being able to go to the Outdoor Citizens event and being able to connect with other organisations that do similar sort of work has been crucial to us. to sort of see there are others that are doing similar work. And it also means that we have been able to sort of start connecting our women and our communities to those communities. We do some collaborations with other organisations, but we also shout out about it, like on social media. I'll say, ‘oh, by the way, look at this organisation. They may be in London, but they're doing something very similar to what we're doing.’ So it actually reduces that sense of isolation and that sense of we're the only ones, kind of, doing this work. So, yeah, it's been absolutely wonderful.”
Rakhee says: “Thank you Samin. Thank you so much for sharing. What an inspirational community that you've developed.
“So, there's so much in there from the three of you, to digest, to unpack and take away. I think one of the things that's really kind of stood out is that, you know, what we can achieve when we really step back and we we put our women at the centre of the approach. But also really kind of interesting insights coming out, you know, in terms of the importance of that community engagement, you know, the importance of kind of, you know, speaking to the to those in our surroundings, listening to our women.
“So, yeah. Thank you again for sharing those insights. And we're going to move on, to the next question now, which is advice-based. It's the same question for the whole panel. And the question is, what advice would you give to other organisations who are looking to provide more inclusive experiences? And we'll go in the same order. So Yashmin, if we're able to start with you, that would be great.”
Yashmin says: “For us, it was finding that individual that has impact in the community, so that community leader, and build that relationship. So what Samin was saying about trust is really important, so that they understand what your vision and mission is, but also if they have the contacts and network as well. So being able to build that trust is really important.
“And having the contacts within the community is also really important. So whether that's with your local community organisations or within the local mosques as well, but then also the active partners are really important because they're the ones who can give you access to the spaces that you need.
“The local schools are also really important because the majority of our sessions are delivered in schools. So building that trust about the kind of environment that you're looking for. So we can't have sessions where you're, got those open galleries or those big windows. So are they able to accommodate you and have blinds input so that, you know, you can close the blinds during your sessions and the caretaker isn't going to walk in and keep those activities really private for you.
“So understanding what it is that you're asking for, that you know, why it's so important as well. So that trust element is so important and understanding why, what it is that you're trying to achieve.”
Rakhee says: “Thanks, Yashmin. So, Gina, I'm going to move straight on to you. It's the same question, which is just around what advice would you give to other organisations looking to provide more inclusive experiences?”
Gina says: “Of course. Yeah. So, I've got a little, a little quote that I'd like to read out, which I think really summarises it quite beautifully. Because coming from an outdoor organisation background also, it's really easy to, kind of, think in this little silo that you need to keep changing what you're doing. And if you keep changing what you're doing, eventually people will come. And I think that's a mindset that's really, that's really challenging.
“And if we can switch how we think to considering where your organisation or your offer fits within a jigsaw, or within a slice of cake, or whatever you want to think of it, which piece of it are you that's going to somehow be a contribution towards accessing sport and physical activity, or accessing the outdoors? And the outdoors might be your service. It might be another service that kind of helps link women through to the overall picture.
“But this was shared. I'm going to try and anonymise it as I read it, by one of our Outdoor Citizens members. So there are 13 organisations or people that had a role in how somebody ended up coming to stay at a YHA hostel. So: ‘Funded by YHA, with hiking boots funded by Transport for Greater Manchester, and extra transport funded by the National Lottery ‘People for Our Planet’ project. Following my attendance at the Outdoor Citizens event last year and organised by YHA and all the elements which I heard of via Jenny Griggs of Natural England, who found out about my organisation via our health walks funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, which I heard about via a capacity building program by the Ubele Initiative. I got linked in with them via volunteering through a local organisation called Can GM, who I heard of via a Wigan community engagement project funded by People's Health Trust, which was shared with me via a woman I attended church with who was in a WhatsApp group that I started with a friend to connect African women in Wigan.’
“So I love it because it just illustrates the reality of, opening up access to sport and physical activity. I think if you are a provider, an activity provider, shift from, my advice is shift from thinking about your activity only and start to look around your community, around your offer, what's going on? What are the things that you can connect fairly and equitably with? Who can you partner with? And that's where your results will really come.”
Rakhee says: “Gina, thank you so much for sharing that. Really loved that, loved that quote. So much in there. And, I think it just summed up your point beautifully. Samin, similar question for you, really, but it would be, yeah, it'd be great if you were able to share your, kind of, one or two nuggets of advice.”
Samin says: “Thank you, Rakhee. Yes, absolutely. For me, it's still really, really connecting with your local community and recognising what is unique about your specific context. So I walked into this thinking, oh, well, I have a research experience and data collection experience in Leicester, etc., etc. but actually that might not apply at all. And in my case, in our case, it didn't, to the very specific context that the community and the challenges that the community in Loughborough faced, being a small town, you know, and all of the other elements in terms of when you're trying to book venues or find a woman instructor etc.
“And also really, really listening to your community. So again, I felt that I know my community, I know the challenges that we face. But actually, when you're out there, when you're listening to people that do want to become active, you recognise so many other elements that you hadn't considered.
“And the final one is, don't compare yourself to the big players in the field. We all sort of think to ourselves, oh, great, they have amazing social media following etc. But what suits the certain groups of people or certain ways will not suit you. For us, for example, we recognise that we will never be able to get our women to go hiking in the Peak District unless we actually sought out transport for them. It doesn't work for them to drive up together to, sort of, what is an unknown location for them, for example.
“So kind of recognise to listen to your communities and recognise what is unique about your community I think is the key.”
Rakhee says: “That's great. Thank you for sharing that, Samin. I think, between the three of you, we've really been able to glean some really useful and actionable insights, which I'm sure that many of our attendees will be delving further into. You know, everything from, you know, that, kind of, importance of building trust, really kind of honing down and thinking about, you know, what is the offer?
“Samin, I loved what you had to say about, you know, not comparing yourself to the big players. And, you know, just think about what it is that you offer and what's different for you.
“Unfortunately, we don't have time to cover some of the questions which have been coming through from the audience right now. But these will be answered in good time following today's webinar.
“So for now, I'd just like to say thank you again for joining us on stage. Thank you to Yashmin, to Samin and to Gina. It's been really, really wonderful and a real privilege to hear from the three of you. And I will hand over to Amy.”
A slide appears on screen titled ‘Making the most of the campaign’s impact’ alongside a photo of two women jogging and Amy’s minimised live video.
Amy says: “Thank you so much, Rakhee and all our panel members. So, so great to hear from you all. And so much food for thought for us all to take away.
“So, as you've heard, providing inclusive activity that's specifically designed for our women can have a huge impact, opening up sport and movement to women who previously just didn't feel like they belonged. And when we go live with our major national campaign in September, we believe the next burst of This Girl Can will help to drive demand amongst our women, leading to increased motivation amongst those who may not have engaged with physical activity before.
“And with many more women inspired to take part, there's a clear opportunity for all those providing activities for women to benefit from the interest. By providing inclusive activity, which enables our women to get active on their terms, your organisation can access new audiences and establish itself as an organisation that's truly meeting the needs of our women.
“So in the coming months, we'll be sharing more assets, resources, insights to help support all organisations on the journey to be more inclusive and amplifying the stories of organisations like the Muslimah Sports Association, Loughborough Fitness and the YHA who we've just heard from and who we can learn so much from. And I'm sure there are many more of you on this webinar.
“So moving into our final slide, there will be a whole range of ways for you to be part of the next chapter of This Girl Can. But in the first instance, here are the top three actions you can take now.”
A slide titled ‘How you can be part of the next chapter’ appears on screen, alongside a photo of a woman holding a photo. Amy talks through the bullet points.
Amy says: “So the first of these is, to sign up to the campaign hub and newsletter at thisgirlcan.co.uk/campaign-hub. This is the B2B part of our This Girl Can website, and it's the best way to get further updates on all our upcoming activity and how you can get involved.
“Number two is to help spread the word by sharing this deck and the link to the recording of this webinar with colleagues and partners. Please look out for these next week in our follow-up email and on our social channels.
“And finally, please share your feedback by completing our short survey. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's webinar and our plans for next year. And we'll be dropping a link to a survey in the chat. Please do complete this if you have time as your feedback is hugely valuable to us. I'm now going to pass back to Kate to wrap up.”
A slide titled ‘Thank you’ appears on screen, alongside a photo of woman using a hula hoop in her kitchen and the website and email address of This Girl Can: thisgirlcan.co.uk/campaign-hub and [email protected]. Kate Dale’s minimised video also appears.
Kate D says: “Thank you, Amy, and thank you to all our brilliant speakers. I am inspired and daunted and excited about the challenge ahead if we really are to make a difference.
“And thank you to all for staying with us throughout this. I think, there are so many things that come to mind. I think the real words that come out around importance of connection, around community, around building trust, around using the collateral that we have. And I love that example that Gina gave, because I think one thing I've learned, there’s many things I've learned over the last ten years, but I think that one of women's superpowers is not just the ability to talk and connect, but to share our vulnerabilities and to ask questions and share what we don't know and find those connections.
“And that's what we all need to do. Ourselves included, if we are to really take This Girl Can to the next level, which is what we're really committed to doing. So please share with us your questions, your comments, your feedback. There's quite a lot of this that we're still figuring it out, particularly how we connect all of us together. You know, over the last ten years, I've been asked numerous times, what do women want? Well, it depends which women you ask. And I think that's something that's really come through today.
“So the importance of truly, truly, truly putting the women you're trying to reach at the centre of what you're doing, are talking to them and listening to what they say, and responding to them is absolutely critical. It has been an incredible ten years. I think one of our team members’ son was just starting school when we launched This Girl Can, he's now doing his GCSEs. So it's been quite a journey. But that means that he's just growing up, right? So it's a campaign that is maybe just growing up as well.
“We've got so much left to do and really looking forward to working with you all on it. We are going to answer and respond to your questions and comments when we share the link, next week. So please do keep putting them in there. Don't forget to do the survey. And I think there's a space in there for questions as well if something occurs to you afterwards. Or you can always email us on [email protected] too.
“Please stay in touch. Please keep talking. Oh, and there was one question very quickly. Sorry, I had a big finish then and I've just ruined it. Around using the logo – absolutely. If you sign up to This Girl Can support you can get all the details on how you can do lock-up logos with This Girl Can. That's a really important part of using our collateral on your materials as well to really reach the women we want to reach.
“But yeah, thank you, all of you, for working with us so far. And here's to the next ten years!”
