This Girl Can Takes New Approach to Get Women Active
April 22, 2022
Beginning this May, the award-winning UK campaign This Girl Can is joining forces with popular online activity tracker Strava and outdoor clothing company Regatta Great Outdoors in order to inspire even more women to be active on their own terms.
Launched in January 2015, This Girl Can was created as a response to Sport England's Active People Survey, which reported that in 2014 there were two million fewer women participating in sports than men, despite over 75% of women aged 14–40 saying that they would like to exercise more. Women shared that they were put off from taking part in physical activity due to a fear of judgement – about the way the look when they exercise, that they’re not good enough to join in or that they should be spending more time on their families, studies or other priorities. The resulting campaign therefore challenged the conventional idea of what exercise looks like and reaches out to women of all backgrounds and ethnicities who feel left behind by traditional exercise.
These new partnerships represent a fresh approach for the campaign as it seeks to work with high-profile brands and organisations to reach new audiences, while continuing to celebrate and build women’s confidence. Under this model, This Girl Can will collaborate with organisations that share its values under Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy, which is dedicated to tackling inequalities in activity levels – including the gender activity gap.
“Despite the great progress made since we launched This Girl Can in 2015, women are still less active than men, and the disruptions of the pandemic has made returning to activity even more of a challenge,” said campaign lead Kate Dale.
“This means that millions of women are missing out on the physical, mental and social rewards of an active lifestyle, and it’s why we’ve got to find new ways to give women the confidence they need to take the first step towards getting active.
This Girl Can x Strava will build a vibrant community of women who’ll support each other to get active again after taking a break from it. Built on the insight that almost half (47%) of women are held back from getting active due to fears of not being fit enough, the partnership aims to normalise the breaks everyone takes from physical activity and champion the return to a more active lifestyle.
Available in 14 languages, Strava is an app for runners and cyclists that tracks physical exercise while incorporating social network features. It syncs with users' devices to record a wide range of performance metrics and activities which can then be shared with friends and followers, who can leave comments.
A brand-new This Girl Can Club on Strava will be created where women will be invited to ‘Make Your Comeback’ and celebrate the joy of moving again in a safe and supportive space. The Club will allow women to share their experiences, find inspiring challenges and use the power of friendship and community to start moving again.
In early May, Sport England will publish a toolkit of resources to support partners across the country to get involved, connect with women in their local areas and enable everyone to benefit from the support of the digital community.
Regatta Great Outdoors x This Girl Can will be a social media campaign with influencer-led content to inspire women to get active in the great outdoors. Regatta is an English family-owned outdoor and leisure clothing company that seeks to make affordable clothing in order to encourage people get outside.
The partnership will support women to make outdoor activity part of their daily lives by encouraging them to get active in the places and spaces around them – whether it’s climbing a hill or walking to a city office. This Girl Can’s social channels will share ways to get active in the great outdoors throughout May and beyond, calling on the This Girl Can community to share their ideas and activities too.
Supporters can also head to @regattaoutdoors on Instagram to see the campaign come to life.
Further details of the partnerships and how This Girl Can supporters can get involved will be available in early May.