Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation - Motivations

Women’s Running Network

editor — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:44:16 +0000

"IT’S FUN, IT’S SAFE, IT’S SOCIAL!"

The Women’s Running Network (WRN) was founded 11 years ago in Exeter to encourage women to run who would not normally consider that they could. Our ethos of all shapes, all sizes, all ages, all stages embraces all women and encourages them to improve their fitness and well-being. Our youngest is 12 and our oldest at present is 73.

The aim of WRN was to get women active but initially with no plans of expanding outside Exeter. As we grew our success spread to other parts of the country.

Project detailsProject duration: 01 January 1998 - ongoing

Organisation:

Women's Running Network

AudienceAll women

Age group:

0 - 15

Age group:

16 - 24

Age group:

25 - 40

Age group:

41+

Innovation

Women only-helping other women. Women as leaders, women’s running groups as the new community.

Recruitment and promotion

It started with runners who trained with us and loved it so much they wanted to share it. Promoted by word of mouth, good personal stories in press, on the radio and links with local events e.g. Race for Life. Charity events organised by the founders drew massive publicity in 2000.

Location

National

How was your project delivered?Running / jogging

Funding

The first 7 years were voluntary and by membership, then Community Investment Funding funding from Sport England in the South West until March 2009.

Partnership

Many partners locally, regionally and nationally. England Athletics are the primary partner.

Results

Lessons:

Having spent 11 years developing our project, we constantly review and change. In the first instance we didn’t really engage with local authorites but now some of our most successful projects have been working with partners.

Evaluation:

We are expanding all the time. Retention of members is good compared with many clubs. We constantly review what we provide and we are always trying to improve service. We monitor the WRN, but using a member database showing total members, leaders, new areas and ages. Hard to engage with young women and sustain a project with them. However with leaders passion have maintained the groups we started. These are limited and mainly in the south west.

Themes

Growing and sustaining participation

The aim of WRN is to increase participation and encourage young women to stay active. Most of our women would not traditionally see themselves as runners and go to a traditional club.

Workforce development

All our leaders are trained and attend a UKA leadership course. Initially we had our own leaders course and our leaders also attended an England Athletics course. We had input into England Athletics course and they have just launched a new leadership course. We support our group leaders with ongoing training.

Reversioning sport

The whole ethos of our delivery is social and fun. Reducing any emphasis on competition.

Targetting confidence and self-esteem issues

Body image and confidence are the biggest barriers we have faced in encouraging women to participate.

Health and well being

Running definitely has an effect on health, both mental and physical. It has helped our participants overcome cancer, lose weight, reduce high blood pressure, cope with diabetes, aswell as some mental health problems.

Key links:

Women's Running Network

AimHI

editor — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:00:27 +0000

“Fantastic! So easy to understand with achievable activities for all girls.”

Case_Study_girlguides.pdf

Aim HI is a resource that contains over 50 activities for girls, based on the idea that good health is a combination of physical, mental and social wellbeing. The resource supported Girlguiding UK’s Healthy Individual Campaign for 2008. The activities touch on the areas of health, good and bad, that young people may encounter in their day-to-day lives. The pack was designed to show leaders that including healthy living activities in their programmes is easy and fun and to encourage them to continue doing so in the future.

Project detailsProject duration: 01 June 2006 - 30 September 2006

Organisation:

GirlguidingUK

Project name:

AimHI

AudienceGirls and young women

Girls and young women

Age group:

0 - 15

Age group:

16 - 24

Innovation

It was focused on the “holistic” approach to healthy living, including all aspects of being healthy, and it was something that girls of all ages could get involved with, enjoy and learn from.

Recruitment and promotion

The resource was promoted through our website and online shop, magazine, e-updates, and messages to local guiding to spread the message to every volunteer leader. We also promoted the resource with two training weekends aimed at our own volunteer trainers and interested volunteer leaders at two of our Training and Activity centres.

Location

National

How was your project delivered?Not focused on a specific sport

Not focused on a specific sport

Funding

Through Girlguiding UK funds, as part of the Healthy Individual Project. Staff time was covered through our internal budgets and the cost of the pack was covered through sales, this means that the project is self-sustainable.

Partnership

None for this resource

Results

Lessons:

We would have liked to have had some sponsorship or partnership to make the resource more interactive, but There is nothing major we would have done differently, as the resource has been a great success. Others could learn from the popularity of AimHI, that there is a lot of interest from girls and young women in healthy living and activities around the subject, especially something about balancing healthy living between eating well, keeping fit, and also keeping the mind healthy and happy.

Evaluation:

This was measured in book and badge sales, which were very positive – for example, between June-September 2008 alone, there were 1563 resource packs sold, and 16,993 badges sold. We also had a feedback form on the Girlguiding UK website, which brought such comments as: “Plenty of choice, approx. times useful to plan meeting, plenty of scope to expand themes.” “It was great fun and everyone enjoyed the activities. We are going to do lots more from the resource as there are so many good ideas. “A valuable resource that could be used again and again. We based our Pack Holiday theme around it as the girls wanted to have a girlie/pamper weekend.” “Brilliant! I love training on it also! Thank you for such a brill pack!”

Themes

Rebranding/reversioning sport

Made girls realise that sport doesn’t have to be something formal with rules and leagues and positions, but you can use a sport and do what you like with it with your friends - for example having a football race instead of playing the traditional game, or making volleyball less serious and more fun by playing with a balloon.

Targeting confidence and self-esteem issues

The Head section is all about promoting good mental health, thinking of yourself and others, for example an activity where girls pay each other compliments, or an activity discussing how famous people are portrayed by the media.

Health and well-being

Targeted obesity in a positive way, making healthy eating and exercise something girls actively enjoy rather than dread. Head section deals with mental health thinking about attitudes to yourself and others and how to deal with problems without letting them get you down, for example text bullying. Targeted obesity in a positive way, making healthy eating and exercise something girls actively enjoy rather than dread.

Head section deals with mental health thinking about attitudes to yourself and others and how to deal with problems without letting them get you down, for example text bullying.

Key links:

Girlguiding UK's AimHI resource pack

Physical activity and older women

editor — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:23:56 +0000

In the autumn of 2004, the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) commission researchers from Bristol University to carry out a six-month qualitative research study into the physical activity perceptions of older women. The focus was on women aged 64 and over from lower socio-economic groups living independently in Cornwall, South West England. WSFF wanted to hear the views of women who did not consider themselves particularly physically active or sporty and find out their reasons for not participating.

FACTSHEETolderwomen05.pdf

Physical activity and mothers

editor — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:18:38 +0000

In 2005, the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation commissioned Opinion Leader Research (OLR) to carry out a study into socially excluded mothers with young children to enhance the understanding of the barriers that these women face and possible solutions.

FACTSHEET_mums05.pdf

To swim or not to swim: women and swimming 2005-06

editor — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:55:06 +0000

In autumn 2005 WSF and the Amateur Swimming Association commissioned HNI International to carry out a six month research project into women aged 25-34 and their views on swimming.

A mixture of survey data and focus group work methods were used in the analysis. Nine focus groups were held in total across the country and different groups of women.

Summary of the key findings:

Why some women DO swim:

For leisure.

An enjoyable swimming occasion for young women consists of a swim with the following mix- a reasonable amount of personal space, a pool which is not too noisy, has plenty of ambient light, is non-rectangular and is visually attractive.

Many young women liked the notion of swimming outdoors. They were attracted to the feeling of freedom and being close to nature. This was considered to be ‘how swimming should be’- almost, swimming without boundaries.

Swimming was seen as a health solution during pregnancy but not outside. However there was low engagement between women and swimming as a health solution.

Swimming is good non-weight bearing exercise.

For the psychological benefits. Swimming creates a positive frame of mind.

Why some women DO NOT swim: barriers to swimming

The main overarching issues are associated with convenience, cleanliness, body image and lack of confidence.

Many women who do not swim regularly see swimming as an activity associated with holidays. At that time, they will devote considerable time to preparing for the occasion. This includes shaving and waxing the body and purchasing suitable attire.

For many women, it was important to be anonymous at a swimming pool. This was closely associated with body issues. For some, it was better to swim at a pool not too close to home in case you were recognised. There were no such concerns over swimming when on holiday where you were extremely unlikely to meet anyone you knew.

A further problem for swimming was to make the activity salient to the lives of as many young women as possible. Many women did not find it relevant and did not see swimming as a way to improve health as being an attraction to take part.

The more athletic women had fewer concerns over body exposure, particularly those who swam regularly. Other young women were concerned not just about being exposed in front of men but also other women, where ‘looking good’ to women of similar type who were using the same pool, was thought to be important.

‘Chlorine’ was a much used word. It was associated as much with a ‘lack of cleanliness’ as ‘cleanliness’. Chlorine was considered to be unpleasant and to have a lasting effect on the body such as spoiling the hair and skin. Chlorine was a major barrier to swimming and discouraged some women from visiting the pool. Chlorine was also associated with the smell of a pool which was also thought to be unpleasant.

When it came to going for a swim, there was a hierarchy of decision making factors common to all young women. These were in the following order:

Cultural, such as non-swimming families, body exposure with some cultural groups;
Internal, such as self consciousness, low self-esteem, inertia, poor past experiences;
Logistical, for example, transport difficulties, time of sessions;
External, for example fear of water, size and noise in pool, convenience, carrying wet equipment, shaving body hair; and finally,
Social, for example, if one’s friends did not swim or other better past-time choices and options.

Swimming was also generally considered to be a time consuming activity and this was due to the high ‘hassle’ factor involved. Preparing the body ready to attend a swimming pool, changing, drying the body and hair were just a few of these ‘hassle’ factors.

Whereas married women with children were comfortable with young people using the pool at the same time, single young women preferred to swim at times when children were not in attendance.

Women with children considered it important that their children learnt to swim in order to be safe but were not particularly concerned to take part themselves.

Interventions and future policies

Interventionist approaches need to be sought to engage non-pool users. When women stop swimming, it is hard to re-engage them. These approaches therefore need to both breakdown the barriers identified above and be linked to other incentives that either already or are likely to engage young women.

There should be a mix of bathing provision in all pools. Many women are happy to take part in mixed bathing sessions; others prefer to have single sex sessions. Women only sessions should therefore be sensitively constructed with female lifeguards (and swimming teachers where needed) as well as being sited in areas where there are no immediate viewing areas.

Membership of some cultural groups means that young women find it difficult to take part in swimming. Body exposure can become an issue from quite an early age. Pool programming needs to account for as many of these groups as possible and communicating both the positive aspects of swimming and the ease with which it is possible to take part are becoming increasingly important. Often the women in those groups are simply not aware that there are both people from the same cultural group who do swim regularly and opportunities for them to take part.

Care and thought should be given to the wearing of lightweight tops such as t-shirts. These can lead to safety concerns as the swimmer can be dragged down by cumbersome materials and are of concern to some pool operators. This situation could be avoided by offering session times when it is possible to wear these garments. Clearly these need to be low usage times; restricted to safe parts of the pool but this type of flexibility will encourage some larger women to take part.

Personalisation of swimming is key to future success. This refers to personal swimming programmes, teachers on hand to assist and offer tips, plenty of personal space and a well thought through and appropriate timetable.

Opportunities to swim need to be maximised at a local level as women are unlikely to travel for more than 10 to 15 minutes. Pool closures and openings are important because facilities need to present appropriate opportunities at the right time of day.

In areas with large minority groups, mixed changing facilities can be a problem and should be regarded as a barrier to be addressed.

The main target area should be women who do not swim. Initially, they should be reached through just a few points of maximum influence. Friends, relatives and the like are unlikely to bring sufficient influence. Swimming has to be made salient to their lives. At first, the best routes could be via groups such as Sure Start, local Imams and temples, weight watchers and the play school network.

In general, pools should look to provide an accessible timetable of both programmed and unstructured swimming that embraces all social and cultural groups and gives everyone the opportunity to take part at an appropriate time of day given that many women in this age group will have family considerations. In short, the maxim should be, ‘making it easy’.

Main_Report.pdf

Women and sport at university

editor — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:47:08 +0000

In September 2009 WSFF delivered a workshop at the annual BUCS conference. This factsheet captures some of the key elements of the presentation and the discussion that took place.

Key links:

British Universities and Colleges Sport

Women_and_sport_at_University.pdf

Sweat in the City

editor — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:45:31 +0000

"My confidence has grown and I feel like I could fit into a place like a gym"

Case_Study_SITC.pdf

Sweat in the City (SitC) was an innovation research project to help to find out why 16- 24 year old women are half as active as men of the same age. With the help of a feminine brand, celebrity ambassadors and a chance to discover a ‘fitter and healthier you’, over 2000 young women across London were recruited and provided with a three-month free and mentored gym membership.

Overview

Sweat in the City was an innovation research project to find out why 16- 24 year old women are half as active as men of the same age.

Project detailsProject duration: 29 September 2008 - 21 December 2008

Organisation:

Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation

Project name:

Sweat in the City

AudienceAll women

Age group:

16 - 24

Innovation

Innovation SitC incorporated elements designed to specifically appeal to young women and counter-act the barriers to participation. Removing the practical barriers of cost and inconvenience was the first step. Aspirational brand and tone SitC was designed to be lively, positive and easy to identify with. The association with the iconic Sex in the City was crucial. Many gyms were over-subscribed within days. The tone used in communication was feminine, young and friendly. The women felt the programme was designed with them in mind. Social and supportive Working out in a gym can be a lonely and daunting task, but the combined effects of online networking, special group sessions and a named mentor ensured that participants felt part of a team. Advice was provided on the website for people new to the gym making no assumptions about previous knowledge or experience. A warm welcome and high quality customer care The first visit – needs to exceed expectations as just walking through the door can be a daunting experience. A useful and timely induction – often inductions can feel rushed, or assume knowledge, and core confidence can be lost. Can be the difference between coming back or not. Friendly and available staff – on reception or instructors, staff should be friendly, professional and not intimidating.

Recruitment and promotion

Recruitment and promotion All the promotion was aimed at driving 16-24 year old women to the SitC website (www.sitc.co.uk) where the women would register for the membership places. Two ambassadors were recruited, Jessica Taylor and Carly Zucker, to help promote SitC. They were both similar age to the target women, plus they live healthy and active lives, making them good role models. Through Jessica and Carly considerable media coverage was generated, both traditional and innovative. Coverage included London radio and in national and regional newspapers (e.g. The Sun, Metro and The Evening Standard), as well as within online blogs (e.g. Daily Candy). A Facebook profile was created and, there was advertising in Bebo. a media messaging company (Blik) was also employed to promote the programme through young people’s mobile phones. Leaflets were created for partners, local authorities, School Sport Co-ordinators and the leisure centres to distribute to their audiences.

Location

Local

How was your project delivered?Gym-based/ aerobics

Funding

National Lottery Community Investment Fund

Partnership

Fitness Industry Association

Results

Lessons:

Becoming – and staying – active A week after SitC finished, nine in ten participants said they intended to stay active (86%). Crucially, six months on, 72% were more active. Shaping up and improving fitness levels “I am really upping the amount I work out and the levels I do each time. Exciting stuff! I think my stomach feels flatter, and my thighs seem more toned but maybe its just an effect of being more positive about my body image” Increasing body confidence As the charts demonstrate, participant’s body image improved and their self-consciousness decreased markedly. Often women reject exercise because of body confidence – SitC proved that if provided with the encouragement to start, then being active can be an aid to confidence. Healthy choices Being active fostered other behaviours – choosing to walk to school or work or taking the stairs or even giving up smoking. Some physical benefits were a surprise to the women – increased co-ordination for example. The feel-good factor Despite motivations to join SitC being broadly physical, most participants discovered the benefits were in the mind rather than the body. Nearly nine in ten (88%) agreed that ‘SitC reminded me how good it feels to be active’. Willingness to try new things The opportunity to try new activities in SitC was useful in removing prejudices. The number of women confident about attending an aerobics class, or using machine in the gym, trebled from the beginning of the programme to the end.

Evaluation:

Lessons learnt? Ensure all leisure centre/gyms have signed up to the programme well in advance so that staff can receive adequate training prior to the women coming through the door. If the programme was to run again, oversubscribe the free spaces. If a gym offered 10 places 20 would be given away but the first 10 to take up the induction would receive the free place. Ensure better monitoring systems are put in place to capture information about attendance and retention. Monitoring and evaluation As part of the registration process, participants completed an online questionnaire to establish a benchmark for their participation behaviour, attitudes towards exercise, their bodies and confidence levels. Immediately after the programme finished the participants were emailed again and asked to complete a post programme questionnaire. They were asked the same questions as previously, as well as additional questions about how they found the programme, frequency of attendance, staff, facilities and the support they received. A further six months later they were re-contacted and asked to complete a questionnaire about their present activity levels. In addition to the quantitative data collected, three focus groups were held with a sample of participants on the programme. These focus groups enabled us to obtain a deeper understanding of the barriers that this age group face when considering activity, as well as more about their motivators and drivers.

Themes

Rebranding and revisioning sport, confidence and self esteem issues, and growing and sustaining participation

Key links:

Sweatinthecity

Fitness Industry Association

[email protected]">[email protected]

Sweat in the City: How 2000 young women discovered the positive power of exercise

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:18:14 +0000

This report details the innovative research project Sweat in the City which project provided over 2000 inactive 16 – 24 year old women a three month free and mentored gym membership and followed their journey.

The project was designed to gain a better understanding of how to motivate women to become more active. Today, 16 year-old girls leave school half as active as their male counterparts, often with a negative attitude to sport and fitness and with critically low levels of confidence. This programme set out to create a fitness experience that would appeal to this audience, change their attitude to exercise and lead to a more active and healthier way of life.

SitC was designed and delivered by a partnership between the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) and the Fitness Industry Association (FIA).

Key elements of the programme were personal mentoring and opportunities to ‘meet’ other participants through group sessions and via the SitC website. The young women were successfully recruited with the help of a feminine brand and celebrity ambassadors who fronted a tailored PR campaign. All that was asked in return was for the women to share their highs, lows, aches and pains with us through surveys, focus groups and online diaries.

The results surpassed even our highest hopes:

• Six months after completing the programme, 72% of participants are more active than they were before

• Before the programme, 63% of participants were worried about what they looked like when they exercised. This dropped to just under half

• 88% of participants agreed that ‘SitC has reminded me how good it feels to be active’

• Three-quarters of the young women now have increased confidence to go on and try new activities

“There is no way that I am giving exercise up again now, I feel so much better in myself – better mood, lots more energy etc. Even though I don’t always want to go to the gym, I know I’ll feel so much better once I’ve actually been!”

SitC_Report.pdf