WORCS GIRLS CAN C A M P A I G N R E P O R T M A R C H 2 0 1 9 About Worcs Girls Can W H A T I S T H E 'Worcs Girls Can' is a localised version of C A M P A I G N ? the national 'This Girl Can' campaign and is designed to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size or ability. Working with schools, leisure providers and sporting organisations across Worcestershire, the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire delivered an energetic, vibrant and engaging campaign, addressing mental health and changing the perception of sport and physical activity among females. 0 1 Project Description Worcs Girls Can is a vibrant In 2019 we worked with 8 lead celebration of active schools across Worcestershire females. The campaign to help us engage even more directly tackles the fear of girls in sport and physical judgement that, according to activity: research, stops so many -North Bromsgrove High School women and girls from - The Chantry School participating in sport and - Trinity High School physical activity. - Tudor Grange Academy Worcester - Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College - The De Montford School - Bowbrook House School - The Bewdley School What we did The campaign was launched through female-only assemblies for years 7-11, raising awareness of the issues surrounding girls' PE, insight around female participation as well as the association between physical activity and positive mental health. In January we hosted a TGC conference, inviting student champions and PE leads involved in the campaign. This gave students a taster of the campaign, encouraged them as leaders, as well as explored issues surrounding female participation in their school. Lead and support schools were invited to a Worcestershire Touch Rugby tournament, hosted by the Worcester Warriors, to begin the campaign week, before non-traditional mass-participation sessions took place in each of their schools. Activities included: zumba, clubbercise, shabam, yoga, dance, self-defence, bounce and body combat. Leisure providers and sporting organisations also supported the campaign, offering free access to their activities through the 'Peach Pass' scheme. Across Worcestershire, we engaged over 6,100 women and girls in the campaign. 0 2 Our Campaign Aims A C C O R D I N G T O S P O R T E N G L A N D O N L Y 3 1 . 6 % O F W O M E N P L A Y S P O R T A T L E A S T O N C E A W E E K C O M P A R E D T O 4 1 . 7 % O F M E N . N A T I O N A L L Y , 1 3 M I L L I O N W O M E N A N D G I R L S S A I D T H E Y W A N T E D T O P L A Y M O R E S P O R T , O F W H O M , N E A R L Y H A L F A R E C U R R E N T L Y I N A C T I V E . - Gain an understanding of females' motivations and barriers for physical activity participation - Change the perception of sport and physical activity among females and schools - Increase awareness of the national 'This Girl Can' campaign messaging - Facilitate the discovery and improve the accessibility of physical activity opportunities across Worcestershire - Promote positive mental health through association with physical activity - Enable and promote positive experiences of sport and physical activity 0 3 ACTIVITY 26 % LEVELS Active 26% of girls in Worcestershire are meeting the CMO guidelines for physical activity. 80% of females in the 80 % area are not meeting this recommendation, however, 49% of Inactive/Fairly females have increased their activity Acitve levels since 2018. 75 50 25 0 y n it d it d d e h u f o t o o c lt f t o a o o n a 's e g g e e It g l r m d h e te k y fi to e t o n e t f e lo m o b n b h c o a e t to it t m e t w y t w s g n m n I e a s a k to lp ild w a t w e u I n I H B M a I w Many of our females were motivated to Our insight suggests that participate in Worcs Girls Can to try different kit and more time to something new, or because their friends change after lessons may were taking part. One of the campaign encourage girls to participate highlights was the variety of activity on in PE and extra-curricular offer. Teachers also agreed that they would activity. like to include more varied activities in their PE offer. 0 4 Barriers to Participation T H E R E A R E A N U M B E R O F R E A S O N S T H A T P R E V E N T G I R L S F R O M P A R T I C I P A T I N G I N S P O R T A N D P H Y S I C A L A C T I V I T Y , F R O M T H E F E A R O F J U D G E M E N T T O N O T W A N T I N G T O P A R T I C I P A T E W I T H O U T F R I E N D S . 60 40 20 0 t s it h e h n u g g g e io o u a u m c d o o e s s n im n g n d e y e d o n d d d ju -c ie o o e f lf fr o b t o e y g t a r s u iv a o m 'm o t e o f I b o F T o e a m e ik s t n l l u o o e io N N e c f s 't n n o o C I d Among active, fairly active and inactive audiences, fear of judgement was the greatest barrier to sport and physical activity (51%), aligning with national insight. However, 23% of students reported that the best element of Worcs Girls Can was the non-judgemental environment. Females reported that they would enjoy PE more if they could participate with their friends rather than their class and if there was a greater variety of activities. 0 5 Making a Difference through Worcs Girls Can Before participating in Worcs Girls Can, girls rated their feelings towards sport and physical 4 activity. As a result of the campaign, girls reported an increase in positivity towards 3 physical activity and sport. Following the campaign, girls were asked 2 whether they felt more confident about taking part in sport and physical activity. Girls 1 reported a large increase in confidence as a result of the campaign and said they wanted to 0 start taking part more often. 53% of females taking part in Worcs Girls Can reported an increased awareness of local physical activity opportunities. 67% of females reported a greater awareness for the contribution that physical activity can make to positive mental health. 0 6 Recommendations W E A S K E D G I R L S W H A T W O U L D H E L P T H E M T O E N J O Y P E M O R E Doing it with friends More varied activities Different kit More time to change Less outdoor activities Girls-only classes Fitness focus rather than sport More information around healthy lifestyle 0 10 20 30 40 50 I n s i g h t g a t h e r e d f r o m W o r c e s t e r s h i r e s u g g e s t s t h a t m o r e v a r i e d a c t i v i t i e s a n d d i f f e r e n t k i t m a y e n c o u r a g e g i r l s t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n P E a n d e x t r a - c u r r i c u l a r a c t i v i t y . For inactive audiences, the most common response was participating with friends rather than their classmates. Some schools have introduced the idea of 'active breaks'. This allows girls to participate in sport and physical activity during lunchbreaks in an informal, female-only environment, without needing to change in to PE kit. 0 7 @WorcsGirlsCan.