Hopscotch is teaming up with Women in Sport to develop its new ‘Big Sister’ initiative
We’re excited to be working on a new project with Women in Sport, and their consortium partners; Places Foundations, Places Leisure and Hey Girls, to encourage teenage girls to re-engage with physical activity. At Hopscotch, this is a topic we’ve been committed to through our work with Sport England on Studio You and we’re looking forward to exploring a new way to support girls in getting active through creating an inclusive, positive and encouraging space for them.
With new research* published this week by Women in Sport finding that over 1 million girls in the UK lose interest in sports as teenagers, it’s clear that more support is needed to ensure girls are not only engaging with but enjoying physical activity.
We are incredibly excited to be working on a brand-new initiative with Women in Sport to help support girls aged 9-15 years living in high deprivation to engage in sport and exercise within their communities. The ‘Big Sister’ project aims break down the barriers that teenage girls face through puberty that prevent them from leading healthy, happy and active lives. A supportive network of ‘Big Sisters’ will be recruited, to be advocates and role models to support peers, whilst educating school and community leaders and organisations on the emotional and physical barriers girls face, helping to build confidence, self-belief and positive body image.
Through its vast range of research, Women in Sport has identified a range of key challenges to girls accessing opportunities to be physically active, from affordability, and lack of body confidence, to reducing period poverty and the taboo around periods, and worry about safety and harassment. The girls taking part in the programme will have access to resources specifically designed to tackle these barriers which includes girl-focused exercise sessions, gym membership, reusable period products and a range of digital resources to help them feel more confident about taking part in sport.
Hopscotch will be working on bringing this project to life through developing a brand identity, digital hub and suite of resources and videos. This project has a commitment to putting girls front and centre and will be co-created with teenage girls throughout. When developing the resources, we will turn their insight into creative outputs that are truly informed by those who will use it, creating an inclusive visual identity that is representative of young people today.
Through our work with Sport England in creating Studio You, an online PE lesson platform, we know just how important it is for girls to be able to access inclusive, confidence-boosting and fun opportunities to engage with their physical activity. We can’t wait to see the impact this programme has for teenage girls and are proud to be a part of another social impact programme that is committed to supporting girls and tackling the barriers they face that prevent them from engaging with physical activity.
* Women In Sport (2021) Reframing sport for teenage girls: Tackling teenage disengagement
ABOUT WOMEN IN SPORT:
Women in Sport was founded in 1984 and its vision is that no-one is excluded from the joy, fulfilment and lifelong benefits of sport and exercise. Recognising that gender stereotypes and institutional bias are holding women back in life and in sport, the charity’s purpose is to give every woman and girl the opportunity to take part and inspire her to do so.
The charity has a track record of success in securing change based on its deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of women and girls at each life stage and its determination to break down stubborn gender inequalities through its work within the sports sector and beyond.