Girls Encouraged To Get Active in Wandsworth


Local initiative is bridging the gender gap in physical activity


Some of the participants in the Girls Active event

With secondary-age girls more likely to experience barriers to participation than boys, their activity is at an all-time low. Local leisure services provider Enbale is aiming to help address this issue through Girls Active, our initiative, supported by The Wimbledon Foundation and delivered in partnership with Wandsworth Council, which aims to halt the drop off rate and keep Wandsworth girls active. Girls Active Day, part of a long term initiative that was due to be completed in 2020 but was halted over the last two years due to Covid-19, is Enable’s way of supporting inactive or disengaged girls in secondary school to find a sport or activity that inspires them and importantly, keeps them engaged.

Research shows that nationally, teen girls lose interest in sport and physical activity over time and that by age 7, girls are already less active than boys. This disparity only widens as they move from childhood into teenage years. The biggest drop-off occurs during the transition from primary to secondary school, with disruption to friendship groups and declining body confidence affecting girls’ participation in PE and sport.*

Initially, when the project began approximately five years ago the it saw funding received from the Wimbledon Foundation to deliver pursuits and the necessary equipment for activities that are not typical of traditional P.E ; like yoga and boxing, as well as support to engage local pupils in its Girls Active days over these years. Schools previously joining include Southfields, Burntwood, Ark Putney and Graveney schools.

This year, back after the lockdown period, at the recent event, Enable welcomed 40 girls from across years 7-10 at Southfields Academy. The day saw Yoga classes provided by Live Karma Yoga, Boxing by Carneys Community and Cheerleading provided by Aaliyah Oliver- Facilities and Community Development officer at Enable.

Here’s what some of the participants had to say;

‘I really enjoyed the boxing session, I haven’t done boxing before and had a good time’

‘The cheerleading was really fun it was different, I liked doing the different lifts and balances’

Harry Gethins, Schools Coaching Coordinator at Enable said, ‘There were a really good variety of different activities not usually accessed. All of the girls were engaged and enjoyed the chance to try out a different sport. The day was very inclusive, refreshing and different to what would usually happen in a school setting.’

“At Enable we are continuing to seek funding and support to continue this important work with girls in our community to build on our success in this area. There is more work to do on bridging the gap between active and inactive children.”

 

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.


May 6, 2022