Women-Only Hour - Jamie Smith (Activities Officer Cambridgeshire)
I intend to bring a Women-Only Hour to Anglia Ruskin University in collaboration with Active Anglia.
As Activities Officer, for the #Let’sBeHonest campaign I wanted to focus on what I know best and ensure that students were made aware of the benefits of an active lifestyle. Breaking down barriers for woman to be able to get more involved in physical education is something I am extremely passionate about and I aim to use #ThisGirlCan as my inspiration.
This Girl Can is a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations. It’s a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.
Active Anglia ran many taster sessions during the national This Girl Can week which I attended myself and it proved to be very popular.
The women’ only hour at the gym has received initial positive feedback which has prompted the trial with a view to integrate the sessions to a more permanent fixture should they prove popular.
I strongly believe that allowing students equal opportunity to access facilities would make a huge difference and create an inclusive, accessible and positive gym experience.
“We will proactively support students to thrive in an inclusive and welcoming environment in all aspects of their life, including wellbeing and mental health.” (Goal 4, ARU Students’ Union Goals 16-19)
UPDATE
After a successful 6 week session I am now creating a report with all the feedback I collected. The sessions saw a numbers triple with key themes of comfort and confidence showing as key indicators for why a session like this is so needed.
The session has also developed a high interest from our liberation reps to consider the inclusivity of our facilities and services and has created the potential for campaigns involving sport which is fantastic!
Keep your eyes peeled for the report which will be out really soon!
Jamie