£210,000 Lottery boost for East Durham Belles
Over a thousand women from Peterlee, Seaham, Blackhall and Wheatley Hill in east County Durham will have the chance to enjoy and play more sport after Sport England awarded nearly £210,000 to East Durham Belles.
It's one of 20 projects backed as part of Sport England's £10 million Active Women campaign to tackle the gender gap in sport. It aims to encourage women with children and those from disadvantaged communities to play more sport as part of the drive to deliver a mass participation legacy from London 2012.
Figures published by Sport England in December revealed the size of the gender gap in sport. At present, one in eight (2.761 million) women regularly play sport in England. Whilst this has increased significantly in the past five years, it still trails behind men's participation, with one in five (4.176 million) taking part. Women from disadvantaged communities play even less sport, with less than one in 10 women taking part.
Reaching 1,500 women over a three year period, East Durham Belles will encourage women to become physically active and take part in challenges in a number of sports including swimming, rowing, athletics, cycling and triathlon. Four Hubs will be developed across east Durham in Peterlee, Seaham, Blackhall and Wheatley Hill where a series of fun challenges such as 5k runs, Coast 2 Coast Cycle Challenges and Try-a-Tri will be introduced to encourage, motivate and inspire women to participate.
Aimed at increasing the confidence of local women, the project will also provide crèche and transport facilities - a barrier that can prevent women from playing sport.
The investment will further be used to increase the number of female cycling and running coaches/leaders. To help more women play sport, 'real' local women will be used as role models to show that anyone can take part and will develop friendship and social groups to encourage women to give each other support. The project will also train volunteers as coaches and mentors to inspire other women to take part.
East Durham Belleswill be coordinated by Wingate and Station Town Family Centre, a registered charity which works to support the local community. Project co-ordinator, Steph Masterman said:
"This is a fantastic opportunity to get more women involved in fitness and sport. We will be working closely with participants, hub clubs and partners to make the activities fun and accessible. Hub Clubs will provide local, easy-to-reach activities - transport and crèche facilities will be offered for activities further afield. Activities will run flexibly with sessions during the day, evenings and weekends.'
Jennie Price, Sport England Chief Executive, said: "For many women with children or those managing a tight budget, sport - and time to themselves - can slip down the list of priorities. The projects we're funding today have asked local women what is preventing them from getting involved and what sports interest them, before coming up with an offer that is appealing and accessible."
Today's announcement was welcomed by the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP and Gail Emms - one of Britain's greatest ever badminton players, who won World Championship Gold and Olympic Silver medals.
Hugh Robertson said:
"We have many fantastic female athletes in this country, but not enough women participating at sport's grassroots. More needs to be done to encourage women to participate in sport, particularly those from disadvantaged communities. The £10 million being invested by Sport England will give women the chance to try out new sports as part of a dedicated programme and hopefully keep them in sport in the future."
Gail Emms, who became a mum nine months ago with the arrival of Harry, said:
"As a new mum, I know only too well how difficult it can be to make time for yourself and to get out there and play sport. The projects receiving investment from Sport England today will make a big difference because they've really thought through the challenges women face in becoming regular sports participants."
East Durham Belles will be delivered in partnership with several national governing bodies of sport, the Community Sport Network, County Durham & Darlington Community Health Services, Durham County Council and East Durham Trust's Mentorship Programme.
East Durham Belles will build upon two previously successful projects to attract more women into sport and physical activity - Women On Wheels (WOW), a cycling group who have participated in long distance challenges; and Wingate Striders, a popular local running group.
The Wingate and Station Family Centre developed from a community-led project established in 1999. The centre works alongside public and private providers to strengthen the range and quality of services available to families in the local area.
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