Women in Sport

Sport can transform girls’ lives💫

Our Big Sister project provides teenage girls with subsidised gym memberships, access to girls-only sessions and tailored advice to help them navigate sport during puberty.

Girls who take part report feeling happier, more resilient, and more confident to try new things - Big Sister isn't just helping them love sport, it’s helping them love themselves💜

Big Sister is already operating nationally in Places Leisure centres supporting more than 7,800 girls, but we’re looking to reach even more people across the UK.

Can you help us achieve this?

Donate to our charity today to support our vital work. By becoming a monthly giver, you can help us continue to drive positive lasting change for all women and girls in sport.

Donate now – every pound makes a difference: https://womeninsport.org/take-action/donate/

📊 Sources: Girlguiding (2024), NHS (2023)

British equestrian Ros Canter made history this weekend as the first person to win the Badminton Horse Trials three times with the same horse🏇

Ros was competing just 16 weeks after giving birth to her second child, and even won last year's Burghley Horse Trials while pregnant - a remarkable display of strength and resilience showing that with the right support motherhood and elite sport performance can go hand-in-hand.

Her horse, Lordships Graffalo, is now the most decorated horse in eventing history.

Speaking after her win, Ros said: "It’s hard to put into words how I feel right now, but when it sinks in it will be incredible."

She added: "I can't thank everybody enough for all they put in to help me because it takes an army to do this.

"I feel incredibly lucky to be able to juggle both jobs. To be an event rider, it's a real family sport and we're very privileged to be able to do both at the same time."

Congratulations Ros🥳

Up for a challenge to support women and girls in sport?

We have limited spots available for the Brighton Marathon on 4th April 2027!

Enter now at a discounted charity price and help us to raise vital funds to help us continue our research, campaigning and programmes for girls🏃‍♀️

Register now: https://runforcharity.com/charity-registration/women-in-sport/the-brighton-marathon/women-in-sport-the-brighton-marathon-second-reg-1

Join our team!👋

We're hiring a Fundraising and Engagement Officer to help our small but mighty team grow our income from individual and corporate supporters.

If you want to be part of the movement making sport, and society, fairer for women and girls, this could be the perfect fit for you.

💸 £32,000 per year
📅 Permanent, 35 hours per week
📌 London Bridge
⌛ Closing Sunday 31st May

Find out more and apply: https://www.networxrecruitment.com/Jobs/Advert/4184584?cid=1973&s=True&t=Fundraising-and-Engagement-Officer

A recent study by BBC Radio 4 interviewed 150 teenage girls aged between 13 and 17 about their dreams, inspirations and how they define themselves.

One of the main findings was that girls often tend to see themselves through the lens of boys...

“Growing up as a girl, so much of that is about how boys are behaving around you and what they’re doing to you” said one girl.

“The reason boys go after girls a lot is because they want someone to blame for their problems” said another.

Misogyny seeps into every corner of society, including sport.

That’s why we’re currently scoping our next project on how men and boys view women and girls in sport.

Because if we truly want to tackle misogyny at its root, we need evidence, insight and action; we need everyone on board.

If you’d like to support this project, and our other vital work for women and girls, you can make a donation to our charity today.

Because girls won’t be equal in society until they’re equal in sport📢

Donate now: https://womeninsport.org/take-action/donate/

The Government has recently announced plans to legally ban smartphones in school in England📱

This move will make current guidance statutory, and sets out that schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default.

These rules apply throughout the whole school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtimes.

We welcome this move, not only for the mental health and education benefits it will bring, but also for the space it will hopefully free up for children, and girls in particular, to be outside and being active.

If you want to know more about what we think of issues like this and find out ways to get involved with our campaigning, sign up to our newsletter today.

✍️ Sign up: https://womeninsport.org/explore-the-issues/sign-up-to-our-newsletter/

In July, a community of hundreds of women, allies and advocates from around the world will descend on Birmingham to drive change for women’s sport globally.

Leaders of sports, of NGOs, of Olympic federations, individual changemakers, campaigners and financial supporters of women’s sport will convene to mark the International Working Group on Women and Sport’s Global Summit.

The IWG Women & Sport came into being in 1994, when almost 300 delegates from over 80 countries endorsed the Brighton Declaration, its founding document.

Since then, the IWG has sought to increase the number of women and girls involved in sport, at all levels, in all roles, in all countries, and is the largest global movement seeking to do so.

Will we see you there?

📅 9th - 11th July 2026

📍 Birmingham, UK

🎟️ Get your tickets now: https://iwgglobalsummit2026.org/

“It shouldn’t be something that’s stopping young girls from playing sports”🩸

Loughborough Lightning netballer Nat Panagarry has spoken out about the need for more open conversations around periods in sport.

Nat, who has shared her own experiences of having a heavy period as an elite athlete, says sports must do better to support girls to continue playing.

Our research shows that 7 in 10 girls avoid sport on their periods, and this is true even of the girls who identify most as ‘sporty’.

Periods are not an excuse. They’re a real barrier that can cause even the most engaged girls to drop away.

For the last 40 years, our charity has been fighting against these barriers, from influencing the PE curriculum to providing free and discounted gym memberships to teenage girls across England.

If you want to know more about our work with teenage girls, and hear the remarkable story of how women’s sport shot into the mainstream, you can pick up a copy of our book ‘The Last Bastion’ on Amazon today: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Bastion-History-Women-1984-2024/dp/1918191417

The 2026 World Happiness Report, produced by Oxford University and the UN, has found that wellbeing among under-25s is declining across English-speaking countries.

This trend is most pronounced amongst girls and heavy social media use has been associated with lower life satisfaction.

Why does this matter to us?

Put simply, when kids are stuck inside on their phones, they’re not outside doing sport and exercise.

This not only impacts their physical health but can have a devastating impact on mental health and wellbeing, as this new research shows.

We need an intervention.

That's why we want to see more support and investment in projects that get women and girls moving and finding joy in sport

That includes our Big Sister initiative, which provides teenage girls with free and discounted gym memberships and access to girls-only sessions.

To learn more about Big Sister and our other projects, sign up to our newsletter today: https://womeninsport.org/explore-the-issues/sign-up-to-our-newsletter/

Limited charity spots up for grabs!⌛

We have 5 spots at the 2027 Manchester Marathon exclusively for Women in Sport supporters.

General admission is now totally sold out so the only way to run is through a charity spot!

And don't wait too long - the first person to sign up with one of our places will get in at half price🤩

Join today and help us change the game for women and girls in sport, and in society.

Register now: https://runforcharity.com/charity-registration/women-in-sport/manchester-marathon/women-in-sport-manchester-marathon-second-reg-3