#thisgirlcan
In 2015, This Girl Can launched their ground breaking campaign to celebrate, encourage and help create a real vision for women’s exercise in England:
- To tackle the gender activity gap
- To change how women feel about exercise
- Encourage women to be active in ways that work for them
Regardless of Age, Background or Ability
The first step taken by the campaign was to talk about the fear of judgement and help women realise that they were not alone in how they felt, that there were lots of others just like them.
This Girl Can ...
therefore set about launching a nationwide campaign featuring real women, not actors – on TV, in cinemas, social media, in print and on advertising billboards – the aim was to motivate women to share their experiences and empower them with the confidence to exercise on their terms that suited their aspirations, regardless of any previous experiences, good or bad. The This Girl Can website and app was launched to provide advice and help women who wanted to be more active - with women everywhere encouraged to share their stories using the #ThisGirlCan hashtag.
Our coach David Brown, got behind this campaign early on at his ACS MAGFA martial arts and fitness studio, where he backed the #ThisGirlCan campaign by encouraging women to come along and box their way to fitness and fun!
In 2017 The campaign entered a second stage “Phenomenal Women,” encouraging women, who drop in and out of exercise and sport activity, to develop regular habits thus building their confidence, resilience and enjoyment of physical exercise. The campaign was also extended to include women aged 40-60, where fear of judgement resonated just as strong, if not stronger, in some instances,with with younger women. The campaign was adapted to include these older women with slower-paced activities and this is where walking football comes into it’s own, offering a more sedate way to enjoy a sport that they women may have played in their younger days, or in our experiences, not at all.
#thisgirlcan
Everyday women with relatable bodies gave judgement the finger and got moving in ways that worked for them
#thisgirlcan
Research shows that the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have had a disproportionate impact on women.
#thisgirlcan
Enjoyment is the biggest driver in engaging people in sport and activity, that’s why together, this is a gap we need to close.
LTWFC Ladies supports #thisgirlcan and what it can bring:
- Empowerment
- Self Affirming
- Having Fun
- Feeling more confident
- Feeling Fitter
- Feeling Healthier