Bollywood signs the way for Bury East women and girls

I Will If You Will (IWIYW) – the Bury-based female fitness movement delivered by Bury Council with National Lottery funding from Sport England – brought Bollywood to Bury as part of its work with the Bury East community.

The Bollywood evening, held at Bury Town Hall’s Elizabethan Suite, saw more than 110 local women and girls treated to a night of Bollywood dancing, henna and nail art, while informing the IWIYW team about activities they would like to see in Bury.

The event was the brainchild of the IWIYW Bury East Locality Network, a group where members of the community are invited to discuss ideas and initiatives that will help local women and girls get active.

Lucy Hodson, IWIYW Locality Officer for Bury East, said: “We wanted to find out why we have fewer girls aged 14 to 25 being active in Bury East. Hosting our Bollywood evening was the perfect opportunity for girls to come along, some with their families, and talk to us about what would help them to become more active in their local area.

“Events like this are what IWIYW is all about – we want local communities to take IWIYW on board and implement its ethos on a local level. I would urge anyone with a vested interest in where they live to come along to our Locality Network meetings and have their say.”

IWIYW runs six Locality Network groups, one for each Bury township. To find out more about upcoming meetings and how to get involved, please contact:

• Lucy Hodson (Bury East and Bury North) – 0161 253 6661 / l.hodson@bury.gov.uk

• Sean Gibson (Whitefield, Unsworth and Prestwich) – 0161 253 6642/ s.gibson@bury.gov.uk

• Tom Gleaves (Radcliffe and Bury West) – 0161 253 6664 / t.gleaves@bury.gov.uk

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ENDS

Press release issued: 9 December 2015.

Picture: At the Bollywood event are (left) Lucy Hodson, I Will if You Will locality officer, with Councillor Shaheena Haroon.

Note to editors:

About I Will If You Will

I Will If You Will is focused on changing women’s and girls’ behaviours towards taking part in sport and physical activity with the aim of getting more women and girls being more active, more often, and helping improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bury.

It aims to overcome the many practical and emotional barriers to being active, while encouraging women to support each other by joining the I Will If You Will community.

The Phase One campaign (2013–14) was delivered by Bury Council with £2.3 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England. For the Phase Two campaign (2015–16), Sport England has allocated a further £2 million to extend delivery.

The successful IWIYW pilot campaign identified valuable insight and helped develop the foundations for Sport England’s national This Girl Can campaign, which launched in January 2015, as well as Sport England’s practical guide to helping women and girls get active (www.sportengland.org/womenandgirls).