I Will If You Will to continue in Bury

A project that has got more than 6,500 women and girls across Bury moving is set to continue thanks to £2 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England. 

Piloted in Bury since September 2013, the first phase of I Will If You Will has tested what helps create a shift in attitude towards sport and physical activity, and what encourages more women and girls to be more active, more often.

Delivered by Bury Council with support from local sports providers, community groups, businesses and volunteer champions, the innovative behavioural change pilot has so far delivered nearly 25,000 activity sessions and awarded almost £35,000 of funding to local groups.  Activities from aqua aerobics, belrobics and piloxing, to jog groups, swimming, netball and Zumba have been offered to women throughout Bury at venues across the borough. 

The latest phase of I Will If You Will comes as Sport England goes live with the new national campaign, This Girl Can, to tackle head on the barriers that stop millions of women from being more active.

Developed in part as a result of the insight gathered from I Will If You Will, the This Girl Can national campaign is the first of its kind to feature women of all shapes, sizes and sporting abilities who sweat and jiggle as they exercise. With I Will If You Will continuing, Bury is well placed to meet the demand that the campaign will create.

Sport England Director of Sport, Phil Smith, said: “We are really pleased to be working with Bury Council to extend and expand ‘I Will If You Will’. Great results have been achieved so far and there are strong plans for the next two years.

“I Will if You Will has already had a major impact locally and the lessons learned so far have allowed us to better understand how women and girls take part in sport. It’s also helped shape our new national ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. With two million more men than women playing regular sport, I Will If You Will can help us close the gender gap.”

The second phase of I Will If You Will has been in the planning for the last three months, taking on board the feedback gathered via a comprehensive consultation exercise with participants, local sports providers and the general community.

Going forward, the programme will see a Council-wide approach, bringing together a range of departments, services and agencies to find the best way to bring about the change required to get more women and girls being more active, more often. The long term goals are to change the culture within Bury to make sport and physical activity the social norm, and contribute to improving health and wellbeing of local residents.

Councillor Jane Lewis, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture said: “When Bury was chosen to pilot the phase one programme we were overjoyed.  Over the last 18 months Bury women and girls have really got on board with I Will if You Will and it’s great to see they’re really feeling the benefits. 

“We’ve gathered some great stories from some really inspirational ladies, who’ve managed to take that first step, break down the barriers and realise a more active lifestyle.  We’ve been blown away by the journey some of our local ladies have embarked on and what they’ve managed to achieve. 

“Continuing the programme for another two years is massively important.  It gives us a fantastic opportunity to build on what has already been achieved and carry on working towards a borough where being regularly active is the norm and second nature for Bury women and girls.  A fitter, happier, healthier population is what we want to achieve.”

The vision for phase two of I Will If You Will is ‘To increase women and girls participation in sport and physical activity and act as a lever for change, bringing benefits to women and girls, their families and the wider community’. To achieve this, the second phase will:

  Provide tools and support to help women and girls overcome their own barriers and make a meaningful commitment to being active, including encouraging and helping them to get their friends and family involved.

  Make women and girls aware of what is available for them locally and provide a high quality experience when taking part.

  Celebrate achievement and reward women for their effort so the programme is owned and driven by the local community.

  Provide funding via a community small grant fund for local organisations to organise their own activity in support of I Will If You Will.

To find out more about how I Will If You Will is helping local women and girls in Bury get more active visit www.iwillifyouwill.co.uk. 

The Minister for Sport, Helen Grant, said: “I am delighted that following a hugely successful pilot in Bury, I Will If You Will is set to continue. It’s clear that there is demand for projects such as these, offering women and girls opportunities to get involved in sport and physical activity in ways that appeal to them. Combine this with the buzz that is currently surrounding Sport England’s new This Girl Can campaign, I am confident that we will encourage more women to get out there and be active.”

As well as phase two of the programme, all the lessons learnt from phase one of I Will If You Will are currently being collated into a guide that will be available for other councils and organisations to use when setting up a programme to help get more women and girls take part in sport and physical activity.

The I Will If You Will programme will also continue to be closely aligned with the new This Girl Can campaign. This Girl Can is seeking to break down the barriers that stop women and girls playing sport and being physically active – fear of judgement – while I Will You If You Will is testing the different ways of delivering sport and physical activity at a local level once they have overcome these barriers.

To find out more about This Girl Can, visit www.thisgirlcan.co.uk

ENDS

Issued: 14 January 2015.

Notes to Editors:

Piloxing

Piloxing is a blend of Pilates and boxing, cleverly combined for a low impact, but high intensity work-out.

Belrobics

A class combining belly dancing with a fitness workout with the option to wear a jingly-jangly belt.