Norwich Union GirlsActive
What is GirlsActive?
An initiative designed to empower teenage girls to enjoy more sporting activity on their own terms.
Research consistently indicates that teenage girls are less active than boys of the same age and are more likely to become disengaged and drop out of sport in their early teens.
Dame Kelly Holmes in her role as The National School Sport Champion, backed by the government and supported by the Youth Sport Trust & Norwich Union, embarked on the GirlsActive initiative to address the issues.
In November 2006, a series of workshops were held across the country, engaging young girls and teachers in discussions about the barriers to girls getting into sport and how to increase participation levels.
Following previous research which revealed that 40% of girls drop out of all sporting activity by the age of 18, the GirlsActive workshops identified that over 85% of participating girls rated the environment for their PE
lessons, the range of activities on offer and their PE kit as average or poor.
When asked what they believed would get more girls active, the girls almost exclusively suggested the need for alternative forms of physical activity, such as streetdance, boxercise and trampolining.
Tackling the barriers to girls doing sport
As a result of the workshops, Dame Kelly Holmes tasked the girls and their teachers to develop ‘Action Plans’, demonstrating how they will look to tackle the issue of girls’ disengagement with sport in their school.
Out of the 75 school sport partnerships that attended the workshops, three have been selected to have Dame Kelly visit their school, and see for herself how they are implementing their ideas for change.
As part of the ongoing GirlsActive programme, Dame Kelly Holmes is heading roadshows and getting involved in dance festivals, changing room makeovers, question and answer sessions and more.
Visit the Norwich Union GirlsActive dedicated pages on Dame Kelly’s ‘On Camp with Kelly’ website:
Click here to watch GirsActive video
Click here for GirlsActive roadshows
Click here for GirlsActive news
Click here for GirlsActive gallery