Inspiring Women in Sport and Recreation

In her latest blog, our CEO, Emma Boggis, talks about the upcoming Inspiring Women campaign and the role that the Alliance and our members can play in making it a success.

I have said before that I was delighted not to be the first female Chief Executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance – not that I would have necessarily minded - but rather because I hope it demonstrates that women have played an important part in the leadership of the organisation and its predecessors with Phyllis Colson being the founding leader back in 1935.

If I look around our membership and key stakeholders it is also good to see many other women in leadership roles even if many of our Boards need to continue to work to be better representative of a population which is now majority female.

Of course it isn’t just at the more senior level that women excel in our sector – there are women doing a diverse range of jobs including officials, coaches, HR officers, physios, communication specialists and accountants to name just a few.

I feel privileged to work in a sector I care about and enjoy but do feel that that opportunity brings with it a degree of responsibility to encourage and inspire the next generation of girls and young women to find a career in something they too might love. So with that in mind I was pleased to hear about and sign up to support the Inspiring Women campaign.

The Inspiring Women campaign is co-ordinated by educational charity Education and Employers. The campaign aims to bring about a significant culture change - that young women, whatever school they attend, whatever their background, get the chance to meet women from all backgrounds and gain first-hand insights into different jobs and the routes into them. The aim is to get 15,000 women to pledge an hour a year to go into a school or college near to where they live or work and talk with 250,000 young women about their career and experiences in life.

The Sport and Recreation Alliance is supporting the Inspiring Women campaign by asking all our members to encourage the women in their workforces to pledge one hour a year to go to a local school and chat to girls about what it is like to work in sector. One key part of the campaign is to show the breadth and depth of opportunities in Sport and Recreation so this means women working in all types of activity doing all kinds of jobs.

During the week 23 February – 1 March 2015 the campaign is planning action focusing on our sector, with events up and down the country bringing together women working today in sport and recreation with the next generation of girls and young women. The aim is to broaden awareness amongst girls of the range of jobs in sport; identify female role models; and shine a spotlight on all that is possible.

Many of our members have already given their backing to the campaign but it is I hope something lots of you will want to support. Miriam González Durántez is championing the campaign which is also supported by Clare Balding and Helen Grant MP, Minister for Sport, among others.

Please consider how you can promote the campaign in your organisation and through your own membership, encouraging women to sign up to give an hour of their time at www.inspiringwomencampaign.org.uk and although the focus of this article is about women in sports and recreation you will see the campaign is seeking to attract people from a whole range of other sectors – so please promote far and wide amongst women you know.

If you are interested in taking part in an event during the Inspiring Women in Sport week please contact us at the alliance info@sportandrecreation.org.uk and for more information about the campaign please contact gabriella.oakley@educationandemployers.org.

 Read more from Emma

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