Cumbrian Women Star in New #ThisGirlCan Films
July 19, 2019
Active Cumbria are part of the steering group that have been shaping the Cumbrian Girls Can project for nearly two years now. Today we celebrated the release of the new inspiring films featuring real cumbrian women at a summit with Kate Dale, the national This Girl Can Campaign lead.
The empowering films are for Cumbrian women who are thinking about how they can be active, but haven’t yet made that first step. Todays summit was to discuss how to make the most of the films and learning from the initiative so far.
Cumbrian Girls Can is a community led initiative to support, encourage and inspire more women in Cumbria to be active by amplifying the national 'This Girl Can' campaign in Cumbria.
The Cumbrian Girls Can project has been facilitated by a partnership hosted by Cumbrian Rugby Union, and includes Active Cumbria, Allerdale Borough Council, Lake District National Park Authority and LynchPin Support with funding from Sellafield Ltd, through Cumbria Community Foundation.
Katie Harper said “This event was about sharing what we have learnt from women across Cumbria, celebrating the launch of these films with an opportunity to network and building further inertia to empower more women to find activity that suits them.”
The idea of creating these films was developed based on understanding gained from listening to women and girls about what was stopping them from being active, from ideas generated through community workshops and a celebration of active women in Cumbria in December 2018.
Richard Johnston, Operations Manager from Active Cumbria said:
“Almost a quarter of women in Cumbria are not getting the health and well-being benefits that being active brings. Active women can often act as fantastic role models for others in their communities. These films are dual purpose, they may inspire women to start or get back into being active, but they are also intended to share what we have learnt during this programme with anyone wanting to support women to become more active.”
Kate Dale, national This Girl Can Campaign lead for Sport England said:
“I'm really excited to come back home and celebrate the success of Cumbrian Girls Can. The work they're doing to tackle the fear of judgement that can stop so many women and girls taking part in physical activity is fantastic. Women like us need real, relatable role models in our local community to show us what we can do; and we need welcoming, fun, social opportunities to be active to encourage us to take part. Cumbrian Girls Can are working hard to make this happen - and a as Carlisle girl myself, I couldn't be prouder of what they're achieving.”
Pictured: Multicultural Cumbria - This Girl Can project - Dance Carousel