Doorstep sport to create 30,000 active women

Exercise Movement and Dance Partnership (EMDP), together with the Pro-Active London Dare2Dance Project (D2D), have been selected as delivery partners in a new national project that will get 30,000 women playing ‘doorstep sport’. Active Women has been unveiled by Sport England which is investing £2.295 million of National Lottery funding into the initiative.

Exercise Movement and Dance Partnership (EMDP), together with the Pro-Active London Dare2Dance Project (D2D), have been selected as delivery partners in a new national project that will get 30,000 women playing ‘doorstep sport’. Active Women has been unveiled by Sport England which is investing £2.295 million of National Lottery funding into the initiative.

Active Women, which will be delivered in 47 of the most disadvantaged areas in England including Hastings, Wigan and Bristol, will offer 16- to 25-year-old women innovative and engaging ways to participate in sport. It will also see over 200 events and festivals organised, 1700 new coaches and volunteers recruited and 1260 qualifications gained by those taking part.

EMDP is one of 62 organisations delivering the project, which is being led by multi-award winning sports development charity StreetGames.

EMDP and D2D will support the project by using Street Dance to engage girls and young women in 12 London boroughs by offering opportunities for ongoing participation, leadership and training.  

Daran Bennett, EMDP Chief Executive said:

“This is a fantastic news for the Exercise Movement & Dance Partnership, which is wholly committed to getting more people enjoying good health and wellbeing through exercise, movement and dance. The street dance activity will allow thousands of girls and young women the opportunity to experience and train with high quality instructors, as well as compete and gain qualifications."

Active Women is one of 20 projects being funded by Sport England to boost women’s participation in sport, especially those who care for children or who live in disadvantaged communities because they face some of the biggest barriers to participation. Just one in 10 women living in disadvantaged areas regularly play sport.

Jane Ashworth, Chief Executive of StreetGames, said:

“This groundbreaking project is one of the biggest mobilisations of women in sport ever. It will see the expertise and experience of a vast range of organisations pooled together to establish new interventions, new training packages and new ways of thinking that will grow and sustain participation in sport by young women from areas of significant disadvantage. The project will play a significant role in ensuring a legacy for women's sport well beyond the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The targeted investment will support more women from disadvantaged communities - and women caring for children – to play sport as part of the drive to deliver a mass participation legacy from London 2012.

Hugh Robertson, the Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said:

“We have many fantastic female athletes in this country, but not enough women participating at sport’s grassroots. More needs to be done to encourage women to participate in sport, particularly those from disadvantaged communities. The £10 million being invested by Sport England will give women the chance to try out new sports as part of a dedicated programme and hopefully keep them in sport in the future.”

Jennie Price, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said:

“For many women with children or those managing a tight budget, sport – and time to themselves - can slip down the list of priorities. The projects we’re funding have asked local women what is preventing them from getting involved and what sports interest them, before coming up with an offer that is appealing and accessible.”


ENDS
Notes to Editors
About Active Women
Active Women will be delivered in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in areas including: London – 18 boroughs; Hastings, Wigan, Manchester, Chorley, Newcastle upon Tyne, Liverpool, North Solihull, Isle of Wight, Bristol, Derby,  Milton Keynes, Walsall,  Penzance, Leicester, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield.
About EMDP
EMDP is the lead National Governing Body (NGB) for exercise, movement and dance. It is a not for profit organisation dedicated to the development of exercise, movement and dance provision throughout England and the UK. EMDP’s vision is to have ‘More people enjoying good health and well-being through exercise movement and dance – for life’.
About Sport England
Sport England is focused on the delivery of a mass participation legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We invest National Lottery and Exchequer funding in organisations and projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.

About StreetGames
Launched in 2007, StreetGames is a multi-award winning national charity dedicated to developing sporting opportunities for young people living in disadvantaged communities. It supports and develops local projects around the UK that deliver doorstep sport, i.e. positive activities and sport provided to young people when they want it, where they want it and how they want it. Over 1million attendances have already been generated by over 110 StreetGames projects.

StreetGames’ ongoing work to change sport, communities and lives has been recognised by The Chief Medical Officer’s Public Health Awards, The Charity Awards, The Business Charity Awards and Beyond Sport. For full details of our awards success, visit the ‘About Us’ section on our website www.streetgames.org. These commendations demonstrate StreetGames’ effectiveness in sport and wider impact on crime, health and community development.