The Active, Fit & Sporty programme has continued to see success in inspiring and motivating women and girls across Northern Ireland to get involved in sport and physical activity.

Within the 2018/2019 year £497,025 was invested into 6 organisations for its delivery – Female Sports Forum, Disability Sport NI, Ulster University, Women in Sport and Physical Activity (WISPA), Sported and Youth Sport Trust.

Its overall aim was to strengthen sporting structures for females, to ensure that all new and returning participants are inspired, welcomed, enthused and remain motivated to stay active.

The programme engaged with 9174 participants throughout all district council areas within Northern Ireland. A significant number of girls within the 14-25 category participated, 3297, as well as 704 women within the 50+ category. Across the six organisations, a huge 2811 learning opportunities were created, both to participants themselves and to sports clubs who are now better equipped in their offering to female participants. Leadership training was provided to 336 people with an extremely successful 99% of those registered completing it. Role models, which are a key factor in influencing women and girls of all ages and in all levels of engagement with sport and physical activity were identified, 156 in total and 86 females were also recognised for achievement. A total of 177 participation programmes took place during 2018/19, which overall involved 297 different stakeholders – including a variety of community groups, sports clubs, education providers and district council facilities.

All the partner organisations met for an End of Year round up in May 2019, which allowed us all to see what fantastic work is ongoing to engage women & girls in sport across Northern Ireland. Each partner demonstrated the highlights of their project and also looked at what challenges there were in delivery, which included reflecting on how the offering for women and girls can be further improved in the future.

Final Report 

Appendix 1