30 local sports clubs and organisations are set to benefit from Sported’s Engage Her programme thanks to funding from Sport NI through the National Lottery.
Engage Her is a volunteer-supported programme designed to increase grassroots clubs/groups’ understanding and knowledge on how to help engage women and girls from their local area.
The programme is being delivered as part of Sport NI’s Be Seen, Be Heard, Belong campaign, which aims to level the playing field and ensure that women and girls have the same opportunities as men and boys in sport.
Through training and resources, clubs will be supported to develop a plan to engage women and girls within their sport, to challenge attitudes and remove barriers to participation and to increase capacity to provide opportunities for women & girls activities. Each club will receive a £2000 grant to support the implementation of their engagement plan.
Rebecca Hope, Interim Director of Sport at Sport NI said:
“At Sport NI we are committed to levelling the playing field in sport. Women and girls make up 51% of the population but participation in sport lags in comparison to men and boys. We want women and girls to Be Seen, Be Heard and Belong in sport, both on and off the pitch.
“We are excited to partner with Sported on the Engage Her programme, providing local clubs and organisations with the tools and resources to make their clubs more welcoming to women and girls and to provide more opportunities for participation.”
Judith Rankin, National Manager for Sported NI said:
“We know from our own research that there are significant barriers for women and girls in taking part in sport. A lack of confidence is high on that list, as is a lack of awareness of the opportunities and poor past experiences. We see the increased demand to be active and participate. And through this programme, we plan to address some of the issues head-on so that the playing field is levelled.”
The programme is open to all groups/clubs in Sported’s NI network. For more information, and to apply, please visit: www.sported.org.uk/engage-her
This project has been made possible thanks to the support from The National Lottery and the National Lottery players who raise more than £30 million every week for good causes.
Caption: (L-R): Sophie Givans, Sport NI representative Conleth Donnelly, Molly McCabe and Sported National Manager Judith Rankin.