Group Leader Toolkit – How to engage more women in running

Run England has worked with the team at This Girl Can and Running Activator Lucy Tomlinson to produce a new guide for Group Leaders on how to effectively engage more women in running.

The Group Leader Toolkit: Effectively Engaging Women in Running was written by Run Kent Activator Lucy Tomlinson, a marathon runner herself and someone who supports hundreds of Group Leaders who have helped encourage thousands of women to get running in Kent.

This Girl Can is a celebration of the active women who are doing their thing no matter how they do it, how they look or even how sweaty they get.

It’s a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations, to inspire more women and girls to move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome.

Run England is encouraging registered groups to get involved and consider how they can create more opportunities for more women to get involved in running.

If your group has, or is able to create, opportunities for women to take their first steps into becoming involved in running and athletics the campaign and the resources being made available to you should help you make the most of the work that you do.

By every measure, fewer women than men take part in sport. Sport England took a long look into what it is that is stopping them and came up with one key insight that sums up why more women aren’t getting active. Women know they should be exercising – and most want to – but a huge amount of them aren’t. And it is the fear of judgement that’s getting in the way.

That’s where This Girl Can comes in – the big message to women that they come in all shapes and sizes and all levels of ability. It really doesn’t matter if you think you are rubbish or an expert.

How to get involved

Note: This information is also available to registered Run England Group Leaders on the Group Leader Area which can be accessed by logging in at www.runengland.org/login.

Download Run England's new Group Leader Toolkit: Effectively Engaging Women in Running.

Group Leaders can sign up their groups to get updates on This Girl Can at the Sport England website at www.sportengland.org/our-work/equality-diversity/women/this-girl-can.

You can register as a partner and for resources at www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/register. Note that your application for registration will be reviewed by Sport England.

Run England also has a range of resources available to help you engage and support disabled participants, which can be accessed here (by registered Group Leaders only).

Read Mara Yamauchi's blog on setting enjoyable running sessions for women. Mara is the second fastest British female marathon runner ever and a qualified Run England Group Leader and Athletics Coach.

The This Girl Can website is at www.thisgirlcan.co.uk.

Share your group's success on social media with @runengland and @ThisGirlCan.