St Matthews & Highfields To Benefit From Active Women Project
- Leicester City in the Community has launched a new targeted programme in St Matthews and Highfields
- Active Women will enable 18-49-year-old women to be more active
- Leicester City’s charitable arm is working with a consortium of local charities and community centres
- The programme has been funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation
A new programme called Active Women has launched with the aim of getting more women active and the five-year project will see Leicester City in the Community deliver a range of sessions aimed at 18 to 49-year-old women.
The project – funded by the Football Foundation – aims to improve access to activities in the community, levels of physical activity to improve wellbeing and reduce obesity, reduce social isolation, and improve employability skills and self-belief within those that take part.
Leicester City in the Community are working alongside Wesley Hall, St Matthews Big Local, Highfields Centre, Jamila’s Legacy CIC, Active Together, Active Leicester and Women4Change to deliver the Active Women project, with all partners utilising their presence to get as many participants involved as possible.
Sarah Jones, Active Women Strategic Lead at Leicester City in the Community said: “Today’s launch has been a real opportunity to get people together, have some food, do some activity and do some exercise.
“Over the next year, we are going to look at different activities; anything from coffee and a bit of Jenga, to a football match and everything in between. We hope to empower and inspire women to maintain and continue the programme after the five years.”
Anita Rao, Community Manager at Wesley Hall Community Centre added: “This programme is really exciting to all of the community because it’s about women being active. In Highfields, women are at home, don’t have anywhere to go and the project will bring everybody together.
“Active Women is really important because throughout the pandemic, people became isolated and affected people’s health - the project will hopefully put less pressure on the NHS.”
Robert Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, commented: “This grant award to Leicester City in the Community is fantastic news for the local community in Leicester.
"Football is a game for everyone - regardless of their background - and it’s only right that people across all walks of life are able to play the nation’s favourite game.
“Thanks to Sport England National Lottery Investment, this new project will help to transform people’s lives by developing Active Leicester in Leicester, unlocking the many benefits of football for the community.”
For more on Active Women and how to get involved please contact Sarah Jones on sarah.jones@lcfc.co.uk.