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Over 1800 females active through Female Fitness Exercise project

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Over 1800 women across London have got more physically active thanks to the EFL Trust’s Female Fitness Exercise (FFE) project supported by the Mayor of London.

1287 of those females on the project were previously inactive and by December 2017, the project aims to have engaged at least 2,625 females across London.

The project also targets reducing the number of females who are classed as ‘inactive’; and specifically those who struggle to exercise regularly, such as the over 40’s or those with a disability.

Seven EFL clubs run the project through their community trusts, offering a wide range of activities – in addition to football – to help women keep active and improve their overall health and well-being.

One club in particular, Leyton Orient, have been working with the local Asian Women’s Support group through the FFE project to help ladies lose weight, increase fitness levels and improve their health and fitness knowledge.

Leyton Orient Trust have been working with the group, trying out a range of sport based activities and ran a 12-week football fans in training (FFIT) session alongside ‘soccersise’ – exercise fun using a football and football based techniques.

Philip Smith, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Leyton Orient Trust said: “It’s been great to work with the Asian Women’s Support Group to set up these sessions. Over the 12 weeks the group got to try out a range of activities, helping to build an enjoyable and positive experience around physical activity along with an understanding and deeper knowledge of how to make healthier lifestyle choices.

“It’s been lovely to see the group develop and see the impact it has made on their health. We are always keen to explore ways we can work with local groups to achieve positive outcomes for the community and this project is an excellent example of the impact partnership working can make.”

Many participants on the project had a chance to try out sports for the first time and after reaching their 12 week goal as a group, losing over 3 and half stone in weight, the ladies were invited to attend their first ever football match, enjoying a day out as guests of the club.

Manjit, one of the participants, commented: “The sessions were excellent. It was really interesting learning how to make healthier good choices and doing it together in a group made it lots of fun. I really enjoyed playing football and tennis; two sports I’d never tried out before. It was also great to attend my first ever football match too.”

Parm, another participant said: “I have become more active, lost weight and improved my diet. I still have some bad habits to get over in consuming food but I know they are bad now through the knowledge I have gained doing the course! I’ve also made lots of new friends through the programme too.”

To find out more about the Female Fitness Exercise programme visit: https://www.efltrust.com/female-fitness-exercise/

Rotherham’s ‘Back Into Sport’ project shortlisted for award

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Rotherham United Community Sports Trust’s (RUCST) ‘Back Into Sport’ project has been shortlisted for a 2017 National Lottery Award.

The project funded by Sport England and launched 12 months ago, reaches out to members of the black and ethnic minority community to encourage them to take up sport and physical activities.

‘Back Into Sport’ has increased levels of physical activity and sport among black and ethnic minority (BME) people at high risk of health-related issues. It has also worked with local schools, mosques and community groups to recruit participants and volunteers to help set up sports lessons and arrange matches.

Over half of Rotherham’s adult population do not take part in physical activity, according to a local authority survey. BME adults also face a number of barriers including hate crime, poor local facilities for sport, language and cultural barriers.

The project runs three netball sessions a week and has supported women from a local school to go on and set up a netball team to play competitive games. It also works with a local mosque to increase sport participation among male congregation.

Winners of the 2017 National Lottery Award will receive a £3,000 prize for their project and star in a BBC One television show.

Zanib Rasool from Back into Sport says: “We’re absolutely delighted to have made it through to the finals of The National Lottery Awards.  It’s wonderful for everyone involved in our work that our achievements with National Lottery funding have been recognised.   We hope all our supporters will vote for us so we can enjoy national recognition on BBC One later in the year.”

Inclusion officer Trudi Race said: “Rotherham is a town with a beautifully diverse mixture of culture and races. “Many of these people face barriers when it comes to accessing sport, particularly women. This project enables us to work with the participants to build trust and to make sport more accessible. The first year has seen an incredible increase in BME women accessing sport which is a proud achievement.”

To vote please click here: http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/project/back-sport

Jade Inspires Over 100 Girls to Learn and Play

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Two years ago, Jade Elliot became the first ever female to join the EFL Trust Futsal and Education programme. Jade’s efforts have since inspired over 100 other girls to follow suit as women’s involvement in sport continues grow.

At the age of 17 Jade, from Clayton Brook, near Chorley, became the first girl to hold down a place with Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, in an otherwise all male team on the Futsal and Education programme.

She explains that being the only girl was an obstacle she had to overcome to do something she loves.

 “It was hard at first being the only girl as I had no one to talk to. I faced a lot of barriers but didn’t let anything stop me and eventually the barriers were broken down. I always use the quote ‘Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Since Jade started the course, there are now 16 girls playing on the male programme, and last year a girls only programme was introduced with approximately 85 female players taking part.

She continued: “I’m very proud to of been the first girl on the programme as it opened up massive pathways for females in my area. There are more opportunities for girls in sport now than ever before. It’s great to see the figures continually growing.”

Jade’s interest in sport began when she was inspired by her older sister Jasmine, who was a goalkeeper for England’s U-18 national team.

From the age of eight, Jade played at grassroots level for Euxton Girls and moved onto playing at academy level for Blackburn Rovers from U-10’s to U14’s. After this, she shifted her focus to futsal and coaching.

Whilst on the course, Jade sparked an interest in coaching after she was influenced by her then coaches Darren Finch and Chris McGrail, a former professional footballer for Preston North End. She has since completed her FA Level 1 coaching badge and has almost finished her Level 2.

 “ I really wanted to get into coaching after watching them [Darren and Chris] and their different styles. The have both helped me with my badges and after completing my FA level 2 coaching badge, I am hoping to move on to get my UEFA B next year.”

Aside from her studies, Jade has been the driving force in helping to involve more young people on the Blackburn Rovers Community Trust NCS Programme and is involved in volunteering to help deliver football coaching to young players in the community.

 “For me, right now, there’s nothing better than coaching. Helping with the grassroots game at the moment is great as it’s like I’m giving something back from where I came from.”

Looking to the future, after recently completing the Futsal and Education programme and achieving top grades, she hopes to develop even further down the coaching route from grassroots all the way to elite level.

She concluded: “At the moment I want to continue coaching within the community and working on the NCS programme. My dream is to one day be involved in the England Women’s national team set up as a coach.”

To find out more about the EFL Trust Futsal and Education programme visit – www.efltrust.com/futsal/