Three Thousand Free Gym Memberships Up for Grabs

A report by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) found that 80 per cent of women don’t do enough exercise to benefit their health. Even more depressing, the survey – released last November – revealed that young women aged 16 to 24 are only half as active as young men. “That’s a striking statistic,” says Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the WSFF. “All our research has found that young women don’t experience sport positively – it’s seen as something guys do. In our society, there is a greater priority to be attractive rather than active.”

The WSFF report also found that 23 per cent of women were put off sport for life by PE lessons at school. “Plus, the cultural pressures to be ‘thin’ rather than ‘fit’ means we lose girls very early on,” says Tibballs.

To encourage young women back into being fit and healthy, the WSFF and the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) have launched Sweat in the City, a unique fitness scheme for women aged 16-24. The pilot programme is offering 3,000 free gym memberships to young women living in London who do little or no exercise. Successful applicants to the scheme will receive free gym memberships for 12 weeks, group exercise sessions every fortnight, advice on healthy eating, mentored gym sessions, access to the SiTC online social network and support from an online mentor. In exchange, they will have to answer some questionnaires to help WSFF understand any changes in their attitude to activity.

“Everyone who joins will be part of a group from the same area, so it has a social element built in,” says Tibballs. “We will offer lots of support and encouragement – gyms can be quite intimidating if you’re not used to them. We will also stay in touch with the girls for a year after the programme finishes to find out if this intervention has helped change their views on sport and exercise. If you are active and experience running around and getting hot and sweaty, and really enjoy it, I think that’s a great buffer to all the emphasis girls have on their appearance.”

Sweat and the City runs from 29 September to 21 December at gyms across London. You can register now by signing up at www.sweatinthecity.co.uk

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