Sports club in pioneering women’s safety project
ONE of Inverclyde’s top sports clubs is helping in the fight to ‘reclaim’ the streets and make them safer for women.
Inverclyde Athletics have launched new jogging sessions to provide a space for females to get active.
Coach Janice Hendrie and runner Faye Tinney have joined forces with community groups to offer the tenweek pilot.
It follows on from a survey by Inverclyde Council on women’s safety which exposed a shocking level of harassment and found that almost all those who responded were put off of activities in public places.
At the time almost one third of those who responded said they had experienced harassment while using public spaces.
An Inverclyde Women’s Safety Charter was put in place in response, with councillors Lynne Quinn and Francesca Brennan calling for improvements - including lighting in parks.
Inverclyde Athletics’ Faye Tinney, 44, from Gourock, who is now a jog Fit2Run leader said: “I started running about two years ago and I think you do feel quite vulnerable when you are out on your own at night.
“You get to the Battery Park and it goes dark. I started running on a
Wednesday night with Inverclyde Athletics with other women and it definitely makes you feel safer in numbers.
“I hope this will encourage more women to take up running, when they are in a group.”
The Fit2Run jog sessions operate in partnership with Branchton Community Centre, Ravenscraig Community Sports Hub, Inverclyde Leisure and the Inverclyde Women’s Safety Charter.
Janice Hendrie added: “I am delighted at how busy the sessions are. We have a group on a Wednesday night, but we wanted to make this exclusively for women.
“We want to encourage as many women as possible to get involved in sport.”
The free jog sessions at Ravenscraig Stadium is targeted at over 16s, with all levels of fitness, from walking to training for a 5k supported in a safe environment.
Councillor Quinn said: “Well done to Inverclyde Athletic Club and partners for setting up the latest Jog session for women, this will be a great way for women to come along to a safe environment and increase their fitness.
“The 2022 women’s safety Survey highlighted that 94 per cent of survey responses showed that women had been put off undertaking physical activity due to public safety concerns.
“With the most popular activity that women wanted to do more of was walking and running, these session will help tackle both of these elements.
“I hope all the women taking part enjoy the sessions, feel great and maybe meet some new friends.”
Councillor Brennan has also made women’s safety a priority and in particular has highlighted the need to make Inverclyde safer at night.
She said: “It is great to see these women’s only jog sessions and I would like to thank Inverclyde Athletics for this.
“I think it is important that we do all we can to make women feel safer in public places.
“We still have a long way to go and there is a lot of work to be done, but there is so much positivity around this.
“We also need to look at the town centre and work with local businesses in the nighttime economy. Women should feel safe in public.”