Foxes pitch in to get more women into football
LEICESTER City FC’s community outreach team has created a fiveyear programme to get women in the St Matthew’s and Highfields areas of the city into football.
The charitable arm of LCFC has launched Active Women to encourage 18 to 49 year-olds from the city’s most deprived areas involved in community-based physical activity.
It held its official launch at Cruyff Court, in St Matthews, on Thursday last week.
Attendees were given the opportunity to take part in football-related activities, and the morning finished off with a match played by some of the women.
The morning activities were followed by some refreshments at St Matthew’s Big Local, and the day concluded with a mental health and wellbeing workshop by mental health charity Jamila’s Legacy at the estate’s neighbourhood centre.
The charity has partnered with other good causes and organisations to bring the programme together, such as the Centre for Ethnic Health Research, St Matthew’s-based Women 4 Change, Active Leicester, Wesley Hall and St Matthew’s Big Local.
The Mercury spoke to the Active Women project lead, Sarah Jones, about the programme. She said: “We chose Highfields and St Matthew’s based on where the real need was, in terms of language barriers and other varying factors.
“A lot of research was done to find out what was going to make the biggest impact, and where this project would work best.
“In the last year we’ve been working with charities such as Women 4 Change and Outspoken to deliver female-led projects, which has given us a bit of background and base to go forward.
“Active women is an opportunity to empower, inspire and work with women in the community who are already doing incredible things, but may not realise it. We want to create a time for them to exercise, to socialise and to be physically active.
“The work we are doing is important because it’s offering something that isn’t always accessible. All of our sessions are free or low-priced simply because we want the programme to stay accessible. Seeing all the smiles on faces has got to be the underlying thing. If children in these areas see their mothers staying active and smiling through the process, they are more likely to follow in their footsteps and carry this on.”
Farhiyo Abdi, founder of Women 4 Change, said: “Leicester City in the community is really close to our hearts and has done so much for the community. The staff are always smiling and are so welcoming, they’ve even run some sessions at a mosque in the area.
“From the time we have been in contact with them, which was about a year ago, they’ve done planning sessions through Zoom, even during the pandemic. They’ve really listened to us and what we want - and they’ve delivered.”
“When you want to do something for the community, you have to listen to those trusted voices within the community because we are grassroots.
“As part of Women 4 Change, I’ve worked with some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in the community, those that have faced domestic violence and isolation - so I’ve learned how best to reach and engage them.
“Women in St Matthew’s and Highfields may face language barriers, so Active Women is creating a safe space for them to come and exercise and see diverse staff who look like them. The women who have been isolated or who don’t have friends are able to join a group, lose some weight and learn about how best to take care of their health.”