This Girl Can has teamed up with British Cycling to target the historic gender gap in cycling participation and get more women on two wheels.
The national governing body’s HSBC UK Breeze campaign is specifically aimed at women and provides hundreds of free rides up and down the country.
And now, This Girl Can is on board to bring together the expertise of both organisations and help show women that cycling is an option for them.
Cycling investment
We've also invested £15 million directly into community cycling facilities as part of the 2019 UCI Road Cycling World Championships legacy project
Taking the form of short films and imagery, all in the eye-catching style of previous This Girl Can activity, this new campaign aims to grow the 250,000 people that HSBC UK Breeze has already attracted since its 2011 launch.
“This Girl Can is delighted to partner with British Cycling on this project,” said Kate Dale, our campaign lead for This Girl Can.
“HSBC UK Breeze is one of the best widely-available activities designed for women, as proven by the huge number of women that attend their casual rides each week.
“This Girl Can is designed to break down the emotional barriers women face when considering exercise.
“One of these emotional barriers is fear of judgement around capability, and HSBC UK Breeze is brilliant at addressing these barriers with friendly and knowledgeable female ride leaders who help attendees to build their confidence and skills.”
This Girl Can was created to show women that, regardless of age, background, fitness, or experience, everyone can get active.
It's this message that is hoped to inspire more women to get active by riding a bike, with particular focus placed on the for women, by women, HSBC UK Breeze programme.
The collaboration follows last week’s news that 61% of mums feel guilty about taking time to exercise and that mothers have a greater impact on their children’s future activity levels – partly through setting an example and prioritising exercise in their own lives.
This Girl Can is designed to break down the emotional barriers women face when considering exercise
our This Girl Can campaign lead
This new six-week campaign will help to show mothers there is no guilt to be felt by prioritising their own activity and will be visible through a series of targeted social media films and pictorial adverts featuring real women who've all been involved in the HSBC UK Breeze programme.
Our insight into the barriers women feel when looking to get active has informed the campaign, as well as British Cycling’s data showing that a lack of confidence and not feeling safe are also contributory factors to non-participation.
All of which gives hope to Faye Downey, British Cycling’s women’s cycling project manager, that the gender participation gap can be closed.
“We have made fantastic progress since the launch of our women’s strategy in narrowing the gender participation gap, however we have always acknowledged that there is still a way to go,” she said.
“Therefore, we are constantly looking at innovative ideas and projects to get more women on bikes, and we are excited about this campaign’s potential to introduce HSBC UK Breeze to a new audience and put cycling on the radar of more women.”