Minette Batters is President of the National Farmer's Union, the first women to hold the post in the organisation's 115 year history. Alongside leading the NFU, which represents more than 46,000 farming and growing businesses, Minette runs a family farm in Wiltshire.  She chats to us about the impact that sport has had on her life. The skills she acquired through playing team sport at school which has given her the ability to lead a team, communicate effectively and provided her with the resilience to overcome adversity and failure.  Minette also talks about her love of running and ..read more

When researching the lives of teenage girls Women in Sport uncovered the powerful relationship that exists between mums and daughters. Teenage girls view their mum or mum figure as someone that they want to be active with, without the fear of judgement. This led to the creation of Women in Sport's #TimeTogether campaign.  We know that:  6 out of 10 teenage girls are not meeting the physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes activity per day 1.3 million teenage girls opt out of sport when transitioning from primary to secondary school due to puberty, confidence and supportive en ..read more

Two years ago we discovered half as many girls as boys dream of reaching the top of sport - a gap we coined the 'Dream Deficit.' 2022 has put women's sport centre stage. The success of the Lionesses at the Euros was momentous, the passion, talent and positive team dynamic on display was incredible to watch. It was closely followed by a raft of brilliant performances at the Commonwealth Games. But has the inspirational summer we've had done anything to shift the dial? Can girls now see a place at the top of sport for them? To discuss the results of Women in Sport's latest 'Dream Deficit' sur ..read more

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham featured the largest integrated para sport programme in the competition’s history with 42 parasport events across eight sports, with over 350 athletes taking part. While the growth of parasport at elite level is fantastic, many disabled women and girls face a double discrimination when it comes to sport and exercise.  Now the excitement of the 2022 Games is over the focus has to be on what legacy it can achieve.   On this episode Sarah is joined by former Paralympic swimmer and BBC broadcaster Kate Grey and Emma Wiggs MBE who is a double P ..read more

If you have a dusty bike in your shed this episode will inspire you to pump up the tyres jump in the saddle and feel the wind in your hair... For women, the humble bicycle is much more than a mode of transport. Over the last century the so called ‘freedom machines’ have helped women gain independence, increased social and political freedom and brought countless hours of joy.  As the American civil rights activist, Susan B. Anthony said: “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of fr ..read more

In March 2022 Victoria Evans became the fastest woman to solo row the Atlantic Ocean. An incredible achievement in itself, but one made even more remarkable by the fact that three years prior to setting sail, Victoria had never even been in a rowing boat. Setting off from the island of Tenerife, Spain on 11 February she battled through a number of difficult moments before arriving at Port St Charles in Barbados in the early hours of 24 March. Inclement weather, sleep deprivation and even a solitary 35th birthday party for one were not enough to hold her back. Her 7-metre boat ‘True Blue’ was ..read more

Gender stereotypes start at birth. For girls, this can lead to a decline in self-belief from as young as 7 years old. Dads/father figures can play a key role in helping their daughters develop confidence and resilience, but many dads, often unconsciously, place more emphasis on their son's sporting activities. Our research shows that 31% of girls feel supported by their dad, compared to 50% of boys.  The Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered is a free physical activity and education programme for young girls (5-11) and their fathers/father figures who want to be more active together ..read more

For International Women's Day 2022, Women in Sport has released new research which found that more than one million teenage girls (43%), who once considered themselves ‘sporty’, disengage from sport following primary school.  A fear of feeling judged by others, lack of confidence, pressures of schoolwork and not feeling safe outside were some of the reasons given for not wanting to participate for this group of girls. Body image and puberty are also significant factors.  The need to engage girls in more active lifestyles has never been more urgent. This generation of teenage girls ..read more

The countdown is on to the Winter Olympics, which begins on 4th February, with two weeks of action-packed and exciting competition to look forward to. Many of us will be glued to our TV screens watching the death-defying stunts and tricks on snow and ice. But with such a high level of risk associated with snowsports, how do you encourage girls and women to overcome the fear factor - whether it’s their first lesson or they’re going for gold? There is also the issue of accessibility. How does a country, with a lack of alpine regions, increase opportunity and diversity to make snowsports more a ..read more

In this podcast we're looking at the challenges of exercising in midlife and how companies and businesses can support their female workforce to be active. We're joined by Carol Bates who set up Crawley Old Girls Football Club, Pippa Andrews, Director at Vitality UK and Victoria Sathasivam from Argent LLP as we talk about the barriers women face and what can be done to grow a healthy, active workforce.  ..read more