On National Walking Day, This Girl Can Essex are celebrating ambassadors and women from across the county who recently took part in the Women Like Us step challenge, in honour of International Women’s Day!
With Spring just around the corner, the two-week challenge inspired teams of up to five participants, to have a little fun and step-to-it, with women being encouraged to organise face-to-face walks or runs, helping to bring people together and explore their local green and blue spaces.
This Girl Can is a nationwide campaign, looking to encourage women and girls’ physical activity levels, regardless of shape, size and ability. The This Girl Can Essex campaign is an extension of the highly successful national campaign, bringing it to a local level to inspire women in Essex, Southend and Thurrock to get moving, whatever that may look like.
Through the Big Team Challenge app, a virtual route starting in the heart of Budapest took women through four beautiful countries from one of the greatest cities on the continent to the shores of the Mediterranean. This inspired nearly 400 ladies to increase their daily step count and head outside on local walks, with This Girl Can Essex ambassadors leading the way.
One of our This Girl Can Essex ambassadors from Chelmsford, Lindsey explained: “It’s so good to get outside regularly in the spring sunshine, and it’s a great time of year to be making new habits!”
The Federation of Essex Women’s Institutes were once again thrilled to support the event, with women and girls being at the core value of their achievements and campaigns.
Welcome packs were gifted to the first 50 teams who signed up to the initiative, with goodies also being arranged for engaging participants, encouraging women and girls to stick with the challenge and see it till the end.
One of our new ambassadors, Jo told us: “My team were fighting for 5th place in the challenge, and they have been incredible! I created a team WhatsApp chat, and it has been so much fun. My friend has lost weight and we cannot wait to take part in more challenges in the future – talk about team spirit!”
92 active teams walked a whopping 68 million steps across the two-week initiative, with a fantastic daily step average of 4 million. Big Team Challenge are also supporting Ecologi to plant 1 tree for every 10 active participants, and 39 trees will be planted as a result of the event.
Another participant told us: “I think the challenge has been fantastic! I have got five groups of ladies together and have been walking with most of them. We have had so many laughs and fun along the way. We have also been competitive in a fun way. We also wore red for red nose day. I think it has challenged us all to do that bit extra and I am certain that my teams have all exceeded their expectations. They have done incredibly well, and I am so proud of them. I hope that we can all do this again!”
If you’d like to help inspire women and girls across the county to get moving, or join the This Girl Can Essex community, sign up to become an ambassador here: https://www.activeessex.org/find-your-active/this-girl-can-essex/
