Women In Sport’s #TimeTogether campaign is back to inspire teenage girls and mums to reconnect by getting active

Women in Sport launches #TimeTogether, its national campaign to empower daughters and mums to reconnect and discover new ways to get active together whilst inspiring others to do so too. 

Following a year of widespread disruption where activity levels have dropped and time online has soared, the charity is calling on daughters and mums to set aside time to reconnect through exercise and activity.  

Backed by Kaye Adams, TV presenter and journalist and organisations across the sport, health and wellbeing sector including The Wildlife Trusts, Her Spirit, Canal & River Trust, BMC, England Netball, England Rugby, British Cycling, England Golf, Places Leisure, This Mum Runs and the Great Outdoor Gym Company – Women in Sport want daughters and mums across the UK to share their experiences  and inspire others to feel the physical and mental benefits of being active together. 

While more teenage girls believe that being physically active is important for feeling good about themselves (89%), 6 out of 10 are not meeting the physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes activity per day and sadly, 55% of girls have lost confidence in their sporting ability since lockdowns started (Women in Sport Covid Attitudinal Data, July 2021). 

“Lockdown had a big toll on my confidence and I would like to rebuild it in order to be a happier person.” (Katie, 16) 

Mums are also often reluctant to allocate time for themselves to be active with, 32% of women saying that they couldn’t prioritise exercise during lockdown as they had too much to do for others. (Women in Sport, Lockdown Research, 2020) 

The campaign inspires daughters and mums to discover a new way of spending time together, by being active, dancing together, walking together, climbing together, swimming together.  

“Getting active with your mum is good as it gives you motivation to get up to get active… and for this person to be your mum makes it better! You know your mum isn’t going to judge you so you can feel completely comfortable.” (Eva, 16) 

#TimeTogether is the result of Women in Sport’s teenage girls research, looking at how the relationship between mother and daughter can be instrumental in encouraging teenage girls to be active. Whilst they fear judgement and anxiety in many areas of their life, research shows teenage girls cherish time alone with their mum and view their relationship as a ‘safe space’. 48% of girls say their mum encourages and supports them most to get active and do exercise. 

Kaye Adams, TV Presenter and Journalist said: “I think we’ve all found that over the last year or so we’ve been spending more and more time online. It can be hard to put our phones down and get our trainers on or yoga mat out. Time with my daughter is precious and exercising together is a really fun way of spending this time – we give each other that motivation to keep going! Women in Sport’s #TimeTogether campaign is a great prompt to encourage us to put down our tech, get up and spend time together.”  

Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Chief Executive of Women in Sport, said: “Girls in their teens tell us they want to be more active and that they know exercise is good for them, but they are faced with multiple pressures, whether this is schoolwork, commentary on their appearance or their sense of what society expects of them.  Combined with the impact of female puberty, this means girls drop out from sport rapidly at this point in their life.  Often at the same time, their mothers are fraught with work pressures, carrying the burden of care for relatives, and coping with menopausal symptoms.  

“During both these life stages our bodies and our minds need the release and freedom of sport and exercise more than ever. There has rarely been a more important time to put down our phones, turn our laptops off and get active together.” 

The #TimeTogether campaign will be running throughout October. For more information visit www.womeninsport.org/timetogether