A COMMUNITY organization that gives women better access to sport is to become active again next week.
The activities of the CIC Sports Club of the Inspirational Women Foundation (IWF) will resume on Tuesday as the lifting of some Covid restrictions on May 17 allows the return of organized indoor and outdoor sports.
The IWF Sports Club classes are all led by professional coaches and range from soccer, cricket and boxing to archery, badminton, netball, rounders, volleyball, jiu-jitsu and cycling.
Activities are conducted in partnership with Bradford Academy’s John Craig Sports Center on Lister Avenue, which is where most of the classes take place. Additional weekly events are held at the Parkside Sports Center on Parkside Road.
Cycling takes place in the Girlington Community Center parking lot on Girlington Road. Classes take place on weekday evenings and during the day on weekends.
The IWF Sports Club is open to all women over the age of 16 from across Bradford District, but also remotely if they can get to the venues.
Free trial courses take place in June. After that, women can either join the IMF Sports Club, which gives them full access to a range of activities for just £ 5 a month, or they can be signposted at professional sports clubs in their area of interest.
The sports club is just one of the projects of the Inspirational Women Foundation CIC, a community-interest company founded to create a voice for gender equality at home, in the workplace, in the economy and in society at large.
Harleen Kaur, Sports Development Manager at IWF, said, “One of our strategies is to empower women in sports and create spaces where they can participate, experience and have fun.
“The aim is not to encourage women to exercise as that is never the problem. Women are not difficult to reach and they are very keen to get involved. In fact, there is an increased demand right now as so many people are keen to get active again after the lockdown. However, we have found that the challenge facing women is that there aren’t enough facilities and resources to practice sports in settings that are either women-only or women-only.
“For example, when we did some research to find space for our sports activities, we found that most of the space was already occupied by men – especially cricket and soccer fields. In addition, they are male-owned and managed, which often results in them not really catering to the needs of women. IWF intends to change that and our sports club is the beginning of that movement. ”
The IWF Sports Club was launched briefly in early 2020 after receiving funding from Sport England to run some free sessions of various sporting activities for women of all origins and ages 16+. But then Covid struck and the club had to close.
The program is now funded by the Inspirational Women Foundation CIC through its CEO and founder Fatima Patel of RF Publishing in Bradford.
Fatima set up the foundation to help other women succeed in response to the challenges she faced as a woman in building and running a media organization. She is now supported by Jane Vincent, director of Fortem People, who chairs the foundation. Jane herself became a household name when she appeared on Channel 4’s reality show “The Jobcentre” a few years ago.
To get involved, register your interest or send an email to harleen@inspirationalwomanfoundation.org.uk or a message to www.facebook.com/Inspirationalwomenfoundation/.
You can also call 01274 721419 or 07950 574 781 or send a message on WhatsApp.