Who are we?
Let’s Run Girls is a social enterprise dedicated to empowering women to improve the health and wellbeing of their local communities in the UK. We are brought together by a shared love of running, but held together by so much more.
We started out as a small running group in Chesterton in Cambridge in 2016 and have grown to a wonderful community across 13 different locations with more groups eager to come on board in the near future.
All our group sessions are led by a volunteer Run Leaders and are free for the local community to attend.
Why are we crowdfunding?
Our walking and running group sessions are all free to join and we very much hope they always will be. We don't operate a paid membership or club affiliation as we want there to be as few barriers to taking part as possible, we believe this has never been more important amidst the rising cost of living. Our biggest expense is training up new volunteer Run Leaders. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost to put a volunteer through the Run Leader qualification has increased year on year and the demand for accessible and social outdoor exercise opportunities has also increased. Alongside increasing costs and demand, we are also finding it increasingly more challenging to source grants from local authorities and other grant providers, who are all facing increased financial pressures themselves. In this post-pandemic world, we think it has never been more important to look after our social, physical and mental wellbeing.
This crowdfunding campaign will enable us to train new volunteer leaders, to support both our existing groups and help new locations get up and running. We have new groups who want to get going in Linton, Barkway (Hertfordshire), Winchester and Salisbury and we would really like to make these a reality and spread the LRG love to new areas across the UK.
If you've benefited from being part of the Let's Run Girls community, you want to help bring Let's Run Girls to your community or you just like what we do, we would really appreciate your support. If you're in a financial position to be able to support us, we would be very grateful of any amount you can contribute to the cause!
How we’ll spend the money raised
Our volunteers are at the heart of our community, sharing their passion for running with others. They already dedicate so much of their energy, enthusiasm and precious time to get others active, we don't believe they should have to pay for their own training. It costs Let's Run Girls £250 to support each new volunteer Run Leader to get qualified. Funds raised through this Crowdfunding campaign will enable us to train up leaders in four new locations as well as support existing locations where volunteers have, after several years, decided to step away from leading sessions.
Community impact
This is the challenge we are facing:
- 39% of women aged 16 and over are not active enough to get the full health benefits of sport and physical activity, compared to 35% of men.
- Female activity levels were greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- 1 in 4 adults will experience a mental health problem each year.
- Feelings of social isolation are on the rise following the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Running is hard... it's easier with some support!
Our mission at Let's Run Girls is to inspire women to lead healthier, happier and more connected lives. We know the benefits of our groups extend far beyond physical health, here are just a few of the participant testimonials we collected in our 2022 survey:
- “I recently came out of an abusive relationship, this group has helped immensely with my mental health, also improving my self-esteem and confidence”
- “I only recently moved to Cambridge and was feeling nervous about running alone. The group has helped me so much with my running but also meeting new people and being able to socialise after working from home and not seeing anyone”
- “It’s been a mental and physical saver for me and I’ve made some lovely friends”
- “The group is always welcoming and supportive and its great to meet a diverse group of people each week without any pressure of competitiveness”
- “I love my power walking group. Sarah is a wonderful leader and this helps me show up weekly, no matter how tired I am!”
We love reading testimonials like these and would really like to extend these benefits (improved social, mental and physical wellbeing) to more women across the UK.
How you can play your part
There are some simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re keen to support us because momentum is key to our success and we have some fun (but limited) rewards up for grabs too!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out! You can reach us at [email protected]
LRG Big Bobble Hats available
In return for a £30 pledge, you can receive one of our NEW bespoke LRG Big Bobble Hats. Choose from 2 different colour options (designs pictured below). You will receive your hat in the post by mid November. If you like, you can select a Bobble Hat reward and add an additional donation on top. Limited numbers are available so pledge early to avoid missing out!