A regional collaboration for women and girls
Activate West Wales work alongside communities and partners across the West Wales region to lead, collaborate and take action to create opportunities for women and girls to be more active and engage in physical activity.
A strong example of this partnership approach is the collaboration between four local authorities in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. Together, they identified a shared regional challenge: the lack of consistent, female‑friendly environments that support women and girls to be active. Recognising that this issue could not be addressed in isolation, the local authorities jointly applied for West Wales Sports Partnership (WWSP) innovation funding to establish a Regional Strategic Lead women and girls. Alice Hope leads this regional effort, and her role is to bring partners together, align priorities, and drive the development of the Movement over Moments campaign.
The campaign is designed to unite organisations, clubs and local authorities behind a shared mission – to create better opportunities for women and girls to participate in sport and physical activity.
Campaign for partners
The Movement over Moments campaign gives partners the chance to work collectively to co‑create a regional standard that ensures safe, supportive environments where women and girls feel confident and motivated to take part in physical activity. This collaborative approach strengthens trust and builds connections with partners across the region, helping to drive lasting change for women and girls by:
- Ensuring facilities are genuinely female friendly
- Providing essentials such as inclusive toilets and period products
- Creating environments that feel welcoming, inclusive and culturally aware
- Aligning messaging and visibility across the region
When partners engage with the Movement over Moments campaign, they play a key role in championing safe and welcoming spaces for women and girls to be active. Using shared branding and campaign hashtags enables partners to connect across the region, encouraging collaboration and accelerating the campaign’s growth. By uniting under one clear and recognisable campaign identity, partners can amplify their collective voice and create a stronger, more consistent experience for women and girls throughout West Wales.
A dedicated Movement over Moments webpage is also being developed to give partners access to resources, guidance on creating female‑friendly environments, information on upcoming sessions and opportunities, and a central hub for collaboration.
Visibility, Opportunities and Systems
The three pillars: Visibility, Opportunities and Systems were shaped by the Activate Innovation workshops and led by Cardiff for Health, Activity & Wellbeing Research (CAWR). The pillars were adapted from the World Health Organisation’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) objectives.
The Movement over Moments campaign was developed around the three strategic pillars that guide regional action:
1. Visibility
The Visibility pillar strengthens the regional profile of activity for women and girls and positions Movement over Moments as the umbrella campaign.
The aim is to establish a unified voice that partners can align with to develop shared social media content and hashtags, create regional campaigns and storytelling assets, produce podcasts and regular newsletters, and build representation and role models across the region.
2. Opportunities
The Opportunities pillar supports partners to deliver high‑quality, safe and inclusive opportunities for women and girls, develop leadership pathways, create a partner toolkit to support facility improvements, and share resources that help providers create welcoming environments.
3. Systems
The Systems pillar builds the long‑term structures that enable collaboration to continue and grow through mapping “super connectors” across the region, conducting stakeholder analysis and developing frameworks that support cross‑sector working. These systems ensure that the Movement over Moments campaign becomes embedded in how the region operates, not just a short‑term project.
Events that drive collaboration
Regional partners network
Alice hosted an event in December 2025, welcoming over 40 attendees, representing organisations across the region. This event introduced the Action Groups, who worked together to identify shared priorities and areas to focus on.
To date, 44 partners have joined the Movement over Moments campaign, including national governing bodies, local authority sports development teams, the NHS and Swansea Bay UHB, community groups and volunteers, small businesses, universities and national partners.
Partners are encouraged to demonstrate that their environments are female-friendly and aligned with regional priorities through the Movement over Moments campaign. Any organisation working to improve opportunities for women and girls, whether through sport, health, research, community development or local business, can become part of the movement.
Link-Up Lounges
To support ongoing partnership working, Movement over Moments will host a series of Link Up Lounges, with informal, themed sessions designed to bring partners together to share insight, discuss challenges and identify opportunities for joint action. The Link-Up Lounges provide an opportunity to collaborate on the first Wednesday of every month for informal networking and shared working spaces.
The first Link-Up Lounge took place in May, where topics included:
- Increasing regional visibility for women and girls
- Developing a resource toolkit to support safe and welcoming opportunities
- Identifying super-connectors and networks driving impact
- Addressing shared challenges in group discussions
These sessions create a practical working space where partners can collaborate, problem‑solve and build relationships. The aim is to give women and girls a voice in shaping the environments they want so they feel comfortable, supported and able to influence the opportunities available to them.
Pies with Purpose
“Pies with Purpose” recently brought local partners together at local café Motley Pies, alongside a social running group. Attendees shared information and built connections to increase visibility and awareness of provision for women and girls.
International Women’s Day
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the four local authorities hosted a series of virtual activities in partnership with Swansea Bay UHB, alongside female role models and male allies who took part in panel discussions. Contributors included Alisha and Jaz Joyce‑Butchers, as well as coaches from clubs across the region.
The sessions explored topics such as the biomechanics of female injury and injury prevention, menstruation and continence, the hormonal impact on injuries, coaching and supporting girls through puberty, insights into the life of an elite female athlete, period dignity, and more. The event was promoted using regional hashtags on social media and received strong engagement from participants across West Wales.
Join the movement
The Movement over Moments campaign is designed to grow, and its impact increases with every new partner who joins. By working together and sharing ideas with partners across West Wales, more opportunities can be created for women and girls to be active, confident and empowered.
If you would like to be part of the movement driving positive change for women and girls to be more active, click here to find out how you can make a difference.
