Bristol campaign encourages mums to get more active

Esther features in the campaign skipping in her back garden

Mums are being encouraged to become more active in a new campaign.

Advertising for Bristol Girls Can features mum Esther, who skips in her back garden when she gets time.

She said: "It is just encouraging people to take small steps because anything you do is better than nothing."

Run by Bristol City Council, the campaign is in response to research that showed women become less active than men after becoming parents.

It is party of the national This Girl Can campaign, developed and funded by Sport England.

'Really beneficial'

Mum to a four-year-old boy, Esther, from Avonmouth, admitted that seeing herself on advertising boards was "a bit surreal".

But she said she supported the campaign because she finds exercise "really beneficial", not just physically but also for her mental health.

"I skip because it is a quick workout, I can do it in my back garden and don't need to have someone babysit my son," she said.

"If I get 10 minutes, I can skip, if I get longer than that, then good, I can think of something else."

Kanwal said exercise can feels like an "extra chore between all the other chores" which is why she walks

She is one of a dozen busy parents chosen to be the faces of the Bristol City Council health campaign.

Kanwal has three children and a job as a dinner lady.

She says formal exercise can be difficult, so she walks rather than drives, doing three trips to school a day - taking her up to 16,000 steps.

"Walking is just so easy," she said.

"You won't get stuck in traffic, you won't get stressed, we walk on the way, we chat. If I were in the car I probably wouldn't have that natter, I wouldn't have time."

The campaign encourages women to share their stories, photos and feelings about getting active

The message of the campaign is to start small and do what works for you - whether it is a walk around the block, 10 minutes of hula hooping, or a kitchen disco while cooking the tea.

It focusses on mums in response to Sport England research which found that motherhood has a mostly negative impact on women's activity levels.

Research carried out by the University of Bristol also found the Covid-19 pandemic has made keeping active even tougher for mums who were already facing barriers to exercise, such as time, cost and childcare.

"As a result fitting in time for self care and regular exercise is sometimes at the bottom of the priority list," councillor Ellie King, cabinet member with responsibility for Public Health, Communities and Bristol One City, said.

"By sharing these stories, Bristol Girls Can hopes to inspire women from across the city to take their own small steps and feel the benefits of becoming more active."