LAST Tuesday marked five years to the day since I launched Scottish Women in Sport (SW/S) at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow in the illustrious company of Judy Murray and Katherine Grainger.
Time flies when you are enjoying yourself and I can certainly attest to that. The stats at the time which led me to create SW/S were pretty damming.
A report from the Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport showed that between January 2010 and August 2011 only 0.5% of the total market sponsorship was for women’s sport. Only 5% of sports media coverage featured women and for every 53 articles written about men in sport, there was just one about a woman.
READ MORE: An emotional night at the Scottish Women in Sport Awards
Things have changed and it has been a fascinating if unpredictable five years. In the many areas of life that impact on women, I believe that a lot of movements around females in general could not have been predicted. However, in all areas of women’s lives we now have many people, male and female, championing change.
SW/S itself is looking towards change. It has undergone a strategy review which will focus our work for the considerable future and we have refined our vision to complement this. Our new vision is short and succinct. It must and will be achieved but it will take the help of many agencies and organisations to ensure this. We are looking for “an inclusive Scotland where there is gender equality in all areas of sport”, and I believe we can achieve this. Keep your eyes open for more of this plan, which will be launched early next year.
Meanwhile, last week was trustee week, highlighting the role of the trustee within the charity sector. As chair of Scottish Sports Futures (SSF), a pioneer in the “sports for change” sector, I am aware of the good work carried out by all SSF trustees. I attended a seminar in Edinburgh with one of our young staff members to discuss getting more young people into the role. Fewer than 0.5% of trustees are aged between 18-24, with a typical trustee of a UK charity likely to be white male and over 60. We need to reflect society in our decisions, so why not take a leap of faith and become a trustee? It’s a win-win situation.
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