Chair’s Column, December 2024
Wow—what a year 2024 has been! This time last year, Emma, Jess, and I were busy interviewing the brilliant individuals who are now part of our Board and our Advisory Panel. Since then, we’ve been working together to shape our vision and ambitions.
Our focus? Connecting with stakeholders, Celebrating achievements, and Advocating for meaningful, equitable change with a unified voice. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished—especially the fantastic events we’ve hosted under our Connect pillar. (Have a look at what we’ve been up to!)
One of the year’s real highlights was seeing Cymru Women’s Sport make it onto national TV! Ria Burrage-Male, Board member and Chair of the Advisory Panel, spoke to ITV about the challenges women face trying to exercise during the darker months.
I love this time of year because I love Christmas. Growing up in the Southern Hemisphere, I never really understood the big deal about Christmas lights—after all, it’s always bright and sunny there! But here, in the UK winter, it makes sense. Those twinkling lights cut through the dark, and it’s magical.
But darkness brings problems too. We know that nearly half of women—46%, to be precise—change their exercise habits during the darker months because they feel unsafe. That means fewer early-morning jogs or late-evening walks. But for many women, avoiding the dark isn’t an option. Work, caregiving, and packed schedules mean that squeezing in workouts at dawn or dusk is a necessity.
And honestly? It’s time the “Why don’t you just go out when it’s light?” brigade were asked to change their tune. For a lot of women, it’s not that simple. More importantly, the idea that we should change our habits to “stay safe” shifts the responsibility onto women and away from the real issue. It perpetuates a culture of fear and lets society off the hook for finding real solutions.
So, what do we do?
First and foremost, men and boys need to understand the impact of verbal and physical harassment (and just stop it). The fear and discomfort women feel when exercising in the dark is real—and it’s exhausting.
But here’s the thing: exercising in the dark isn’t ideal for men either! So that’s what we are trying to focus on. Instead of framing this as just a women’s safety issue, we are keen to talk about how poor lighting and unsafe spaces impact everyone. If we push for better infrastructure—like improved street lighting and safer public spaces—we can make a difference for everyone, not just women.
It’s a shame in some ways that positioning this as a societal problem (rather than “just a women’s issue”) is probably the most effective way to get governments and councils to act, but with the huge percentage of women and girls who change their routines or stop or lessen physical activity over the winter months, this conversation needs to shift.
Because here’s the bottom line: women’s safety while exercising isn’t just our problem—it’s a problem for society. Everyone deserves to feel safe on a run, a walk, or a bike ride, no matter the time of day. Women shouldn’t have to adjust their lives to unsafe conditions; instead, we should demand systemic changes that create safe, inclusive spaces for us all.
And we feel fired up to make that change, which is why we’re reflecting on how far we’ve come in 2024. Look out for more from us in 2025.