What we want from the next Welsh Government

Today, (19 June) we launch our calls for the next Welsh election in 2026. The upcoming Senedd term presents a real opportunity for the next cohort of Senedd members to become more engaged with women and girl’s sport, and make a real difference to safety, participation, and facilities.

And how overdue it is.

I have talked about facilities and the relationship society has with women and girls’ sport in this column and Cymru Women’s Sport formed because confidence, participation, and access are all much lower for women and girls than for men and boys, creating lasting implications for health, wellbeing, and fairness. 

We won’t stop talking about these inequalities, but we also want to start making the change happen – by being at the heart of the conversation to improve the situation right here in our communities in Wales.

We are calling on the next Welsh Government to ensure that these inequalities stop now, creating change for women and girls across Wales. 

We’re committed to driving change across Wales, advocating for a sporting landscape where every woman and girl has the opportunity to flourish. We believe in the power of sport to empower, inspire, and transform lives, but this potential can only be realised when the system is truly fair and equitable, for everyone.

Manifesto Call One: Safety at Night 

We are calling upon the local authorities to ensure that streetlights are properly maintained and switched on during key times after dark. Women and girls deserve to feel safe and confident exercising outdoors, whenever it suits them. The Active Travel Act is a decade or more old in Wales and we call upon the next Welsh Government to require enhanced provision and better planning and design of routes that enable everyone to be safe and active.

Manifesto Call Two: Investment 

We are committed to advocating for change, but doing so is challenging without access to clear data and insight. That’s why we’re calling for full transparency in the investment in women and girls’ sport. This means regular, public reporting on facilities, participation rates, and funding dedicated to women and girls at grassroots and international level. 

We want to be asking specific questions, such as are women and girls given equal access to sports facilities? How much funding is allocated specifically to women’s and girls’ programmes? We want to be able to see clear and open data to help us identify and change these issues. Without this information, progress is difficult to measure and accountability is lost. 

Manifesto Call Three: Adequate Hygiene Amenities 

If we are serious about participation, equality, and wellbeing, then proper changing areas and sanitary provisions must be the standard, not the exception. No girl or woman should ever arrive at a sports game without access to clean, safe changing areas or basic hygiene facilities.

The ‘teenage drop-off’ in participation, especially for girls is cited time and again as something which must be tackled to ensure a fitter and healthier population, and a nation which can have a lifelong enjoyment of sport. However, one of the root causes of girls dropping out of participation is facilities which clearly are not designed for their changing needs. The current Welsh Government aspires for Wales to be ‘period-proud’, yet many girls will not play sport due to the lack of clean toilets at sports grounds during their period. And quite frankly, the state of facilities aren’t adequate for everyone else, either.

We are calling for all sports facilities in Wales, including at grassroots levels, to have adequate hygiene amenities.

It’s time to remove this barrier, permanently.

Manifesto Call Four – Representation on Boards

Organisations that receive public funding have a responsibility to reflect the communities they serve, and that starts at the very top. We want to see a diverse gender representation on boards to advocate for fair and inclusive decision-making. 

Making a change for the future means having the right people in the room to make decisions. Women and girls, and every intersectional characteristic that means that they face more barriers in participation – from disability to age and race to pregnancy, menopause and caring responsibilities – need to be a part of a sporting organisation’s thinking at the board level.

We exist to connect, celebrate, and advocate for women and girls in sport and physical activity, and we are calling on our next Welsh leaders to include more transparency and support for women and girls’ sport in Wales. Every woman and girl deserves to feel safe, welcome, and included in sport, and that’s exactly what this manifesto is here to achieve. It’s a call to action for meaningful change, breaking down the barriers that hold women and girls back, and creating a sporting environment where everyone can thrive.