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Manchester City get behind Inspiring Women Campaign
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Manchester City have given their backing to a UK initiative aimed at inspiring the next generation of girls and young women to consider a career in sport.
Inspiring Women in Sport, an offshoot of the Inspiring Women Campaign by The Education and Employers Taskforce, aims to recruit women who work in the sports sector to pledge one hour a year to go to a local school and talk to girls about what it is like to work in the industry.
The Club invited a range of women who work in the sporting sector to serve as mentors to a group of 15 local Manchester girls, giving them the opportunity to learn more about potential career pathways into sport and to benefit from the past experiences of successful mentors.
Mentors at the event held at the City Football Academy adjacent to the Etihad Stadium in East Manchester included Olympic Boxer Natasha Jonas, Manchester City women’s team central midfielder Jill Scott, award winning sport journalist Sue Mott and England & Wales Cricket Board Accountant Claire Harris.
Girls from Chorlton High School were given the chance to put questions to the mentors about their day-to-day jobs and their views on the major challenges facing women in sport.
The workshop saw mentors host small groups of the girls for ten minute discussions before they sat down to watch the women’s team in action on the pitch.
The national Inspiring Women campaign launched 18 months ago already has 15,000 amazing women ready to talk with girls in state schools about the ‘job they do’ and route they took. Through this latest sport initiative, the organisation’s ambition is push this figure to 20,000.
The Education and Employers Taskforce, the charity behind the initiative connects teachers with volunteers to go into state schools and colleges and talk about their job, career and education route.
Commenting on the event, Steph Houghton, Captain for Manchester City Women’s Football Club (MCWFC), said: “The Inspiring Women in Sport Initiative is an extremely important campaign which helps to highlight the opportunities available to girls and young women to get a job in sport, whether that be as a player on the pitch, or in a coaching or management role.
“I’m really pleased that Manchester City have been able to lend their support to getting more women into the sector.”
Nick Chambers, Director at The Education and Employers Taskforce added: We are extremely pleased to have the support of Manchester City, a Club which does so much to encourage female participation in sport at all levels.
“You can be an 18 year old Apprentice or a CEO, work for yourself or for a multi-national, be working full-time, part-time or having a career break – girls in state schools want to hear about your job, career and life experiences. We’re encouraging lots more organisations to get involved.”