Written evidence from ukactive [BPS0039]

Introduction

ukactive is the UK’s trade body for the physical activity sector, including gyms, pools, and leisure centres. Our organisation has more than 3,500 members from across the sector which has seen significant growth over recent years, with memberships of health and fitness clubs in the UK totalling over 12.2 million in 2025[1].

The numbers of women and girls participating in physical activity has been increasing in recent years. Sport England’s latest Active Lives data shows there has been a 2.3% increase in the percentage of women being active since 2016, but there has been no significant decrease in the percentage of inactive women during this time[2]. However, there has been a 6.7% rise in the percentage of girls being active since 2018, which can be assumed to be due to a decrease in rates of inactivity, with the percentage of inactive girls falling by 4.8%[3].

Fitness activities are a significant driver of this increase in physical activity participation. Sport England evidence reveals the number of women engaging in fitness activities increased by 1.7% between 2024 and 2025, compared to 0.7% for sporting activities[4]. This increase in participation is reflected in the increased throughput seen in facilities, with data showing a 12% increase in women using leisure centres, with 53% of all their users being female[5].

Meanwhile, there has been a 11.4% increase in girls’ participation in gym and fitness activities since 2018[6], with a rising number (30%) of children preferring to be physically active in non-competitive settings. A poll of 1,000 children aged seven to 14, by ukactive and experts at Beano Brain, found that 40% wanted to be more active. Among girls, it found they particularly valued being active with people they knew (69%) and having a supportive coach (51%)[7].

This growth in participation is reflective of a greater understanding of the role of physical activity in supporting women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing. Women are more likely to cite improving mental health and wellbeing to try new activities, with an increasing number choosing to prioritise strength training. Between 2024 and 2025 there was a 0.9% increase in women doing weights sessions, compared, for example, to a decrease (0.1%) in football participation[8].

Increasing participation in strength training is particularly important for perimenopausal and menopausal women, who are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal disorders due to the decrease in muscle mass, strength and bone mineral density triggered by changes in hormone levels[9]. Therefore, the strength training services provided by the sector play a crucial role in delivering the improved wellbeing for women and reduced pressure on health services which the Government is striving to achieve.

The national infrastructure of facilities and services provided by gyms, pools and leisure centres is vital in meeting the growing demand from women and girls to participate in fitness. In offering women and girls more opportunities to participate in the physical activity they want to engage with, these health and fitness facilities play a central role in driving their activity levels and improving their health and wellbeing.

Questions

1. To what extent are masculine cultures in sports still presenting barriers to girls and women taking up non-playing roles? What is being done to break down these barriers and what more could be done?
2. To what extent do gender bias, discrimination and misogyny exist in areas such as coaching, sports science, officiating, administration and governance, and journalism/broadcasting? How do women’s experiences vary across different sports? Is enough being done to address the issues?
3. Is enough being done to protect girls and women from harm, including harassment, abuse and violence, particularly in coaching, officiating and journalism/broadcasting? What further steps should be taken?

Although women and girls’ participation in fitness have been increasing, there remain barriers to women’s ability to confidently and comfortably be physically active. To tackle these barriers, ukactive worked with Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to launch the Safer Spaces to Move project, which is designed to help women and girls to feel safe and more confident while being active in gyms, fitness and leisure facilities.

The project followed research carried out by ukactive and This Girl Can in 2021 and 2022 which shows that personal safety and confidence can be significant barriers for women and girls when participating in physical activity. Following these findings, further research found that 42% of women said they had experienced at least one form of sexual harassment or intimidation, such as inappropriate comments, staring, or encroachment of personal space, while in a gym or leisure facility. This percentage increased to 83% for women aged 16-24. Additionally, 68% of the women had said they experienced sexual harassment or intimidation said they never reported it, with the number one reason being they didn’t think it was serious enough to report (43%)[10].

Safer Spaces to Move offers health and fitness facilities free resources which are designed to support operators to ensure women and girls who use their facilities feel safe and more confident while being active in gyms, pools and leisure centres. 

The resources include guidance on policies and procedures and communication support through copy examples and templates to assist the sector in reducing some of the barriers women and girls face in taking part in physical activity and create spaces that are inclusive and enjoyable for all. In addition, there are a series of training modules to upskill the workforce of fitness and leisure centres to understand what constitutes harassment, how to deal with any incidences in a tactful manner, and robustly document and progress any reporting of harassment or intimidation.

As increasingly popular environments for women and girls to be active, reducing barriers is crucial to not only meeting the needs of this growing consumer base, but also serving the broader health and wellbeing needs of women and girls.

4. To what extent do employment/contractual issues (for example, access to childcare, mentoring, pay and expenses etc) act as barriers to women’s access and progression in non-playing roles? What should sports’ governing bodies or the Government do to tackle these barriers?
5. To what extent are there additional barriers for some groups of girls and women, for example those from minority racial and ethnic groups and girls and women with disabilities and sensory impairments? What steps should be taken to break down these additional barriers?
6. Should there be more requirements on sports organisations to increase representation of girls and women in non-playing roles up to Board level? If so, what should these requirements be, and how should they be enforced?
7. Are there good examples of progress towards equal representation of girls and women in these areas of the sports sector? If so, what could be done to disseminate and coordinate best practice across all sports?

May 2026