Change Starts in the Changing Rooms

Change Starts in the Changing Rooms

Her Story

One of the biggest barriers girls face to being and staying active is the school changing room experience.

The Sweaty Betty Foundation is on a year-long journey to reimagine and redesign school changing rooms through the eyes of the girls who use them.

The changing room is their first experience of PE so it’s very important that they have a positive experience from the beginning. We must listen to girls’ voices because they understand the barriers so much more than we do. It’s what I like most about Sweaty Betty Foundations’ approach to empower girls because it’s about listening to girls’ voices and putting them right at the heart of the thinking.
Karen Smith, Girls PE Development Lead at William Edwards School

1 in 3 teenage girls have missed a PE lesson due to the changing room experience

43% of girls think the lack of privacy in changing rooms as a ‘significant’ problem

1 in 3 girls feel bad changing rooms impact their engagement with PE long term

Our Solution

The Sweaty Betty Foundation believes Change starts in the Changing Room.
We’re taking action by:

Listening to girls

Girls should be empowered to be the architects of change and design their own solutions.

We are thrilled to announce that Harris Academy Bermondsey in London has won our first-ever Change Starts In The Changing Room Design Challenge, taking home the £10,000 grant award.

This groundbreaking initiative invited girls from five schools across the UK to reimagine their school changing rooms as spaces where every girl feels confident, comfortable, and empowered. The creativity, thoughtfulness, and passion shown by all participating schools was truly inspiring.

A huge congratulations and heartfelt thanks to all the schools who took part in this pioneering challenge:

  • Shawlands Academy, Glasgow
  • City Academy Bristol
  • William Edwards School, Grays, Essex
  • Ark Victoria, Birmingham

We can’t wait to see how these ideas come to life and continue to spark change in schools across the country.

Download our Whitepaper

A whitepaper by The Sweaty Betty Foundation – an in-depth report offering insights and solutions for designing school changing rooms that keep girls active for life.

Drawing on research and recommendations from nationwide consultations with 2,000 secondary school girls and 200 PE teachers, this whitepaper presents a framework for co-designing school changing rooms with girls’ voices at the centre.

COMING SOON

Open Letter

Coming soon….

COMING SOON

Have your say!

    Download our Change Starts in the Changing Room Whitepaper.

    A whitepaper by The Sweaty Betty Foundation on designing school changing rooms that keep girls active for life. Drawing on research and recommendations from nationwide consultations with 2,000 secondary school girls and 200 PE teachers, this whitepaper presents a framework for co-designing school changing rooms with girls’ voices at the centre.

      Have your say

      We want you to have your say!
       
      While we particularly want to hear from girls themselves, we also need insights from supporters who can help us understand how to better listen to and act on what girls are telling us.
       
      The “Have your Say” form is coming soon! Follow us on social media and turn on notifications to be the first to know when it’s live.

      Spread The Word

      Want to see more? Follow us on socials and share our campaign film so we can spread the word and enable more girls to be the architects of change.

      Like, follow & share our film using #listentoher #ChangeStartsInTheChangingRoom

      Instagram Linkedin Youtube

      How you can help

      Support Our Work

      The Sweaty Betty Foundation is committed to empowering girls through movement

      Your support will help us get girls active and active for life

      How you can help

      Support Our Work

      The Sweaty Betty Foundation is committed to empowering girls through movement

      Your support will help us get girls active and active for life