10th June 2025
A new project aims to equip exercise instructors to support less active and inactive women to feel more confident in joining group classes.
Reach Up was launched on Thursday (June 5), and was developed by EMD UK in partnership with This Girl Can and supported by National Lottery funding.
The background
The project builds on the foundations of This Girl Can Classes with EMD UK, which launched in 2019. That initiative was created in response to insight revealing that many women felt intimidated by traditional group exercise classes. They worried about not being “fit enough” or feared they wouldn’t be able to keep up – concerns that often stopped them from even stepping through the studio doors.
This Girl Can Classes aimed to tackle those feelings head-on. It was a welcoming, beginner-friendly and supportive class format that focused on building confidence and community. It resonated strongly, achieving a 92% participant satisfaction rate – a real testament to its impact.
However, the format had its limitations. It was too restrictive for instructors, limiting their ability to tailor classes and offer the variety of sessions they were passionate about. That’s why, in 2024, the decision was made to close the This Girl Can Classes project and build on it with a broader, more flexible approach.
Enter Reach Up
Reach Up is a free-to-access online learning hub, designed specifically to support group exercise instructors in reaching women who currently aren’t attending their sessions – often due to concerns about health, fitness, or not feeling like they “belong” in those spaces.
The new hub offers a series of bite-sized learning modules covering a wide range of topics with practical, insightful guidance that instructors can use in real time to build their confidence – and that of the women walking into their classes for the first time.
There’s content on how to support women living with long-term health conditions, including specialised content on conditions that disproportionately affect women like osteoporosis and non-specific back pain. It also includes guidance on how to engage specific communities, such as Muslim women, and how to create genuinely inclusive environments that reflect the needs and experiences of the women instructors are hoping to reach.
There’s also practical support on things like building confidence to create video content for social media – something that can help instructors grow their audience and connect with participants in new ways. And for those who want to understand the bigger picture, there are modules on behaviour change and how to help participants develop long-lasting, sustainable habits around physical activity.
Get involved
Reach Up is launching at a really important time for This Girl Can. Later this year, the campaign will be launching its latest phase – one that puts an even stronger focus on supporting women from under-served communities to get active. That means doing more to reach women who, for lots of different reasons, haven’t always felt that sport or physical activity is for them.
We know that group exercise is one of the most popular ways to be active – particularly among women. According to the latest Active Lives data, over 20% of women in England take part in fitness classes regularly – that’s more than the number who regularly run or cycle. That makes group exercise a huge opportunity – and a responsibility – to create spaces that are truly welcoming and inclusive, which Reach Up aims to do.
To find out more about Reach Up, and to access the resources, visit: emduk.org/reachup/