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The #BeeWell data has continuously shown that girls in Greater Manchester tend to be less likely to meet guidelines for physical activity than boys. Recent conversations with the young people in our #BeeWell Youth Steering Group have shown that this a key area of focus for them, as the group have shared stories about their own experiences of feeling excluded from sports and being put off by things such as gendered PE kit.
While these conversations have raised a real need for action in this area, it has been great to know that some wonderful work is underway. We work closely with GM Moving, whose ambition is to make it easier to be active in daily life.
For this blog, I spoke to Lauren Whaley, Active Young People Lead at GM Moving, about the Feel Good Your Way campaign.
FS: Hi Lauren, thanks for speaking to us today. I will start with an easy question and ask you to describe the Feel Good Your Way project in a few sentences.
LW: The Feel Good Your Way project was GM Moving’s commitment to the #BeeWell data back in 2021. The aim of the project was to alter 11- to 16-year-old girls’ perceptions of physical activity and what moving could do to support their wellbeing. We layered in some targeted approaches around LGBTQ+ and SEND young people and trying to overcome some of the barriers that they face in terms of being active.
New Feel Good Your Way video released this International Women’s Day, 2025.
FS: Thanks, Lauren. It’s great to hear that the project was a reaction to #BeeWell data – but I am interested if that was the only spark for the project? Or was there anything else that made you know this needed to happen?
LW: The initial spark was a young person at Bolton Youth Council called Isabel. She was realising that a lot of her teachers weren’t doing enough to support girls to be active or to encourage them to be active. She felt like they didn’t have the mindset of understanding that advocating for physical activity was going to help her and her friends with things like exam stress and the stress of being a teenager.
Isabel was such a force. She got involved in the campaign; she did a voice over for our campaign materials. She was a real driver for understanding that at every level, whether it was education, within the community, or looking at it from health providers, more partners needed to support girls to move more.
She got the experience of coming with the film crew and coming on set. And I think she really loved that. We went back and presented the video to her Youth Service and she said she felt that like a film star and was so excited to show her mum.
The first campaign video from Feel Good Your Way.
FS: That’s so great to hear that the spark came from an individual – a real example of youth voice in action. I bet she is proud of her role in this.
LW: Yeah, I think so. And I think going back and presenting the work to the service was such an important part of that. It was important that we used the Lundy Model as an example, going through the cycle and showing her and the other young people the impact that they had. I really try and make sure I do that in the way that I work. It’s easy to be the asker all the time and take everything from everybody, but you want to put something back in too.
FS: Couldn’t agree more, Lauren – and something we all need to remember. OK, now I know there’s a lot that’s come through the project, but could you just give me a summary of some of the outputs?
LW: Oh my goodness – there’s so much.
We commissioned an original film, which was very much about listening to what young people said and acting on how we spoke about moving. The young people named it Feel Good, Your Way and the strapline from it was ‘do something you love, where you love, with who you love, and feel good your way.’
And that was a real key bit for me in terms of understanding that it wasn’t about having a gym membership or having the right trainers and all that. There needed to be a wider ambition to change how we talk about moving.
So the outputs were very much based around that idea – we created videos that allowed us to share stories about how girls were moving and how that was helping them.
One video focuses on a young person called Faythe and her story. It’s about what it means to have the opportunity to be part of her girls only session at a water adventure centre, and what the wider implications for her family are. She talks about her overall wellbeing and how just getting out and about helped her. She tells us about how she would just sit at home all day beforehand, and how she didn’t have a lot of friends – and how going to the water adventure centre changed all of that.
I feel like through creating those outputs, the most important thing has been the relationships we have created. I think we have been able to upskill partners to think differently about moving and to support them to get out there and advocate for moving and physical activity. We really wanted to make the project feel like it wasn’t just owned by GM Moving, but our partners, too – that they took some ownership and that it complements the work they were doing in their local areas. I hope that all the outputs have felt like they have supported and enhanced work that was happening and that we are shining a light on the great stuff that’s out there.
Faythe’s experience of Water Adventure Centre.
FS: You may have just partly answered my next question – but, what has been the most inspiring thing about leading this project for you?
LW: Wow. Big question. Well, I feel pretty removed from the reality at times. I’m behind a desk, I’m doing spreadsheets, I’m meeting people on Zoom every day – and the biggest bit for me was the reality of remembering that there is stuff out there happening. There was a frustration within our world that there’s no activities on, there’s no funding. And I know that is partly where we’re at, where, you know, there is an issue for young people’s access in activities and inclusivity and all the stuff like that. But there is some really good stuff happening as well.
And I think it made me realise that we need to get more people to come out and visit some of those sites. The water adventure centre I mentioned is literally on the side of the canal up a little driveway which you would never know was there. But what a great place!
And I went to a Para Netball session, where you know that the leaders there are doing what they can to make people feel welcome and like they belong in a space, bringing energy to every session. They were supporting a girl that was blind and a girl that needed a frame to walk, and the way they adapted the sessions and the excitement they brought to it was incredible. It reminded me of why I got into sport and physical activity and why I work with young people.
And it’s all about the people that get it, the ones that are grafting every week. I think, for me, that’s been so inspiring. I knew the work was happening out there, but it’s reminded me of the importance of the work I do and of this campaign.
It was also really inspiring to see the targeted support that is out there. I went to Salford Youth Service for an LGBTQ+ specific session and it was a session where the trans community felt safe to be there. It really moved me to remember that there are these things that are put in place to support people who face barriers in taking part in physical activity and movement. There are things out there now that are tackling inequalities more than ever.
And I should probably also mention how inspiring it has been to see people start to think about movement differently; to realise the things they do in their day which are a type of movement. Getting past the perception of a PE lesson, or a sports club, or that they must go for a swim at the weekend or it doesn’t count. The Feel Good Your Way work is wider than that – it’s asking if they are walking, meeting one of their friends and going shopping and walking around the shopping centre, or going out with their dogs, or doing some Tik-Tok dances at home. That all counts as moving. It all helps your wellbeing.
I hope this campaign has helped people to understand that and to find movement related things that they can connect to.
FS: What do you hope will come from the project in the future?
LW: From my point of view, I want us to continue to make new partnerships in areas where we can support those partners to talk about moving in their world. We know we’ve got a crisis in young people’s mental wellbeing and we can layer obesity into that. We can layer in isolation and hope for the future and all that sort of stuff, too. Physical activity is a good starting point to support those things.
The ambition for me is that the young people feel like they’re part of it. You know, I don’t directly work with young people and that’s the bit that I need to have trust in the partners to do. But in the long term, I’d love that the young people can create content that’s sharing how they’re feeling good, their way. And if that organically links and leaks things to other young people, then that’s the dream, isn’t it?
I’d like it if this helped partners and young people to see that physical activity is not just a one off, it’s not just for school sports week or Mental Health Awareness Week. The ideal is that something’s sustained and embedded in someone’s habits, and it’s all about how we can have positive relationships with movement that build habits across our life.
FS: Thanks again, Lauren. I just have one more question for you now. If you could say one thing to the young people who’ve been involved in the project so far, what would it be?
LW: Just one thing?
FS: Ha ha. You can make it several things, if you need.
LW: You turned up, you turned up to those sessions. You’ve improved your wellbeing without realising the impact some of it’s having on you and others. That’s a massive thing. And thank you for inspiring me to remember that we can learn a lot from young people.
I learnt a lot from being at the sites, remembering that young people’s voices were at the heart of this and making sure that comes across in the piece of work. It’s not me, it’s not my opinion that matters. Youth voice was where we started this and that is where I want it to continue.
Read more on the new videos published this International Women’s Day here: Feel Good Your Way returns to celebrate those supporting girls to move more and feel good | Greater Manchester Moving.
