Her Spirit, founded by two female social entrepreneurs, Mel Berry and Holly Woodford, has confirmed details of its advisory board of ‘top talent from business, media and health.’
Her Spirit notes that it is on a mission to help British women improve their health, fitness and mental resilience. It provides online coaching from experts to help women get active and has a raft of experts to support women whatever their level of fitness.
The mission of the Her Spirit Advisory Board is to not only improve the UK’s health but also to address the growing issues and concerns around gender parity and ethnicity. Joining the advisory board are senior leaders such as Eleanor Mills, Dr Nighat Arif, Sophie Radcliffe, Lisa O’Keefe and Prof Greg Whyte. The board will be chaired by Chris Brindley MBE.
Supporting this is The Her Spirit podcast, hosted by BBC Breakfast star Louise Minchin and Annie Emmerson, which spreads the word on the importance of physical activity, nutrition and mental health for women. It has already had over 40,000 downloads – with featured guests such as Helen Skelton, Jo Whiley and Naga Munchetty – and was listed in Apple’s ‘New and Noteworthy’ global section.
Her Spirit podcast guest and GP, Dr Nighat Arif, said “Pre COVID-19 there were already significant inequalities, with 61% of White British women being active compared to only 41% of Pakistani women, 46% of Bangladeshi women, and 52% of Indian women; and the gap is just getting wider.
“We need to defuse the ticking ‘health’ time bomb by urgently igniting a ‘healthy living revolution’ to normalise physical activity and healthy eating.”
Eleanor Mills, Chair of Women in Journalism (and a Her Spirit podcast guest) said “It is clear that women are bearing the emotional and physical brunt of the coronavirus crisis. Six out of ten women (61%) are finding it harder to stay positive day-to-day (The Fawcett Society) and we have also seen at the height of the pandemic a 7% drop in women’s physical activity levels while men’s participation increased by 6% (Sport England).
“The media plays a key role in supporting women to be more active, eat better and feel so much more empowered and resilient. I am passionate about supporting Her Spirit and making these changes happen for women, particular those who are often forgotten in our society.”
Adventurer, Her Spirit podcast guest, blogger and speaker Sophie Radcliffe added “We need to secure more investment into women’s physical and mental health and better utilise funding for this purpose. We need to deliver education and behaviour change programmes that empower women to make significant lifestyle changes for themselves.”
Holly Woodford, Her Spirit Co-Founder said “The response to joining the Advisory Board has been incredible. I think everyone can see, as a result of Covid-19, inequality is spiralling out of control. The economic, gender and ethnicity gap is getting wider and wider ;and we can all sit round our dinner tables and talk about how terrible it is, or we can choose to do something about it.”
The Advisory Board will work collaboratively with the public and private sector to put women and girl’s health at the centre of efforts to recover from COVID-19.
‘It will work collaboratively with the public and private sector to create a scalable, cost-effective preventative health offer that is available for every woman across the UK.’
Her Spirit Advisory Board
Chris Brindley (Chair) – Ex MD Metro Bank, Chair Rugby League World Cup 2021
Dr Nighat Arif – GP & women’s health expert and regular BBC contributor
Eleanor Mills – Journalist, Chair of Women in Journalism.
Ian Filby – Chair Her Spirit, ex CEO of DFS and Chair of Joules
Sophie Radcliffe – Adventurer, blogger and leads Trailblazers
Juliette Clark – Ex Investment Banker, HotChilli Ride Leader & disability lead
Jodie Stimpson – Professional Triathlete body image and food champion
Michelle Sharland – Occupational Therapist and Her Spirit cycling and coach lead
Lisa O’Keefe – Insight Director, Sport England
Prof. Greg – Whyte Physical activity expert
Dr Tracy Donachie – Chartered Psychologist
Jo Pickard – Broadcaster, presenter and producer
Holly Woodford – Her Spirit Co-Founder
Mel Berry – Her Spirit Co-Founder
