Nicola Adams leads boxing session at Westfield Stratford City as she launches ‘This Girl Can With You’ campaign

Nicola Adams hosted an interactive boxing experience for women visiting Westfield Stratford City on Monday as the new ‘This Girl Can With You’ campaign launched.

The Olympic Gold medallist, 40, from Leeds, has partnered with Sport England’s award-winning campaign, ‘This Girl Can’ to encourage women to enjoy physical activity.

‘This Girl Can’ usually aims to help women get active, but it has now turned its attention to tackling the exercise ‘Enjoyment Gap’ between men and women - with the launch of ‘This Girl Can With You’.

The campaign was created after research showed 2.4 million fewer women than men enjoy sport and physical activity, with fear of judgement being a main factor.

Yesterday, visitors at Westfield’s east London shopping centre were invited to fight back against the barriers preventing women from getting active.

Alongside Nicola, women took part in boxing using illustrative gloves and punch bags designed and painted by women’s art collective, Galphabetics.

‘This Girl Can With You’ is just the kickstarter in a huge campaign to close the Enjoyment Gap, after the research also revealed enjoyment is one of the biggest motivators for people to take part in sport and physical activity.

Nicola, who is the first female boxer to become a double Olympic gold medallist, said: “For a long time, there was very little funding in women’s boxing – so much so that the female fighters used to have to share one shirt in tournaments. I always tried to go first so it wasn’t dripping in sweat!

“I was called all kinds of names as a female boxer and even remember being regularly told to take up another sport or a different career. It’s no wonder there’s such a significant enjoyment gap in the amount of women enjoying exercise, compared with men.

“These days, sport and fitness remain an integral part of my routine. I still train most days because it helps me feel good in myself and destress – and I’m a big advocate of encouraging women and girls to make sure they get active too, in whatever way works for them.”

The latest research shows that there are a range of practical and emotional barriers preventing women from getting active.

One in three women say they feel too tired or don’t have enough energy to be physically active, while 29% don’t feel motivated enough, and 31% say they don’t have enough time.

Others admitted they have a fear of not being fit enough, showing their body and have felt judged by others when exercising.

Safety fears are another significant barrier, with more than one in five women saying they are concerned about sexual harassment when doing sport and physical activity, a statistic that almost doubles (41%) when outdoors in the dark.

‘This Girl Can With You’ is set to support organisations across the sport and physical activity sector to develop solutions that help women to feel part of a community, meet their needs and help them to build confidence while in a safe environment.

Nicola added: “There are sadly still so many barriers women and girls come up against – but at the same time there are lots of organisations out there doing great work to support women them. Coach Alwyn Belcher, who is now 85 but still going strong training boxers, was so important when I was starting out in boxing.

“Individuals and groups who are committed to helping women and girls overcome the challenges they face have a huge impact in boosting their self-confidence, supporting mental health and getting them on the path to achieving great things.”