A LEISURE centre in Reading is lending its support to a cause supporting and promoting women’s safety while staying active.
Better Leisure has announced it is supporting the ‘Lift The Curfew’ drive to help women stay active and use their local facilities without fearing for their safety as the winter months drawing in means less hours of daylight.
Let’s Lift the Curfew is a national movement from This Girl Can that calls attention to the unwanted curfew many women feel during the darker months, when safety concerns limit their freedom to get active outdoors.
GLL, the not-for-profit social enterprise that operates Palmer Park on behalf of the council, is partnering with Reading Roadrunners as a way of highlighting the barriers many women face when exercising after dark.
Launched in 2023, Let’s Lift the Curfew has evolved into a national movement with an annual campaign moment when the clocks go back.
Now in its third year, the campaign seeks to amplify women’s stories, promote allyship and encourage wider cultural awareness of the issues that prevent many from being active outdoors during the autumn and winter — from poor lighting to fear of harassment.
A “Lift the Curfew” beginners track session for women is being held on Friday, October 31 at Reading’s Palmer Park Leisure Centre and Stadium.
Participants in the Palmer Park event are encouraged to log their activity on Strava, label it ‘Let’s Lift the Curfew’, and share it on social media using the hashtag #LetsLiftTheCurfew, tagging @thisgirlcanuk to help amplify the message nationally. After the run, participants are invited to have a hot chocolate in the leisure centre café.
Let’s Lift the Curfew urges communities, organisations and local authorities to contribute to lasting change, from fostering greater education and cultural awareness around women’s safety and allyship, to ensuring public spaces and outdoor areas are designed with women’s needs in mind.
Kerri French, Coaching Liaison Officer for Reading Roadrunners and an ambassador for This Girl Can, said: “Every winter, many women are forced to adjust their routines, avoid certain routes or stop being active outdoors altogether–not because they want to, but because they don’t feel safe.
“It is a societal failure that women changing their behaviour is normalised, rather than changing the behaviour of those that make them feel unsafe. Let’s Lift the Curfew is about calling that out and demanding better.
“This year’s movement is powered by allies and communities everywhere who refuse to accept that women’s freedom should shrink when the sun goes down and the clocks go back.
“Together, we’re showing what real change looks like – one street, one run, one act of solidarity at a time.”
GLL Area Community Sports Manager Steph Smith said: “We’re delighted to be supporting this campaign–it’s an important way of sparking conversations and inspiring practical steps to make our shared spaces safer, more welcoming, and truly open to everyone.”
More information about Let’s Lift the Curfew and how to get involved is available via: thisgirlcan.co.uk
