'This Woman Can' Outdoor Activity Group

Who are we?  Wild Wonder and Wisdom CIC are a social enterprise with the mission to get as many people outdoors and active together as possible in the beautiful blue and green spaces of St Austell Bay and beyond.  Our aim is to improve mental and physical wellbeing by providing fun opportunities for people to try new things in a supportive community.  

Why do we need your help?

We want to continue to support and grow our community of women aged 30+ in the St Austell Bay area to overcome personal and financial barriers to getting active on, in and by the water.  Your donations will allow us to employ qualified and experienced instructors, hire kit from local businesses and empower more women to step out of their comfort zones and try new things in a fortnightly group in Mevagissey/ St Austell.

'This Woman Can' ........ and does :-)

In 2022 we were awarded a £1000 grant from CRCC (Cornwall Rural Community Charity) to set up a mental wellbeing support group for woman aged 40+ in Mevagissey.  We decided to replicate our successful multi-activity model that we already use with our 'This Girl Can' and 'Outdoor Adventurers' clubs but invite older women to come and play instead.  Why should the kids have all the fun??

We launched our group on social media and set up a private 'This Gran Can' facebook group and within 2 weeks of starting, we had over 70 members from Mevagissey and surrounding areas!  We now have almost 100 :-) 

Our first session was an Introduction to Sea Swimming session at Portmellon and we had a glorious sunny morning for it and over 20 women came down.  We lent a few wetsuits and showed everyone how to use a tow float to keep themselves safe. Some of our women had not worn a wetsuit before or even been swimming in the sea.  Everyone had a great time and we then set up a social swimming whatsapp group so that group members could meet outside of our organised sessions.  We will support all of our women through any concerns and worries to make sure they can all feel empowered enough to have a go at whatever activity we offer. 

Blog about 'This Woman Can - CRCC Project'

Other successful sessions were cricket with the wonderful Nick from St Austell Cricket Club, Silent Disco Beach Yoga with Sophie from Bodmin Yoga, gig rowing with Mevagissey Gig Rowing Club, kayaking and bushcraft with Chris and Kathy from WWW, and we finished on a popular autumnal kayak and paddleboarding session in October.  A special thanks goes out to Chrys of The Paddleshed for giving us a massive discount on her paddleboards and kayaks and to Martin and his team from Mevagissey Rowing Club who volunteered their time and gigs for us to try their awesome sport.  Since this funding came to an end we have been keeping things ticking over with the occasional walk and talk and have a Beach Yoga session, Silent Disco and Sea Swim booked in for June 2023 (16th and 29th June).

Our 'This Woman Can' group was really well received and we want to be able to continue this offer.  The infographics above show some of the wonderful things that came out from our sessions.  Two of the take-outs for me were that this has been a support group for what one of our women considered to be a 'forgotten group of women', and that putting by yourself and trying something new really can lead to meeting new friends and finding new interests and hobbies.  The Mevagissey Gig Rowing Club have gained a couple of new oarswomen and cricket was a surprising hit. These women really can play!!

We are now looking for further funding to support our 'This Woman Can' group as it has been a great way to reduce social isolation, meet new friends, try new things and improve mental and physical wellbeing in women.  Raising £1000 will allow us to fully fund a further 3 months of activities for women to try for free, or will subsidise affordable sessions for 6 months.  The 'This Woman Can' group will decide themselves what model they will prefer to run with. Come and join our online support group on facebook to find out what we're up to.

'This Woman Can' facebook group

Thank you for your support :-)