For many women and girls across the Liverpool City Region (LCR), deeply ingrained systemic barriers still stand in the way of living a fully active life.
That’s why we at Merseyside Sports Partnership (MSP) are incredibly proud to announce that Liverpool John Moores University’s (LJMU) School of Sport and Exercise Sciences has formally pledged its support for the region’s commitment to gender equity in movement, physical activity, and sport.
This public commitment marks a vital step in bringing together partners across education, health, local government, and sport to create more equitable opportunities for women and girls to be active on their own terms, throughout their lives.
To celebrate this milestone, MSP’s CEO Justine Blomeley, alongside Emma McKenna, our new Women and Girls System Change Lead, recently visited the LJMU campus for a dedicated event.
It offered a collaborative space for faculty from the School of Sport & Exercise Sciences to discuss the realities of whole-system change, ask questions, and hear directly from those helping to drive the LCR-wide movement.
The event culminated with Dr Aileen Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement and Partnerships, formally committing to the local pledge on behalf of the University, proudly holding the Liverpool City Region’s signed Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration alongside representatives from MSP and LJMU.
This pledge is the culmination of ongoing, dedicated gender equity work. The timing is incredibly fitting, coming immediately after the International Working Group (IWG) on Women & Sport’s 2026 Global Summit in Birmingham.
Last year, in a trailblazing sister-city-region approach, Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester jointly became the world’s first place-based signatories of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration in the document’s 30-year history. At this year’s summit, both MSP and Greater Manchester Moving both took to the stage to present the ongoing work in their areas, putting our regionally-driven, devolved approach to gender equity on a global platform.
By translating this global treaty into place-based action, we are shifting from a symbolic gesture to a living, participatory framework.
Tori Sprung, Reader in Clinical Exercise Physiology at LJMU, emphasised the importance of this local buy-in during her talk:
“What’s really important for the city region is that we get key stakeholders to pledge their support to fulfill the aspirations of the declaration.”
Like so much of systems change, this milestone is the result of quiet, behind-the-scenes work: months of conversations, relationship building, and a shared ambition to make movement equitable for all.
LJMU joins a growing network of organisations – including local councils, grassroots clubs, and charities across LCR and Greater Manchester – who are putting in the work to dismantle barriers to participation.
Reflecting on the university’s commitment, MSP’s CEO Justine Blomeley noted:
“This is very much about work that is already going on right across the university being recognised and highlighted… to encourage others to sign the pledge and for more people to be facing the same way, working towards that shared vision and mission.
“We want to enable more women and girls to be active every day, in whatever way works for them, right across the city region in every walk of life.”
The exciting part is that this is only the beginning. Creating healthier, more active communities where women and girls can thrive requires a collective effort.
Whether you are an individual, a community group, or a large organisation, your contribution matters. Help us turn this global commitment into a local reality.
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