Women's walking group funded

A women-only walking group in Market Harborough has secured £8,000 to roll out a safer walking programme for local participants. (harboroughmail.co.uk) The money will fund the WOW Safer Walking Programme, with outdoor first-aid training for volunteer walk leaders and members, plus first-aid kits, visibility lights and guidance aimed at making sure no woman is left behind on walks. (harboroughmail.co.uk) WOW stands for Women Only Walks. Founder Jemma Redden started the group in 2024, and it now works with more than 2,000 women across Leicestershire. (yahoo.com) Redden said safety has been central to the group from the start, describing WOW as “a space where women feel safe, welcome and connected.” The new programme is focused on walks in Little Bowden. (harboroughmail.co.uk) The funding lands as women’s safety while walking has moved higher up the policy agenda in England. In a speech published on March 26, 2026, the government said almost nine in 10 female respondents reported feeling unsafe when walking alone after dark. (gov.uk) That same government speech said seven in 10 female respondents had changed their route in the previous 12 months to avoid walking in the dark. The Department for Transport and Active Travel England presented safer walking as part of a wider public-health and transport strategy. (gov.uk) WOW has been building toward this expansion for more than a year. In May 2024, Active Together said a related women’s walking group in Leicestershire had used torches and hot drinks on winter evening walks and that women reported feeling safe exploring places in the dark as a group. (active-together.org) The organization itself has also become more formal. Women Only Walks registered as a Community Interest Company on December 22, 2025, with a stated focus on physical well-being activities and membership-based community work. (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk) On its website, WOW says it is based in Market Harborough and is building activities around walking, social connection and well-being. The new grant gives that mission a narrower target: helping women walk together without treating personal safety as a solo calculation. (womenonlywalks.co.uk)