Building on the success of last year’s event, the festival will celebrate and champion the contribution of women and girls across community and organised sport and physical activity in Birmingham.

It aims to provide accessible, high-quality learning and development opportunities for those working with women and girls, while supporting and empowering more women and girls to step into and thrive within volunteering, coaching and leadership roles across the workforce.

The charity will also be working in partnership with Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to deliver a Women and Girls Coaching and Leadership Festival in April 2026.

While progress has been made in recent years, women remain underrepresented as volunteers, coaches and leaders within the sport and physical activity sector.

Many continue to face barriers such as a lack of visible role models, limited access to development opportunities and inflexible pathways into leadership.

Sport Birmingham is an independent charity and the city’s strategic sport and physical activity partnership.

They work with community groups, organisations and partners to make sport and physical activity inclusive, accessible and beneficial for people’s health and wellbeing across Birmingham.

In 2025, Sport Birmingham set out with a bold vision: to create an event that not only celebrated girls in sport, but also broke down barriers and inspired more girls to get active and engaged in physical activity.

Girls of Brum, held at the Alexander Stadium, proved to be a resounding success. Girls from across the city took part, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants, schools and partners alike.

The event reinforced the importance of creating more opportunities for women and girls to participate in sport and physical activity.

Nikki English, development manager for inclusion at Sport Birmingham, said: “All of the work happening across the city linked to women and girls feels especially exciting this year, because we are seeing a real shift across sport and physical activity.

“Many National Governing Bodies are now genuinely prioritising engagement with women and girls, and that commitment is reflected in this event.

“The Women and Girls Leadership Festival strengthens the people and places that make sport and physical activity possible.

“It supports our workforce to create safe, inclusive environments where women and girls feel they belong, while also developing more visible role models across our communities.

“By empowering more women and girls to step into leadership roles, the festival is helping to build a stronger, more representative system for the future.”

For further information about the festival, contact Adam Warden or Nikki English.

Contact Dan Smith for partnership opportunities.