Preparation is everything in health and personal finance

Scottish Widows is supporting the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), a Government-funded charity which exists to inspire women to be active, as it develops the first national strategy to increase women's participation in sport and exercise.

The first step is a report launched on 15 November at a conference in the Emirates stadium in London, with Gordon Brown highlighting the importance of the issue and key sporting figures such as Kelly Holmes present.

Titled 'It's time', the report presents research into the social, cultural and psychological barriers preventing women from taking part in physical activity.

The research, sponsored by Scottish Widows, shows that:

• more than 80% of women are not doing enough exercise to benefit their health
• among 16-24 year olds, women are half as active as men
• the situation is worst for low income and black and minority ethnic women
• if trends continue, there will be one and a quarter million fewer women exercising by 2017
• Government targets of two million more active people by 2012 are in jeopardy

The partnership with the WSFF is a key strand in Scottish Widows’ programme of promoting health and well-being in the community, and sits alongside its role as Official Pensions and Investment Provider of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Cameron Walker, Corporate Communications Director at Scottish Widows commented, “We hope that this report will be a significant step towards generating solutions to the challenge of raising women’s participation levels in sport and fitness, and that through this the lives of women and girls across the UK will improve.”

The research being undertaken by the WSFF echoes the comprehensive body of research that Scottish Widows produces every year, such as the annual Women and Pensions report, which explores the problems women face in saving for their retirement.