My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions
1
First Name
Last Name
Pronouns
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Initiative Title
A youth sport programme helping young women to adapt to heat caused by climate change
Lead Organization Name
UK Endometriosis
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2025
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.endometriosis-uk.org
Initiative Stage
Idea (You have a solid concept and are hoping to get started in the future)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Project summary This project is a practical, sport- based climate adaptation programme designed to support young women and girls to remain active, safe and confident as the global temperatures rise and cause higher heat stress during exercise every year. This programme will be delivered in partnership with Endometriosis UK and the Menstrual Health Project, ensuring that all activities are informed by lived experiences, menstrual health education, and community-based experience. This programme will target two youth populations groups: 1. Secondary school girls aged 14-18 years old 2. University student girls aged 18-30 years old Climate change is already affecting sport participation due to intense heat events. Young women face additional physiological vulnerability that is not addressed or provided by existing heat-safety guidelines, which is mostly based on male physiology. Early women’s adulthood is a crucial period during which attitudes toward exercise, sport, body imagine, body awareness, and confidence are being formed. At younger ages, girls often have limited or no knowledge at all of heat risks and how training conditions need to be adapted. By targeting both age groups, we will allow this programme to develop and support early education while applying skills during independent sport participation.
Challenge Focus: What topic does your initiative most directly relate to?
Climate action through awareness and engagement
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves in the UK, particularly in urban areas such as London due to the urban heat island effect. Rising temperatures are already affecting youth sport participation, creating unsafe conditions during training and recreational physical activity. Heat exposure during exercise can result in dehydration, fatigue, reduced performance, and heat-related illness. Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable. Adolescent thermoregulatory systems are not fully developed, and hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle influence body temperature and heat tolerance. Despite this, most existing heat-safety guidelines in sport are based on male physiology and do not address female-specific responses or conditions such as endometriosis and PCOS. This gap increases risk and contributes to reduced sport participation and loss of confidence during hot weather. The primary beneficiaries are secondary school girls (14–18) and university-aged women (18–30) in London. Early adolescence and young adulthood are critical periods when lifelong attitudes toward sport, body awareness, and confidence are formed. We are closely connected to the affected community through established relationships with Southwark and Lambeth councils, local schools, and university sport environments.
Your approach: How are you addressing the problem outlined above? How are you using the power of sport and physical activity to build awareness, shift behavior, and enable sustainable participation for all in response to the climate crisis? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Our initiative addresses the growing impact of climate change on youth sport participation, particularly the increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves in London. Rising temperatures are already creating unsafe conditions for exercise, yet existing heat-safety guidance in sport is largely based on male physiology and does not reflect female-specific thermoregulation or menstrual cycle variability. We use sport as both the setting and the solution. Through structured, interactive workshops and applied training sessions, young women aged 14–30 learn how climate change is increasing heat exposure, how their bodies respond to heat during exercise, and how hormonal fluctuations influence heat tolerance. This knowledge is immediately translated into practical skills, including hydration planning, recognising early signs of heat strain, adjusting training intensity, and tracking menstrual cycle phases in relation to heat. By embedding education directly within sport environments, we move beyond awareness and enable behaviour change. Participants develop confidence and self-efficacy to make informed decisions during hot weather rather than withdrawing from activity. Youth Climate Ambassadors reinforce key messages through peer-to-peer support, strengthening community resilience. The idea emerged during recent UK heatwaves when sport sessions were disrupted but female-specific guidance was absent. The “aha” moment was recognising that climate adaptation in sport was not inclusive. Our programme bridges that gap, enabling safe, sustainable participation for young women as temperatures continue to rise.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Young women and girls are central to both the design and delivery of this initiative. The programme is co-developed with Endometriosis UK and the Menstrual Health Project to ensure that lived experience of menstrual health conditions and heat-related challenges informs all workshop content. Their input shapes educational materials, language, and practical guidance to ensure it is inclusive, accessible, and relevant. Participants are not passive recipients of information. Workshops are interactive and discussion-based, encouraging young women to share their own experiences of exercising during heatwaves, menstrual-cycle variability, and symptom management. This feedback informs ongoing refinement of materials and delivery. Each group nominates a Youth Climate Ambassador who receives additional guidance and plays an active role in reinforcing heat-safety messages within their peer group. Ambassadors share information about upcoming heatwaves, promote hydration and adaptation strategies, and help normalise conversations around menstrual health and heat strain. This peer-led approach strengthens engagement and ensures that adaptation strategies continue beyond the workshop setting. Established relationships with local schools, universities, and councils ensure the programme is delivered directly within communities most affected by urban heat exposure. By embedding delivery within familiar sport environments, young people actively shape how climate adaptation is understood and practised in their own spaces.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in raising climate awareness, shifting behaviors, or reducing environmental impact or harm? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had¡, and/or what impact do you envision having in the future?
This initiative raises climate awareness by linking climate change directly to young women’s lived experience of sport. Rather than presenting climate change as an abstract issue, workshops demonstrate how rising temperatures and increasing heatwaves are already affecting exercise safety in London. Participants leave with a clear understanding of urban heat exposure, female-specific thermoregulation, and the practical implications of climate change for their health and participation. Behaviour change is supported through applied skill development. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires measure changes in knowledge, confidence, and heat-management behaviours. Participants learn to proactively adapt training times, hydration strategies, and intensity levels during hot weather rather than withdrawing from activity. Youth Climate Ambassadors reinforce these behaviours through peer-led reminders and heatwave awareness, strengthening long-term adoption. We anticipate increased confidence exercising during heat periods, improved understanding of menstrual-cycle variability in relation to temperature, and sustained sport participation during warmer months. By embedding climate adaptation within regular sport environments, the programme builds community resilience and reduces the risk of heat-related harm. Data collected through questionnaires and follow-up check-ins will inform institutional reports and academic dissemination, contributing to the wider evidence base on female-specific climate adaptation in sport. Over time, the initiative has potential to influence how schools and universities integrate heat-safety guidance into youth sport policy and practice.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
This initiative is innovative because it integrates climate adaptation, female physiology, and sport practice into one applied model. Existing heat-safety guidance in sport is largely generic and based on male physiological research. Climate education programmes, meanwhile, rarely connect environmental change to female-specific health or everyday sport participation. Our approach bridges these gaps. Rather than treating climate change as abstract awareness, we translate rising temperatures into practical, body-specific adaptation strategies for young women. The programme combines climate literacy, menstrual health education, and applied heat-management skills within real sport settings. Participants do not simply receive information; they practise tracking menstrual cycle variability, recognising early heat strain, and adjusting hydration and training decisions in response to forecasted heatwaves. The inclusion of reproductive health considerations, including symptom variability linked to conditions such as endometriosis and PCOS, further differentiates the model. This ensures adaptation guidance reflects lived experience and not a one-size-fits-all approach. The Youth Climate Ambassador model adds peer-led reinforcement, embedding climate resilience within sport culture rather than limiting impact to a single workshop. By centring female-specific thermoregulation within climate adaptation, this initiative addresses an overlooked equity gap and provides a scalable framework for inclusive heat resilience in youth sport.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
The project lead is responsible for overall coordination, programme design, delivery, safeguarding compliance, data collection, and evaluation. This includes developing workshop materials, overseeing applied sport sessions, managing relationships with schools and universities, and ensuring ethical approval and informed consent procedures are in place. Endometriosis UK and the Menstrual Health Project act as specialist partners, contributing lived-experience insight and reviewing educational materials to ensure they are inclusive, condition-aware, and accessible. Their role focuses on co-design and quality assurance rather than direct recruitment or operational delivery. Schools, universities, and local council partners support participant access, venue provision, and safeguarding oversight within their settings. They facilitate communication with students and ensure sessions align with institutional policies. Youth Climate Ambassadors play a peer-support role, reinforcing key heat-safety and adaptation messages within their groups and promoting awareness of upcoming heatwaves. Data analysis and academic dissemination are led by the project lead as part of doctoral research at London South Bank University. This structure ensures clear accountability, shared expertise, and collaborative delivery while maintaining defined responsibilities across partners.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your organization up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
The initiative is designed for operational viability through partnership-based delivery embedded within existing school and university sport structures. Established relationships with local councils, secondary schools, and university sport environments provide direct access to participants and minimise recruitment barriers. Workshops use adaptable, modular materials tailored to different age groups while maintaining consistent core content. Educational resources, digital toolkits, and workshop templates are designed for repeat use, enabling continued delivery beyond initial funding. Youth Climate Ambassador training provides a low-cost, peer-led mechanism for reinforcing heat adaptation behaviours within institutions. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires generate measurable evidence of impact, strengthening future funding applications and informing institutional reporting and academic dissemination. This evidence-based framework positions the initiative within both community and research contexts. To scale, the model can be replicated across additional London boroughs and adapted regionally. The structure allows integration into school curricula, university sport induction programmes, and coach education pathways. Over time, the initiative has potential to inform national guidance on female-specific heat adaptation in youth sport.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/ to grow.
Key milestones for delivery and growth include: 1. Programme Finalisation (Months 1-2) • Finalise workshop curriculum and digital toolkit • Complete partner review with Endometriosis UK and the Menstrual Health Project • Secure safeguarding approvals and institutional agreements 2. Pilot Delivery (Months 3–6) • Deliver workshops in selected secondary schools and universities • Implement Youth Climate Ambassador training • Collect pre- and post-workshop evaluation data 3. Evaluation and Refinement (Months 6-8) • Analyse questionnaire data • Produce institutional impact reports • Refine materials based on participant feedback 4. Expansion Phase (Months 9-12) • Secure additional borough partnerships • Develop scalable delivery toolkit for replication • Explore integration into school curricula and university sport induction programmes 5. Strategic Growth (Year 2+) • Publish findings through academic and practitioner channels • Develop train-the-trainer model for wider regional adoption • Position programme to inform national guidance on female-specific heat adaptation in youth sport These milestones ensure structured implementation, measurable impact, and a clear pathway from pilot delivery to scalable expansion.
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details (LINK).
Participation in the 8-week capacity-building programme would require dedicated staff time and operational adjustments to ensure continued delivery of workshops within schools and universities. The primary cost barrier is protected time for the programme lead to fully engage in training sessions, complete required assignments, and implement learning into organisational systems. As delivery is embedded within academic and community settings, this time would otherwise be allocated to workshop facilitation and evaluation activities. Estimated costs include: • Staff time allocation for participation and strategic implementation (£5,000-£6,000 equivalent time) • Travel and subsistence for in-person sessions, if required (£1,000-£1,500) • Limited delivery backfill to maintain commitments during the training period (£1,500-£2,000) Support of up to £8,000-£10,000 would remove participation barriers and enable full engagement without disrupting programme delivery. The funding would directly strengthen governance, evaluation systems, and long-term scalability planning.
If you selected “Other”, please specify below.
