Meet Tracey and Summer Brown and find out more about our new partnership with Women In Sport

Her Spirit are proud to be partnering with Women In Sport, the leading UK charity that researches sport purely from the perspective of women and girls. Today (5th October) they launched #TimeTogether, a new national campaign which will empower daughters and mums to get active.

Meet Tracey and Summer Brown our Her Spiriters who spend more #TimeTogether

For a long time, my anxiety often got in the way of spending time being active with my daughter, I’d often blame lack of time, but it was also linked to me thinking I was not good enough or capable. My daughter Summer is an amazing 16-year-old, that is fearless, talented and energetic; everything that for years I dreamed of being, but am only now starting to live out and enjoy the ensuing benefits.

Like many women across the UK, I was affected by COVID-19. I work as part of the air crew for Tui, though I was furloughed throughout the immediate months of lockdown and it ignited periods of anxiety and worry for me. In reality, it was one of the best things that could happen as for the first time in decades I put myself first and prioritised my physical and mental wellbeing.

I decided to take on the 6 week Learn to Swim Freestyle session earlier this year with her Spirit, a global community that offers women personalised coaching, plans and advice for Mind, Body and Fuel. From day one I embraced the support and inspiration of the women and it’s been the catalyst to overcoming my fears and has strengthened my relationship with my daughter.

I decided that I’d have a crack at cycling, running and swimming as they’re sports that Summer is already excellent at, and it would be a way of spending quality time together whenever and wherever. Only able to execute an embarrassing wobble around a car park on my first time back on a bike, I slowly gained confidence and after months of hard work my husband bought me a road bike (called Cassie the Carbon) to keep up with Summer and just completed a 50 mile ride! I’ve been following Her Spirit’s tailored running guide and am now able to pound the pavements regularly and also enjoy it as I run further and faster. Not able to swim freestyle more than 20metres on my first attempt at a local fresh water lake in Nottingham, I am now a strong swimmer and often join Summer for swims even as the weather gets a little chillier

The relationship I now have with Summer is like nothing I’ve had before and we spend time together in a way that I never thought possible. We’re around each other much more and I know that she is amazed and inspired by my journey, which has also spurred her along to start coaching swimming, so she can help inspire more women to take to the water.

During our time together we have motivated, inspired and encouraged each other to surpass what we thought we were capable of in swimming, cycling and running. These experiences have brought us closer together. This would have not been possible without the inspiration and support of Her Spirit.

I feel I am now a bigger part of Summer’s life, as before I would just ferry her to training and wouldn’t be able to truly connect with her over the things she loved. I know I’ve achieved the hard work myself, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without the real women of Her Spirit who have changed my life for the better and transformed my relationship with Summer.