Wouldn't that be nice we hear you bellow...most of us are aware that good quality sleep will help us, however despite being recommended 7- 9 hours of sleep per night, around 60% of women do not achieve this goal! This may be due to many reasons such as our hormones, worry and stress, burning the candle at both ends or suffering with mild or severe insomnia!

Whatever the reason we have listed some top tips below that may help you to achieve a better night sleep.

International Women's Day took place on Tuesday 8th March 2022. This is an annual global event which celebrates women across the world whilst also campaigning for a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. And a world where difference is valued and celebrated.

The This Girl Can Suffolk Team began celebrating International Women's Day at the beginning of the month where some of our Ambassadors joined females across the country to takeover the Saturday morning parkrun events!

Parkrun is a supported 5km event which invites local people to walk, jog, run or volunteer every Saturday morning from 9am. In Suffolk alone, we have 15 parkrun events, plus 7 Junior parkrun events which is a 2km event that takes place on a Sunday morning for 4- 14 year olds.

To celebrate and recognise International Women's Day local This Girl Can Ambassadors supported some of our parkrun events across Suffolk, including Abby Close who attended the Stowmarket event. We also attended an event in Ipswich and we featured on BBC Radio Suffolk...check out the links further down!

Abby Close, This Girl Can Ambassador from the Stowmarket area supported her local event by delivering a fun and inclusive Hula Hooping warm up session, she told us:

"Supporting the warm up for my local Parkrun for International Women's Day was fantastic and it was amazing to see so many happy faces all warmed up for their run. I've already been asked to come back again!"

Being a This Girl Can ambassador has allowed me to share an alternative form of fitness with women and girls in my local community. I love sharing a FUN form of fitness where your age, shape, size and how coordinated you are really does not matter. In fact, it does not matter if you've never been able to hula hoop before, even as a child."

Want to begin Hula Hooping? Check out Abby's classes across Ipswich and Mid Suffolk at: Hula Hooping | Hula With Abs | Fitness

Fancy volunteering or taking part in your local parkrun? Find out more at: home | parkrun UK

We continued our International Women's Day celebrations at the 'Inspiring Suffolk Women Day' which took place at The Hold in Ipswich.

Hosted by the Suffolk County Council there was a wealth of information, workshops, crafts and inspirational talks delivered on the day by women, including two of our local This Girl Can Ambassadors, Ruth and Sophie who spoke openly about their relationship with physical activity and how it enables them to manage their physical and mental health.

Find out more about Sophie and her journey from inactive to marathon runner and the positive impact it has had on her mental health: Active Suffolk – Sophie from Ipswich

Read more about Ruth's story, where she tells of how physical activity has supported her to manage pain and regain her life at Active Suffolk – Ruth from Ipswich

If you missed us at any of the International Women's Day events, fear not...we will be attending the Women's Health and Happiness Brunch on Friday 25th March 9.30 - 12 at the newly opened community space 'The Hive' on Norwich Road in Ipswich.

The event organised by the Future Female Society will celebrate the women of Ipswich, whilst also giving them the opportunity to access information on the importance of positive mental health, cervical screening, getting into work or accessing training.

We will be there with some of our local This Girl Can Ambassadors to chat about physical activity, movement, tackling barriers to exercise and of course the benefits. Alongside us, there will also be PHOEBE an Ipswich based charity who support ethnic minority women, Lighthouse our local women's aid charity and Female Future Society to name just a few.

The Women's Tour, Britain's biggest and longest running international women's cycling stage race, will return to Bury St Edmunds this summer as the Suffolk town hosts the finish of the opening stage on Monday 6 June. Read more about the plans for this years race HERE

Last years event was one of the first large events to be hosted in Suffolk following the lockdowns and we loved being a part of it! Look out for future updates regarding the Women's Tour over the next few months.

We are proud supporters of the Channel Festival which kicked off earlier this week and will continue into the weekend. The festival which has hosted a series of events, workshops, talks and exhibitions has all been inspired by our relationship with the sea!

On Tuesday the festival hosted an online zoom workshop with Dr Catherine Kelly on why swimming can make you feel better. If you missed it, you can watch back by clicking HERE

If you are interested in open water swimming or want to understand what all the fuss is about, then why not head over to this evenings FREE exhibition opening of Lynn Dennison's film Sea Swimmers, find out more and book your place HERE

For the full list of events and to find out more about the Channel Festival visit www.channelfestival.co.uk/