Nike has joined forces with Spotify in the UK to create the Make Moves Fund, which will use the power of music to get girls moving and help improve their mental well-being. The new partnership was announced on World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10. The Make Moves Fund will award grants, co-funded by Nike and Spotify and equivalent to approximately $25,000 each, to UK-based community organizations that offer innovative girl-first program ideas combining music and dance to inspire 10 to 17 years old girls to move. Flo, a London-based girl group that aims to empower girls and women through their music, is an ambassador for the Make Moves Fund. Grantee programming will run for six months, with Nike and Spotify measuring each program’s impact. Applicants can propose their ideas at nike.com/gb/purpose by Nov. 30, 2023. A panel of experts will determine the awardees for funding. Selected grantees will be notified by the end of January 2024. Many girls in the UK still feel they do not belong in sports. Black British, African, Caribbean, Arab and Asian girls from low socioeconomic backgrounds are the least active. By the time girls in the UK reach 18, they are more than twice as likely as boys to report poor mental health, Nike stressed in a statement.
