The outdoors is for Every Body. We are fighting for clothing, gear and representation for larger/plus-size bodies in the outdoors movement in the UK so Every Body can feel safe and welcome on the hills, trails, lakes and more.

 

Every body outdoors campaign

There are lots of larger/plus size bodied people who are keen hikers, cyclists, climbers, paddle boarders, swimmers and more, but it can be a huge struggle. This is partly because we're unable to get appropriate clothing to keep us safe on the hills/lakes as most technical clothing stops at a size 16. There are a few brands who stock size 18 but almost nothing in a size 22 or above. It’s difficult to engage in the outdoors if you cannot get the clothing you need to stay warm, dry and safe in the activity of your choice.

We also never see ourselves represented in spaces - in magazines, brand social media accounts, clothing websites etc. It’s hard to feel like you belong somewhere when you never see someone who looks like you in these spaces. In short, representation matters.  

We are focusing on two strands of work:

  • Building the movement! There are loads of amazing and enthusiastic plus size outdoors folk out there and we want to build a space to bring them together and showcase how great they are. Through our @every_body_outdoors instagram page, we will be sharing plus size outdoors folk’s stories and experiences, talking about the kit we have and the kit we need, and sharing the realities of trying to source plus size clothing and kit. 

  • Working with brands. We’re creating a manifesto to encourage brands to work better with plus size folk - from sizing charts to representation, we’re keen to work with brands to be more inclusive in their approach and share our knowledge and expertise. If you are a brand who want to work with us, please EMAIL US.

 

Want to chat about gear for larger bodies

There’s an Every Body Outdoors facebook group here for plus size folk to chat about outdoors wear - discuss their kit, what they want to see, ask for recommendations and advice etc. This is a great space to feel safe asking questions and discussing things you might not always feel comfortable talking about in other outdoors spaces where you body shape/size might not be well represented or understood.

 

fancy doing a mountain skills course with plus-size folk?

We’re organising a couple of two day Mountains Skills courses in the spring with Cat from Latitude534, which will be exclusively for plus-size folk. So if you’re worried about being slow up hills, needing regular breaks or just feel out of place in outdoors groups, this could be a great opportunity to up-skill, increase your confidence and meet some other lovely larger outdoors lovers.

While we want the course to be as inclusive as possible, there is a requirement to be able to do the following in order to complete the course:

- You need to be able to be on your feet and walking for around 6 hours a day. There will be plenty of opportunity for breaks and a slow pace both uphill and downhill on steep sections.

- You need to be comfortable with going off path, over rough ground at times in order to carry out some of the aspects of the course.

- You need to have a basic understanding or familiarity of map reading.

Want more info? Email me and I’ll send over more info.