11 hours ago
From 'heckled and spat on to a support system': How a woman's club is making running safe in London
Lily White takes ITV News London on a run with The Night Club - a running group to help women feel safe in in the capital
"As a woman running in London, it does feel really unsafe," said Lily White.
She's seen it all - from heckling, harrassment to even being spat on - and in her opinion the attitude to female runners in the capital is only getting worse.
"I feel like every run you can't fully like relax, you're focusing on everything but the running really, because you're worried," she told ITV News London.
"I quickly realised that as we got closer and closer to winter, there we just less opportunities to run safely."
She's not the only one to experience this. Exclusive figures for ITV News London show more than half of women do not feel safe on the streets of London, while nearly a half have been followed and over a quarter have been physically or sexually assaulted.
So nine months ago, Lily decided to build a community of like-minded women to run together and formed The Night Club.
She said: "I created this as a safe space for women, where we can run confidently and feel empowered."
And the group has really hit the ground running - it's gone from nine members to crowds of women jogging through London's parks every Wednesday.
She now spreads the message on her Instagram account 'the night cllub' - where she also sells tickets to each event.
Everybody runs in a big group, and they wear pink armbands for visibility and safety.
"It's so much more than running," Lily said.
"It's about building a support system, creating safe spaces, and proving that women belong anywhere, at any time.
"It's all about spreading awareness about women's safety, but equally it's such a great wholesome place and we're doing something positive about it, which is the best part."
London
