‘This Girl Can’ inspires local students to be more active

ABC Council and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust have teamed up for the second year in a row to host a ‘This Girl Can’ Inspiration Day at Dromore Community Centre following the success of last year’s pilot. 

This year’s event, which took place on Wednesday 7 March ahead of International Women’s Day, was designed to inspire students to create targeted campaigns that encourage and support their peers to become active irrespective of age, ability and shape.

Thanks to funding provided by the Public Health Agency, some 25 students aged 13 to 16 from New-Bridge Integrated College (Banbridge), St Catherine’s College (Armagh) and Killicomaine Junior High School (Portadown) were able to take part in team building exercises, physical activity sessions and interactive workshops.

They also had the opportunity to listen to local athlete, coach and business owner, Jemma Farrell co-founder of Arise Fitness, who inspired them by sharing her experiences in sport and physical activity to date.

Speaking at the event, Lord Mayor Councillor Paul Greenfield said: “It is well documented that girls are more likely to disengage from sport and exercise as they transition from primary to secondary school.

So I’m pleased that we’ve been able to support the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign again and inspire young girls across the borough to create positive change and become more physically active.

I wish our enthusiastic bunch of young participants every success in their leadership journey as they become physical activity ambassadors back at school.”

Southern Health and Social Care Trust Physical Activity Lead, Clare Drummy, added: “Children here have the lowest physical activity levels throughout the UK. For this reason, we’re committed to supporting girls to become more active in a way that suits them, so this can be sustained into adulthood.

We know that peer support has the greatest influence on teenage girls, which is why we are recruiting ‘This Girl Can’ ambassadors to support and encourage girls in their schools to be active.”

Launched in 2015, the UK-wide ‘This Girl Can’ campaign aims to inspire more women and girls to be active and at the same time break down the barriers that prevent them from participating in sport and physical activity.

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