Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) have teamed up once again to host the ‘This Girl Moves’ Leadership Day to inspire and motivate teenage girls to get active.

Funded by the Public Health Agency, the programme is designed to inspire female students to create positive change within their schools by encouraging and supporting their peers to become more active, irrespective of age, ability and shape.

Twenty-four female pupils aged 13-15 years representing Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon Senior High School, Lurgan Junior High School and Killicomaine Junior High School attended the recent event at Dromore Community Centre.

Through a series of interactive workshops, physical activity sessions and team-building exercises, the girls explored the factors impacting on girls’ participation in sport and creative ways to help get more girls involved in exercise and sport.

Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Councillor Kyle Savage joins representatives from ABC Council and SHSCT, along with pupils and teachers from Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon Senior HS, Lurgan Junior HS and Killicomaine Junior HS at the ‘This Girl Moves’ Leadership Day, aimed at inspiring and motivating teenage girls to get active!

placeholder image — Deputy Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Councillor Kyle Savage joins representatives from ABC Council and SHSCT, along with pupils and teachers from Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon Senior HS, Lurgan Junior HS and Killicomaine Junior HS at the ‘This Girl Moves’ Leadership Day, aimed at inspiring and motivating teenage girls to get active!

The participants will return to their schools as ambassadors tasked with promoting physical activities and encouraging more girls to get active and stay active. Over the coming months, they will continue to work with the ABC Council and SHSCT teams to fulfil their roles, whilst also working towards the ‘I Can Lead’ Award, developed by the Leadership Skills Foundation.

Speaking at the ‘This Girl Moves’ Leadership Day, Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Kyle Savage said:“The research shows that girls are more likely to disengage from sport and physical activity, experience more barriers and drop out of sports in their teenage years. I am therefore delighted that we can continue to support this campaign to inspire young girls across the borough to create positive change together and among their peers. I wish all the girls every success with their leadership journeys and their campaigns to get more girls active.”

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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 physical activity ambassadors to support and encourage girls in their schools to be active.”

The ‘This Girl Moves’ programme will run across the SHSCT area with further events to take place in the coming weeks. For further information, contact [email protected] or [email protected]