A LEISURE company which operates three major facilities in the county is aiming for fitter women in Worcestershire.

Freedom Leisure, which runs Sport Dyson Perrins, Sport Martley and Malvern Splash on behalf of Malvern Hills District Council, is offering a week of free activities for local women and girls in support of This Worcs Girl Can campaign. Free gym access, indoor cycling classes and swimming sessions will be on offer from Monday, February 29 to Sunday March 6. Tenbury Swimming Pool, run in partnership with Tenbury Community Pool Ltd, will also be offering free access to the gym and swimming pool.

This Worcs Girl Can campaign – run by Action for Children and aided by Malvern Hills District Council – aims to encourage young women to become more physically active and improve their general health and wellbeing. As well as the Freedom Leisure sites taking part, a week of activities will also be on offer from local sports clubs in the area.

Freedom Leisure community activity & rural development officer Laura Hart said: "We are delighted to be supporting This Worcs Girl Can by offering free sessions to local women and girls. At Freedom Leisure we believe that everyone should have the chance to get active and we hope that by offering these sessions we can encourage more women and girls to get involved in physical activity. This is a great opportunity to come and try our fantastic facilities and we hope to see lots of new faces at our sites during the week.”

Cllr David Watkins, Malvern Hills DC's portfolio holder for healthier communities, added: "Encouraging people to be more active is a key part of our new five year plan. Regular physical activity has tremendous health benefits including lowering the risk of developing chronic diseases while also helping to boost self-esteem, sleep quality and reduce the risk of depression. I’d urge all women to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to explore what our leisure centres have to offer."

The free sessions offered by Freedom Leisure are open to all local women and girls aged 11 years and above. Sport Martley and Sport Dyson Perrins are inviting them to use their gym facilities while Tenbury Swimming Pool is offering free access to its pool and gym. Malvern Splash is inviting women and girls to use its pool as well as take part in a MyRide indoor cycling class. Led by a virtual coach and feature atmospheric changing lights and a kicking sound system, this indoor cycling experience is completed by seeing changing scenery projected on to a giant screen in the studio.