GIRLS and young women in Worcestershire have been trying out a range of physical activities from cardio tennis to zumba and yoga over two weeks as part of a campaign to encourage them to become more active.

The ‘Worcs Girls Can’ campaign, led by the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire, also aimed to try and change their attitudes to sport and physical activity and, in turn, tackle some of the mental health problems teenagers experience.

According to a recent Department of Education study, one in three teenage girls suffer from anxiety or depression.

The ‘Worcs Girl Can’ organisers worked with a high school in each of the county’s districts to help the youngsters to become more physically active.

Students at Tudor Grange Academy, Worcester; The Chase School, Malvern; King Charles I, Kidderminster; St Augustine’s Catholic High School, Redditch; Prince Henry’s High School, Evesham; and South Bromsgrove High School participated in a range of established and innovative activities.

More than 70 sports clubs, community organisations and leisure providers collaborated with the sports partnership to host six events enabling female students to discover an array of exciting activities taking place within their communities.

Offering free or subsidised sessions, sporting organisations across the county opened their doors to females wishing to get active.

British Cycling’s Annasley Park and Paralympic silver medallist Rebecca Redfern were among those supporting the ‘Worcs Girls Can’ campaign.

Rebecca said: “I feel that girls need a lot of positive encouragement to get into sport. There are many negative attitudes, especially in physical education at school, and I know first-hand that sport has a lot of mental health benefits as well as physical.

“You have nothing to lose but you have so much to gain. Sport opens so many new doors for you and if you have nothing to lose, then why not just give it a go?

“When you think about sport, don’t just think of it in terms of reaching the highest level. We all have our own boundaries to push and reaching those individual boundaries is a challenge in itself.”

Stephen Brewster, chief executive officer of the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Physical activity participation among women and girls is a priority for the sports partnership. The countywide ‘Worcs Girls Can’ campaign has enabled us to engage with our local schools, clubs and organisations to help break down the barriers to sport and physical activity for young women.

“The involvement of wider community organisations such as Action for Children, Kooth and school nurse teams has helped to highlight the positive effects that taking part in physical activity can have, both physically and mentally.

“The campaign has been a great opportunity to use our partnerships in one of our areas of focus. We were delighted to relaunch and lead on a countywide bid to get females across Worcestershire active.

“So far we have been successful in engaging over 1,300 females through the campaign within our lead schools. We hope that we have inspired more young women to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way to get physically active.”

Following a local bid to inspire Worcestershire females to participate in physical activity, the national ‘This Girl Can’ campaign was relaunch at the end of February and tells the story of real women who exercise and play sport.