‘This Girl Moves’ Inspires Young Leaders to Get Active in our District

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and the Promoting Well Being Team within 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.

Female pupils aged 13-15 years representing St. Joseph's Crossmaglen and St. Louis Kilkeel attended the recent event held at Newry Leisure 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 looked at creative ways to help get more girls involved in exercise and sport.

The participants who attended will return to their schools as ‘This Girl Moves’ Leaders 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 Council and the 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, Chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Councillor Pete Byrne said, “It is an absolute pleasure to be here today as we celebrate and support the ‘This Girl Moves’ initiative—a fantastic program that empowers young girls to embrace physical activity, no matter their shape, size, or ability.”

He continued, “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.  The Council is, therefore, proud to partner with the Public Health Agency and the Promoting Well Being Team within the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to facilitate this Leadership Day. Together, we are committed to creating opportunities that inspire confidence, promote well-being, and encourage lifelong participation in movement and sport.”

Clare Drummy, Physical Activity Lead within the Promoting Well Being Team at the SHSCT said, “Children here have the lowest physical activity levels reported, 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 and training This Girl Moves Leaders to support and encourage girls in their schools to be active.”

The ‘This Girl Moves’ programme is being delivered across the SHSCT area with further events taking place in both the Armagh and Craigavon areas.  For further information, please contact alannah.brennan@nmandd.org or martin.connell@souitherntrust.hscni.net