Active Essex, the county’s sport and physical activity partnership, is expanding its This Girl Can programme by encouraging more women around the county to become ambassadors.

This Girl Can Essex is a localised programme of the national campaign spearheaded by Sport England.

The goal is to inspire women to get active by showing them how exercise can be fun, enjoyable and sociable whatever your age or ability.

The campaign was launched in February 2017, since then Active Essex has recruited over 250 ambassadors aged between 16 and 62.

Kelly Harman, an ambassador from Harlow, said: “This Girl Can Essex campaign really brings a sense of togetherness to sport and physical activity.

“I became an ambassador to share my personal experiences and to inspire other woman in the local community to get active, and would fully encourage any ambassadors to join.”

The role of the ambassadors is to bring communities together and inspire females to get involved with groups and clubs in their area, with the ultimate goal of maintaining a regular level of physical activity.

All of the ambassadors are given help and support from Active Essex on how to make the most out of their role.

Joanna Pang, an ambassador from Southend-On-Sea, said: “You don’t have to be super fit to be an ambassador, it’s all about helping others enjoy what you love and helping them achieve a goal one step at a time”.

Juliette Raison, sport and physical activity officer at Active Essex added: “We know that taking the first steps into sport and physical activity can be daunting for some women and our ambassadors do a fantastic job in breaking down some of those barriers and encouraging women to take part in different sports.

“At Active Essex, our ambition is to change one million lives in Essex by getting people active and our This Girl Can Essex ambassadors have already inspired and motivated lots of women to get active.”

This Girl Can Essex ambassadors are involved in a huge range of sport and physical exercise.

If you are interested in becoming an This Girl Can Essex Ambassador or would like more information visit the website.