Funded by Sport England and run in partnership with Women in Sport, the three-day event aims to empower girls to look after their health and wellbeing.
Its ethos fits with our This Girl Can campaign to get women of all ages taking part in sport regularly.
The girls will take part in a series of practical sessions during the event, which is hosted at Loughborough University. Workshops and discussions will focus on how they can act as role models and inspire other girls to get involved in sport. The event will also involve interactive elements where attendees ask why girls their age are often reluctant to get active.
Olympian set to "empower" girls
Pendleton, who today officially joins the Youth Sport Trust as an ambassador, welcomes the initiative that empowers girls to look after their own health and wellbeing.
“I believe in the power of sport to generate successful, well-rounded young people,” Pendleton told Sport England. “I feel immensely honoured to be involved in such a worthy cause as the Youth Sport Trust Girls Active programme.
“Sport has played such an integral part in my life and I have learned so much through its ups and downs. I want to show these girls that it is not just about competition, sport equips you to succeed in life.”
Attitudes change following pilot
Our Girls Active Pilot has already seen great results. A survey taken after the completion of the one-year scheme found that:
- Girls who are happy with the way their body looks more than doubled from 25% to 56%
- Girls feeling ‘very unhappy’ about the way their bodies look reduced by more than half from 37% to 16%
- The number of girls who look forward to their PE lessons has nearly doubled - from 38% to 71%
- The percentage of girls that felt positive about school rose from 24% to 78%.
The Girls Active camp comes as Sport England announces a further £3.14million of National Lottery funding for school sport, much of which will go towards getting girls active as part of the national This Girl Can campaign.