Happy Volunteer Recognition Day!

Just a few friends trying to get more women involved in sport and having some fun!

A couple of 'gals enjoying a casual Duathlon together!

Happy Volunteer Recognition Day! Today’s blog post is in honour of all my fellow Leeds Girls Can Ambassadors. Leeds Girls Can is a campaign that is led in partnership with Leeds City Council and Sport England. We have one paid ‘Activator,’ the lovely Rachel Kirk who you might have met or will meet in the future at one of our events. The rest of us who you see at events and running sessions are volunteers. Sometimes businesses and organisations run sessions for us but the other sessions such as the Couch to 5km groups, the other running groups, walking groups, Bootcamp, Clubbercise, are all run by volunteers.

My role personally, as you might have guessed, is to be Leeds Girls Can in-house blogger. I absolutely love my role. As a student, it is very easy to get wrapped up in the ‘university’ bubble, luckily my role as an ambassador helps me to be a part of the wider Leeds community and I would urge students to get involved if they want something more from Leeds than just university. I go along to sessions and events and meet the ladies and girls of Leeds. I get to see first-hand the amazing contribution of Leeds Girls Can in the wider Leeds community. I love seeing my fellow ambassadors doing their thing, helping others to get fitter, stronger, more confident, having fun, making friends and learning new skills. I like to be active and I find trying out different sports and activities really refreshing, it keeps me motivated on my fitness journey. I don’t know about you but I would get so bored doing just one sport. I’ve made lots of great friends through Leeds Girls Can too, who I wouldn’t necessarily have come into contact with otherwise, we are quite a mixed bunch!

I asked the other ambassadors why they took on their roles and what they get out of it, here’s what they had to say…

Elizabeth Stephensen-Payne 

I became an Ambassador because the Leeds Girls Can running/walking group helped me recover my fitness and strength after my accident. Everybody was so welcoming and friendly and I quickly noticed my fitness improving, even though I was out having fun. Through Leeds Girls Can I have made many new friends and my confidence has boosted massively. Anyway, I was happily trotting round when our leader Dani asked if I would be an ambassador and I said yes! It gave me a chance to give back something to Leeds Girls Can. I enjoy every minute (even the wet, rainy sessions 😊).

Lisa Fielding 

Leeds Girls Can has helped me find my confidence in running, as well as in general life! If I can help others in the same way that Leeds Girls Can has helped me, I'll feel like I've given something back. Also, I feel like I am setting a good examples for my daughter Jasmine, showing her that girls can do anything they put their minds to!

Jess Johnson

I became a Leeds Girls Can ambassador because I wanted to help support and encourage women to get active. Growing up I always felt judged for playing and enjoying sport because I am a woman. I want to challenge gender stereotypes and show the women of Leeds that they should be able to get out and active and shake off the feeling of ‘I can’t do that because I’m a girl…’ Don't listen to what anyone else says, you are capable of anything!

Ellie Colman

I became involved with Leeds Girls Can not long after I qualified as a run leader. I’d had a terrible time in my personal life and my confidence was really at an all-time low. I ended up being in Leeds on my own with no family around and very few friends having moved here for my ex-partner and his family. I decided I needed to push myself to get out and do things to try and help myself cope with my situation so volunteered to support on the first Kirkstall abbey C25k that Natasha ran. It was such an amazing experience to be with a huge group of women who were all from different walks of life with their own stories, but all supporting each other towards a common goal😄 Being part of Leeds Girls Can has helped me build my confidence, being able to go out and meet new people while supporting them to achieve things that they never thought they could. It’s great to get to play a small part of other people’s journeys😁❤️ I am super proud to be part of an awesome team of women who give up their free time to give back to the ladies of Leeds. Leeds Girls Can was on my list of positive reasons to keep on living in Leeds!

Emma Young

I became an ambassador after having my second child as I struggled to find opportunity to exercise and I wanted to help other mums find opportunities be active. I also needed something to channel my energies other than work and being a mum and I was starting to feel quite down. I have since been diagnosed with depression and am receiving treatment. However, it was being an ambassador that kept me going through the dark times. I had met an amazing bunch of ladies that inspire me every day and I have done and achieved things that I would never have thought I was capable of.

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This is just a small sample of our ambassadors and just from these you can see the diversity in the lives of the people who give their time to Leeds Girls Can. They all have their own Facebook pages which are their names followed by '- Leeds Girls Can Ambassador' if you want to find out more about the sessions that they run. I have noticed overwhelmingly that Leeds Girls Can has helped our ambassadors gain masses of confidence. Every time I see them, they are smiling and they ooze confidence. Their positivity rubs off onto everybody they work with, empowering the people they come into contact with.

If you think that you would like to be a Leeds Girls Can ambassador we are always looking for volunteers, we are especially looking to fill the roles below. It would be fantastic to hear from you and to have you on board our team! We welcome women from all walks of life and all levels of sports and fitness. There is no need to be a frequent marathon runner, personal trainer or anything like that! I was always terrible at PE in school and look what I’m up to now!

We are after ambassadors to fill the following roles:

• ·         BAME community representative
• ·         Young people
• ·         Run Leaders
• ·         Blog writers
• ·         YouTube fanatics
• ·         Any Activity & Passion welcome!

If you might be interested in becoming a Leeds Girls Can ambassador, please email Louise Walker at : Leedsgirlscan@leeds.gov.uk

We look forward to you joining our team!

Em x

Facebook: Emily Ankers - Leeds Girls Can Ambassador

Instagram: @active.em.blog

Twitter: @active_em_blog