Free sport and activity taster sessions on offer to get more women active

Looking to put a new spring in your step? Eastleigh Borough Council’s inspirational This Girl Can Eastleigh is offering free taster sessions in a host of different sports and activities.

Select up to six different sports and activities to have a go at as part of Eastleigh’s drive to help women get more active, to overcome the barriers that may be blocking them from participating in exercise.

Pick from an A to Z of sports and activities at centres across the Borough and try a taster session for free. If you find it’s not for you or simply want to see what’s so special about Aquacise or why everyone’s obsessed with Clubbercise then mix it up and sign up for something different.

Current free sessions available as part of This Girl Can Eastleigh are:

· Aquacise Hamble Sports Comple
· Ballet The Point, Eastleigh
· Back to Netball Places Leisure Eastleigh
· Boxercise Poseidon Amateur Boxing Club
· Clubbercise St Francis Hall & Hedge End Village Hall
· Dance DDMIX Centenary Hall & Cranberry Centre
· HIIT Circuits Hamble Sports Complex
· Lane swimming (ladies only) Hamble Sports Complex
· Legs, Bums & Tums Hamble Sports Complex
· Low Level Circuits Places Leisure Eastleigh & Velmore Community Centre
· Pilates Hamble Sports Complex
· Rétrospectif Dance (for older adults) The Point, Eastleigh
· Street Dance Cranbury Centre
· Tai Chi Hamble Sports Complex
· Tap Dance The Point, Eastleigh
· Tennis Wyvern College
· Volleyball Crestwood Community School
· Walking Netball Hamble Sports Complex & Places Leisure Eastleigh
· Weightlifting Lakeside Country Park
· Yoga Hamble Sports Complex
· Zumba Hamble Sports Complex

Over the coming months, new taster sessions will be released. These will be supported by a number of follow-on Beginner Courses aimed to help make exercise part of women’s weekly routine. All courses are subsidised by Sport England, making them an affordable way to kick start a healthier lifestyle. The first on offer is a seven-week Beginner Weightlifting course, starting Tuesday, 10 April , 6pm to 7pm, at Lakeside Weightlifting in Eastleigh, costing just £20 for the seven classes. Courses coming up later in the year include Ladies Boxercise in Hedge End; Beginner Yoga at Velmore Community Centre; Beginner Squash at Places Leisure Eastleigh; Beginner Badminton at Hamble Sports Complex; and Couch to 5k at Lakeside Country Park.

Eastleigh Borough Council’s Health and Wellbeing Specialist Emily Fry said: “By offering local woman the chance to have a go at a variety of free activities across the borough, we hope to break down barriers that can stop people exercising including cost and lack of time.

“Furthermore we hope woman can try activities together with their friends and family so to give them the confidence to try something new and see that exercise can be a great social occasion too.

“All taster sessions are delivered by local clubs and leisure providers, so if women find an activity they enjoy there is a natural progression to continue.”

This Girl Can Eastleigh builds on Eastleigh Borough Council’s Eastleigh Activation Programme (also known as HealthWorks and/or SportWorks), an ongoing physical activity project that aims to get more adults in the area leading a healthy active lifestyle.

For more details about This Girl Can Eastleigh or to book any of the taster sessions and/or beginner courses, visit www.eastleigh.gov.uk/thisgirlcan Follow the campaign on Twitter and Instagram, using #ThisGirlCanEastleigh