A leisure centre in Amersham has begun hosting football sessions for girls and women.

Located at the Chilterns Lifestyle Centre, the activity will run two weekly events which have been designed for different ages and abilities.

There will be a girls’ drop-in session every week on Tuesdays at 4pm, which is aimed at those aged between 11-15 years.

This will be casual and non-competitive, the sessions will be led by an experienced coach from Chesham United Ladies Football Club.

For adults, a women’s walking football class will be taking place every week on Fridays at 11am, with adapted rules to make the games ‘safer’.  

It’s naturally played at a slower pace and is ideal for those who’ve never played before or women above the age of 40 coming back to the game. 

Walking football is also included in the facility’s GP referral scheme, and can be a suitable activity for people living with a health condition.

Steve Salwa, area contract manager, said: “It is important to us that women are given the same opportunity to play football as men.

“There are so many inspiring women in football today, and we hope these new sessions encourage women of all ages to follow in their footsteps and try out something new.

“We are also really proud to work with Chesham United Ladies Football Club to make these new sessions happen, and hope to continue collaborating with the fantastic female footballers and coaches there to grow women’s football in Buckinghamshire.”

Andy Westlake, Chair of Chesham United LFC, added: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Everyone Active on both of these local initiatives.

“We’ve been working to build participation in women’s football locally for over 25 years so anything we can do to bring new players into the game is central to our mission.

“We already have walking football teams in the Thames Valley and Herts leagues and provide competitive football for over 200 girls so we’re looking forward to welcoming some new players from our local community to Chilterns Lifestyle Centre”.