A MULTI award-winning sportswoman has been appointed as an active role model for young girls at a Flintshire high school.

Jenna Downing, inline skating champion, will start her role as Patron of Girls at Ysgol Treffynnon with a bespoke aspirational programme, 'Get Inspired,' for a group of Year 8 students.

By the age of 21, Jenna had achieved an impressive haul of medals, including 10 times British Champion, LG Action Sports World Champion, and X-Games silver medallist. She was the youngest female skater in the world to turn professional, at 12-years-old, despite being told it was a 'sport for boys'.

Her reputation in the sporting world is renowned and Jenna now works with schools and numerous organisations as a motivational speaker and champion, including the Youth Sport Trust, FA, Sky, Sport England, and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

Jenna was contacted by John Weir, headteacher at Ysgol Treffynnon, about becoming the school's Patron of Girls after being impressed by a presentation she gave at an event.

She said: "I am delighted the school has approached me to work with, and mentor the girls, it's an honour.

"Being a teenage girl in the world today is tougher than it's ever been. Social media, the celebrity culture, and a lack of positive female role models result in a generation of girls that are lacking in self-esteem, self-confidence and identity.

"Girls centred programmes such as this one are so important to provide the girls with the opportunity to work alongside a positive female role model and be inspired.

"I am really looking forward to getting to know the girls and helping them to realise they can be and do whatever they want in life."

Fifteen students will initially take part in the programme, which will run through to December. Jenna will deliver a wide range of workshops and activities helping the girls achieve their individual goals, whilst also helping them to work as part of a team.

Team building, confidence and resilience building, developing a positive mindset, goal setting, health and wellbeing, and, of course, an inline skating practical session to finish, are just some of the workshops and themes Jenna will be delivering.

To start, Jenna will share her own life experiences of hardship and success, from being brought up by a single parent in a deprived area of Barnsley, in Yorkshire, to becoming a world champion in her sport. She will talk about the fight she has had to get to where she wanted to be and to where she is today, including the importance of a good education.

Alongside her sporting career, Jenna achieved excellent results at school, went on to study a law degree and is now in her second year of a Masters in Psychology at Liverpool Hope University.

Mr Weir said: "It's fantastic for our female students to have such a high-profile role model to be their patron. Our girls have so much potential and I hope they can grow in the confidence needed to achieve their full potential.

"Jenna's background and experiences are very relatable and the programme she has created will be of huge benefit to our girls as they progress through school and into the wider world. I believe Jenna will have a very positive role to play in the school's aspirations for its girls."