AN AWARD-WINNING community coach from Newport has thrown her support behind a campaign to increase female involvement in sport.

Swimming coach Angeline Tshiyane has set up multiple sporting squads to help encourage healthy lifestyles in the area’s black, minority and ethnic (BME) communities.

This includes her own weekly swimming sessions for children and adults from BME backgrounds, as well as the country’s first female-only BME walking group – work which saw her awarded ‘Community Coach of the Year’ at the 2015 Wales Sports awards.

The mum-of-one, who is also a carer, is now joining forces with Sport Wales on its ‘Our Squad’ campaign which aims to celebrate woman in sport after research revealed women and girls often lack the confidence to try new sports or get back into former hobbies.

Ms Tshiyane, 53, from Bettws in Newport, said: “Unfortunately, people from BME backgrounds don’t tend to really engage as much in sport and so my aim is to help tackle this issue as sport is something that can, and should, be enjoyed by all.”

Originally from Zimbabwe, Angeline’s love of water began at a young age where she would swim as a way to find respite and cool down.

At the time, she recalled “being the only black swimmer in an ‘all white’ swimming club” she was determined to “do something about this”.

She moved to the UK in 2000 and in 2015, formed her own swimming group for children aged five to 12 - Njuzu Community Swimming Group - with the help of Newport Live’s swimming and sports development teams.

She now delivers 10-week teaching programmes to more than 30 children and is hoping to start an adult class to get other women involved in swimming.

She added: “More women need to recognise the benefits of taking part in sport. Not only is it great for your health but it’s a great way to make friendships and raise your confidence.

“Once you start, it’s easy to become addicted to sport – I love sport so much that, no matter how busy or tired I am, I’ll always find the time for it.”

Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and active lifestyles and launched their Wales-wide campaign ‘Our Squad’ on Monday July 31.

The campaign’s aim is to inspire more women and girls from across the country to take part in sport, regardless of their fitness level, ability or background.

search www.facebook.com/oursquadcymru or @oursquadcymru

For information on the campaign in Newport, visit newportlive.co.uk