A PENARTH woman whose fitness levels helped her survive a rare auto-immune disease is hoping to inspire women across Wales to try a more active lifestyle, through the launch of a new campaign by Sport Wales.

Fitness instructor Jin Osborne, 34, from Penarth suffers from granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) disease, which affects just eight in every million people, and attributes her success fighting the disorder to her involvement in sport.

Ms Osborne said: "It’s vital to stay physically active because your body needs it and depends on it. I found this out in the worst way as I have a rare blood disease that attacks and kills my blood vessels. I’m so lucky I was so fit and so healthy - it actually saved my life."

The step-mother of one, who runs her own fitness class 'JinFit', is committed to helping women of all shapes and sizes to get active for the right reasons.

She is now joining forces with Sport Wales on its ‘Our Squad’ campaign, aimed at encouraging women and girls to adopt a more active lifestyle while enjoying the health and social benefits this offers.

The campaign comes as research about female involvement in sports reveals that women and girls often lack the confidence to try new sports or get back into former hobbies.

Fuelled by her own experiences, including using sport to help her overcome depression and later to help her fight the effects of GPA, Jin is now passionate about spreading the message that the focus of sport should be on its health benefits, as opposed to changing the way we look.

"Everyone has issues with their weight but I feel like we put too much pressure on how we look and trying to look a certain way," she said.

"Sport shouldn’t be about looking like Instagram models, it should be about being real, and having a realistic goal about your body. My aim is to inspire women not to want to look like other people but instead to want to be better, healthier and happier versions of themselves."

In addition to the health benefits sport has brought, Jin has seen a positive impact on her social life since setting up her 'fitness squad' and says she couldn’t have been without the support she received from the women in her class - her ‘fitness family’.

The campaign launched across Sport Wales’ social media channels earlier this week. Those interested in being a part of 'Our Squad' can now follow updates on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.

Further details can be found on the Our Squad website at www.oursquad.cymru