A GROUP of more than 40 teenage girls took over the Coppergate Shopping Centre in York to say a firm “no” to negative body image as part of a campaign led by four of their classmates.

The first Body Confidence day, held yesterday, marked a significant turning point for Molly Horner, 13, Lucy Freer, 14 , Megan Guest, 14, and Alison Coates, 13, who have been campaigning to banish negative body image and thin airbrushed models in the fashion industry.

The four girls, who attend Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick, wrote to 80 companies last October to try and secure backing to put on a day of workshops for their classmates to promote positive body image.

Out of the two who replied, Jones Lang LaSalle, which runs the Coppergate Centre, said “yes” and the company’s marketing executive at Coppergate, Grace Easter, has been working with the girls ever since.

Miss Easter said: “It has been a really great day and I am hoping that this becomes a bit of a hub for them and somewhere they can come to break down those barriers of negative body image.

“Everyone we approached to help us with today has been so eager to get involved.

“The girls are fantastic to work with and are really pro-active.”

Shops including Fenwick, Topshop, The Body Shop and Bagel Nash agreed to take part in the day.

The Topshop team advised the girls on how to dress for their shape, while Fenwick held a guess the calorie and nutrition talk before advising the teens on how to look after their skin.

There was also a workshop from national campaign Body Gossip, where the girls were asked to write down what they liked about themselves, as well as talks from The Press’ lifestyle editor, Maxine Gordon, and Miss York and Miss District 2013, Maryann Cunningham.

Alison said: “I think it has all gone really well and there has been a lot of information to take back from this day. We now want to continue focusing on the photos in shop windows and expand the project.”

Megan said: “We also want to broaden it to boys and widen the area to get more cities involved.”