The rugby league season may be coming to an end, but that won't be stopping Barrow Raiders' community programme from continuing their girls' training sessions as the temperatures start to drop.

The sessions have proved to be very popular since they were started during the summer, with girls of all abilities and experience being welcomed, whether that's if they're serious about getting into the sport or there on a more casual basis.

They will still be taking place on the pitch at the Raiders' Craven Park ground until the end of October, whereupon they will be moved indoors to Hoops Basketball Centre on November 2 as winter really does start to set in.

For now, though, the kids will continue to hone their skills on the turf, with community liaison officer Siona Hartley saying: "I don't want the momentum to stop.

"It's really important that, now we've got it going and there's a good core of girls and there's something to build upon, that we don't lose them all by stopping for the winter.

"We've got some funding that I've been allowed to use to book Hoops Basketball Centre and we'll be doing the last session at the ground on October 26 before going indoors for the winter period."

Due to popular demand, the sessions will be extending beyond one hour in the weeks ahead, with the girls having the option of staying on for a second hour and continue what has been a very enjoyable experience of developing their games.

Hartley said: "The girls have requested that we do longer than an hour because quite a few of them are travelling from Millom and places like that.

"The idea is that we'll be indoors and do skills and fun games and we'll develop various forms of contact and then the girls want to stay on and if the weather is good, we can go outside and it will be their choice if they want to stay on for the extra hour.

"There are playing fields next to Hoops and there's a rugby pitch there.

"They've requested it to be longer so this week coming up we're actually going to be doing two hours and not one hour at the ground and that will continue at Hoops, with the outdoors part being optional."