33 women. One beach. A global call to be your AWWAsome self

The Editor -

On the eve of the summer solstice, 33 incredible women in midlife and beyond gathered on Scarborough’s, North Bay beach to make a powerful statement, celebrating body confidence and self-acceptance in midlife.

"This is who I am. I am visible. I am enough."

The AWWA campaign has been created by Tina Boden, founder of the Making Midlife Matter Collective and Rachel Peru, model, body confidence activist and founder member of Find Your Midlife Magic team. Their goal is to shine a spotlight on the ongoing underrepresentation of women in midlife and beyond and to rewrite the narrative.

“AWWA – pronounced ‘Our’ – is about celebrating the beauty of all bodies and saying unapologetically: “This is who I am, and I am enough”, says Tina Boden. It’s about visibility, confidence, and creating space for women to be seen and heard.”

Together, they have launched AWWA’s global summer campaign:
🌞 Be Your AWWAsome Self

Why they're doing this?
Rachel says the response to our campaign so far has been overwhelming, including afabulous feature on BBC’s Look North and BBC News online.

“Women over 40 are still underrepresented in swimwear marketing. We’re here to change the picture — quite literally — by creating a global gallery of real women in midlife, confidently owning their summer and embracing their bodies at every stage of life”. We are so proud of all the women who joined us for the launch and midlife confidence photographer Mary Davies has captured them all beautifully."

Rachel and Tina would love women around the world to join in.
All you have to do is-

  • Take a photo of yourself in swimwear enjoying the sunshine (wherever you are)
  • Post it on Instagram, tag @awwa_acceptingwhoweare, and use #BeYourAWWAsomeSelf
  • Add a short caption about what part of your body you've learned to accept and why age representation matters

Don’t forget to Tag your swimwear brand and retailer so they can remind them who they’re fabulous customers are!

Or just DM them your image if you’d like them to share it for you!

You can also use: #IamAWWAsome | #JustBeingAWWAsome
A recent body confidence survey, carried out by Rachel, of 200+ women aged 40+ revealed:

  • 72% don’t feel represented on the high street
  • 68% rate their body confidence as 5 or below
  • 24% say low confidence limits their daily life
  • 5% avoid the beach, swimming, or exercise due to low confidence

Let’s change that. One photo at a time. One story at a time.

Ready to join ?
Whether you're poolside, seaside, or in your garden — show the world your AWWAsome self. Because you are visible. You matter. And you deserve to be seen.