The inspirational founder of a major fitness community has been awarded an OBE for her services to women's community sport.
Mel Bound was recognised in the King's Birthday Honours on June 13, 2026. She has helped tens of thousands of women overcome barriers to physical activity and experience the benefits of movement.
What began in Bristol in 2014 as a simple Facebook post asking for a running buddy has grown into a nationwide movement.
The organisation helps women become regularly active by starting with 30 minutes of walking or running in welcoming ways.
Today, the group supports women across more than 35 cities through free weekly 30-minute walks and runs.
The sessions are led by trained volunteer Run Angels every Sunday morning to create non-judgemental spaces.
Alongside the community programme, the group has developed a coaching schedule delivered in person and through an award-winning app.
Mel said: "This honour is for all of them, and for everyone working at the coalface of grassroots sport, often with very little resource and very little recognition. You are changing lives. I hope this helps more people see that."
"Women don't simply need to be told to exercise more," said Bound. "They need spaces where they feel safe, welcome, understood and able to begin. That's what This Woman Runs exists to create."
Mel was encouraged by her GP to take up running as a child to help with her asthma. The idea for the group emerged later from her own experience of trying to return to exercise following childbirth and major back surgery.
The organisation was created to address the fact that many women do not always feel confident in traditional fitness environments.
According to member surveys, 94 per cent of participants report a positive impact on their physical health.
A further 96 per cent of members say the group has helped their mental health.
A local volunteer named Lydia said: "If you’d told me 2 years ago when I was just getting back to running after my second child that I’d be able to do a half marathon I’d think you were mad."
"I love getting out running with This Woman Runs so much and the community we’ve created. It’s because of them I believed I might actually be able to do it one day."
Mel said: "When the letter arrived, I cried, not because this work has ever been about recognition, but because recognition like this makes visible so much of what usually goes unseen: the early mornings, the quiet encouragement, the nervous first steps, the volunteers who notice who needs support, and the hundreds of small moments that help women believe they belong."
"This work is everything to me: joyful, rewarding, challenging, relentless and completely worth it. But what makes it so special is the people: the women who trusted us enough to turn up, often terrified, and kept coming back; the volunteers who give up their Sunday mornings because they genuinely believe what they are doing matters; and my team, advisors, partners, funders and champions who have believed in this movement and helped build it from the ground up."
Alongside leading the group, Mel also serves as a director for the This Girl Can campaign.
Anyone who would like to find out more details about the sessions can visit the official website.
