A BOURNEMOUTH activity social group celebrated its fourth birthday with superhero themed event. 

BH Activity Junkies marked its birthday on April 20 on the River Stour, Christchurch, which saw members appear in everything from Supergirl to a Roman god. 

The group took to their paddleboards down the Stour with co-founder Samantha Arnold, who said she is astonished by how the group has grown since it begun in lockdown in 2020.

She said: "It was just myself and my partner Neil who, coming out of lockdown in 2020, decided to start a local group for the community to help people get out.

"We went from having no members to a few hundred really quickly and then we grew to a thousand and now we've got over 9,000."

Starting as paddle boarding group, it has since expanded with members also inviting others to climbing events, mountain biking days and also runs. 

Enjoying dressing up for other events, the theme was inspired by an earlier superhero themed park run.

Sam said: "You go from being a kid and dressing up all the time then you're in an age bracket where it passes you by and, for some odd reason, when you get older, you like it again."