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GirlzWhat! group with Amber Rudd MP at the launch event on 30 July 2012

What is GIRLZWHAT! ???

Lucy McEwen from the young people’s organisation Respond Academy tells HOT readers what’s been going on with the new Girlzwhat! group.

Some of the members of Respond Academy discovered a need for young women in our community. We had started running successful, women-only sessions and providing a safe and comfortable environment for young women. Together they began to relax, learn and recognise their own talents and explore how to use them to succeed in all aspects of life.

This made us confident enough to apply for local Jag Funding. After a lot of preparation and struggle, we proved to the funding panel that there was a need for this project to be developed, and we were awarded £2,500 for a pilot series of six workshops for girls and young women aged from twelve to 23 years old.

We very pleased, that our local MP Amber Rudd agreed to officially launch GIRLZWHAT! on 30 July 2012.

Our numerous aims include…

  1. To create employment and training opportunities for young women
  2. To raise awareness amongst young females in regards to consequences of their behavior for everyday issues.
  3. To discuss sexual identity
  4. To engage with and study the media
  5. To explore attitudes to Prison and the Care System

Life is too precious to ignore the direction that some young people are traveling in. We hope to guide them off the rocky road and onto a smooth path of positive success.

Problems we face… and our ways round them…

Although we have identified many young girls in need of help, not many of them speak out. Our first challenge is getting young women and girls to sit together in a group. We have lots of  interesting things to make our group inviting.

These include: Art and design, Sewing, Fashion, Fitness, Health and Food, Photography, a Radio station, a Vocal Booth and Music!

In amongst all this exciting stuff, we provide sessions of discussions around self respect/awareness, plus talks on inappropriate sexual behavior/sexual harassment, also talks on positive relationships and building positive bonds, with positive people.

Progress so far…

We aim to have Mondays as a women’s only space; keeping it comfortable and low pressure for those without much self-confidence.

Since we launched back in June, we have had eight weeks of successful meets, accumulating plenty of positive attitude building. During the talks, we gained invaluable knowledge of the young women’s perspectives on all sorts of issues.

We appeared in a Sunday Times  article in July 2012 about the use of the morning after pill. And in October 2012, 14 of us were invited by our local MP. Amber Rudd. to visit The Houses of Parliament with our concerns.

We have been listened to nationwide through the wonders of TV, and are currently aiming for funding to roll out the Girlzwhat! programme to more young women in need of support.

We were also featured on BBC’s NEWSNIGHT in December 2012,  and we our opinions and experiences were an integral part of the Cross Party Inquiry into Unplanned Pregnancies in the UK – see the 2020health website.

Now it is January 2013 and we are already looking for funding to begin action on Phase 2 of GIRLZWHAT! To find out more or to offer some help or advice, please contact us at: respondacademy1@hotmail.com

GirlzWhat! at the Houses of Parliament

GirlzWhat! at the Houses of Parliament

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Posted 20:25 Tuesday, Jan 8, 2013 In: Hastings People

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