Girls today are growing up with pressures that affect wellbeing, confidence and safety. This week all donations are doubled to GFS, enabling us to help more girls access trusted, safe spaces to make friends, talk openly, try new things and build self-belief.
When girls feel safe, they flourish.
To speak up. To build new friendships. To try new things. To believe in their own worth.
Today, too many girls are growing up with challenges that threaten their childhood, their wellbeing, their joy, their futures.
Why safe spaces matter for girls
Research paints a bleak picture, too. Girls are losing emotional and community support: 44% of girls aged 7-10 years feel they have no one to talk to, more than a quarter of girls aged 7-10 feel sad most days, and more than half of local authority-run youth centres have closed over the past decade in England and Wales.*
GFS girls often tell us about these struggles – bullying, food insecurity, poor mental health, pressures at school, harmful online content, sexism and misogyny.
When left alone to navigate these challenges of childhood, girls can feel undervalued, undermined and at greater risk of harm. .
“There’s a false sense that women’s and girls’ rights have gone far enough, or even too far. We’re seeing a tidal wave of harmful views pushed to girls that make them question their own voices and their place in society.
That’s why girl-centred spaces are essential: so girls can be their true, brilliant selves while learning how to navigate a fast-changing world, and to shape it.”
Heather Smith, GFS Chief Executive
What makes GFS a safe space for girls?
That’s why we provide safe spaces where girls can meet every week.
Where they can play, laugh and make friends.
Where they get a break from the pressures of school, family and online life.
Where they can learn skills, uncover new talents and build self-belief.
Because when girls have access to safe spaces, they are better able to navigate the pressures of growing up today.
“Girls need GFS because it is a safe place for girls if they are struggling or finding it hard in daily life.”
GFS Girl, Pittington
“It’s a safe place for my feelings.”
GFS girl, Chester-le-Street
In a GFS group, this might look like a creative activity to explore how to manage emotions, a conversation about online safety, a trip out that builds confidence, or time with trusted adults and friends who listen without judgement.
And creating safety isn’t just about having fun. GFS group and workshop activities are shaped by research and feedback from our girls to ensure we’re supporting emotions and wellbeing, positive relationships and an understanding of today’s world.
For some girls, that weekly hour might be the only first time they can say what is on their mind without being in competition with each other, without judgment and without expectation to already have the answer.
“The group is a space for them to be themselves, to develop skills and learn about themselves without any worries about what boys will think of them.”
GFS Group Coordinator, Chester-le-Street
Right now, your donation goes twice as far.
Every £1 will be doubled, helping GFS provide more girls with safe spaces.
Building safe spaces for girls together
A vital part of creating this sense of safety is through the people who deliver our work: an amazing group of local leaders and volunteers.
They know the communities our girls are living in and the particular challenges they face. They become trusted role models, offering a stable and non-judgemental adult that a girl can talk to every week. Someone who believes in their potential and celebrates them for who they are.
“We work in underserved communities, where girls often don’t have access to much support. But when a girl looks at one of our volunteers, she sees an inspiring and compassionate women who has faced some of the same challenges, and who is now there for her.”
Heather Smith, GFS Chief Executive
As girls today continue to face even more challenges – online harm, sexism and fewer community spaces – GFS groups will continue to be there for them. So, they can have fun, friendship and a positive future.
Together, we can support girls’ safety.
But every safe space depends on people who consistently choose to show up for girls: volunteers, leaders, donors and supporters who believe girls deserve somewhere they can feel accepted and encouraged.
With your help, we can continue making sure that girls are heard, valued and free to flourish.
Support GFS today and help more girls access fun, friendship and safe spaces. Every £1 you donate will be matched, so your gift will have twice the impact.
With huge thanks to The Swann Foundation – our incredible match funder – for supporting our Big Give Women and Girls Match Fund campaign.
*Sources: Prince’s Trust, 2021; Girlguiding, 2025; YMCA, 2025