Kemi has grown up with GFS from a young girl to a young woman. Over the years, the group has become a very special place to Kemi.
Kemi says: “GFS means a lot to me because I’ve been coming here for a long time and over the years, I’ve made a lot of friends, and I’ve realised what people like and dislike. And I’ve realised how to make friends and how to achieve my goals.”
Kemi says the thing that makes GFS stand out from other after school clubs, is the fact that GFS includes everyone by offering all sorts of different activities. Kemi loves sessions that allow her to be creative, like when girls made their own pottery with their own designs.
She also enjoyed visiting Saracens Stadium and getting to try Netball and Rugby with professional sportswomen – with the huge bonus of seeing girls from other GFS groups, of course!
Kemi said: “The good thing about meeting people from different GFS groups is that we get to make new friends and socialise with different people we’ve never met before.”
GFS sessions also include activities designed to teach and empower girls. In one session, girls were challenged to guess what year women were given the right to do something, and what year men were.
Kemi said: “We saw men got to do things a lot before women, but then we started to see that women found their rights in the early 2000s. So, that’s what kinda carries me, because it makes me believe that women can do anything.”
Part of empowering girls means giving them the support to use their voices for the things they’re passionate about, which is why GFS groups give girls chances to directly influence their activities.
Kemi said: “A few weeks ago, me and another GFS girl, we had to go in pairs and do a petition. And we get to go ice-skating because we made a petition that we should get to go ice-skating with GFS. And it made me proud that we now get to go.”
Today, Kemi is a young woman who feels comfortable going on stage and says GFS has encouraged her to put herself out there more. When Kemi grows up, she wants to do something like acting or drama.
Kemi said: “Now that I’ve been to GFS, I know that I can be who I want to be.”