New Annual Report reveals growing reach and ambition, and urgent need to amplify girls’ voices today

Our brand-new Annual Report marks an important milestone for GFS – our 150th year. That’s 150 years of supporting girls and young women across England and Wales to build the confidence and resilience they need to be themselves and take on life’s challenges in an unequal world.

The report highlights a year of growth, transformation and impact, with GFS supporting girls across the country through community groups, school workshops, trips and events designed to build confidence, friendships and resilience.

Throughout the year, GFS:

• Supported 1,518 girls
• Ran 29 community groups
• Delivered 49 events and trips
• Was supported by 260 active volunteers
• Delivered 19 full and half-day workshops in ten schools, supporting 323 girls

The report comes at a time when many girls are facing increasing pressure around appearance, academic expectations, sexism and online harms. Alongside our Annual Report, we also published our groundbreaking research report, Girls Speak: Navigating the Conflicts of Girlhood in 2025, built around the voices and experiences of 112 girls from GFS groups across the country.

Michelle Corrigan, Chair of GFS, said:

“The world girls are growing up in today is complex and often unforgiving. Social media pressures, academic expectations, and the rising cost of living all take their toll.

Too many girls tell us they simply can’t be themselves. This is precisely why GFS’s work matters more than ever.”

These experiences damage girls’ confidence, mental health and sense of identity. Without early intervention, they can negatively shape girls’ future opportunities, relationships and wellbeing.

Despite these challenges, our Annual Report shows the positive impact GFS is having on girls’ wellbeing, confidence and relationships.

According to parents surveyed:

• 82% said GFS helped their child feel more confident speaking up
• 74% said GFS supported their child’s mental health and wellbeing
• 72% said GFS helped girls manage peer relationships
• 87% said GFS gave their child access to experiences they would not otherwise have had

Girls’ Speak: Making space for girls to lead their own narrative

As part of our 150th year, we launched our landmark Girls Speak: Navigating the Conflicts of Girlhood in 2025 report, built from two years of conversations with 112 girls from GFS groups across the UK.

The report explored the realities of growing up as a girl today, uncovering the tensions many girls face between messages of empowerment and the everyday pressures of sexism, appearance expectations, academic stress and fitting in.

It highlighted how gender stereotypes continue to shape girls’ opportunities and confidence from a young age, while demonstrating the urgent need for safe spaces where girls can speak openly and be heard.

To launch the report, GFS hosted a special event at the House of Commons, supported by MP Caroline Nokes, bringing together sector leaders, funders and advocates for girls’ rights.

At the heart of the event were girls from GFS groups themselves, who delivered speeches about the issues that matter most to them and the importance of spaces like GFS where they feel supported, valued and listened to.

150 years of breaking barriers – and World Records?!

In the 1990s, GFS attempted to break a world record by knitting the world’s longest scarf. Although the attempt did not succeed, our 150th year felt like the perfect time to build on that inspiring legacy with our own challenge.

Because friendship has always been at the heart of GFS, in 2025 we launched an attempt to create the world’s longest friendship bracelet. Supporters, volunteers, groups and corporate partners across the UK contributed handmade bracelets, with more than 1,000 metres already created by the end of the reporting year.

The campaign aimed to bring people together through a shared creative activity, celebrate the importance of friendship for girls’ wellbeing, and raise funds to support GFS programmes empowering girls and young women.

Alongside the bracelet campaign, GFS groups hosted 14 summer celebration events across the country, reconnecting former GFS girls, families, local communities and supporters as part of the charity’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

Growing our impact in schools

Because girls have told us they find school difficult, despite academically outperforming boys in all subjects except PE, we worked hard throughout 2024–25 to expand our Schools Workshops programme.

Built around three core outcomes, the sessions helped girls to:

1. Build different ways of thinking – with 93% able to identify a stereotype after the session
2. Develop positive self-image – with 95% able to identify something they are good at by the end of the session
3. Reflect on behaviour in relationships – with 95% understanding how their feelings can affect how they treat others

Big steps forward and big ambitions to come

The charity also took on stewardship of the Girls’ Rights Collective in January 2025, strengthening its role in championing girls’ rights nationally and bringing together organisations and professionals committed to creating change for girls and young women.

Alongside celebrating its history, the report sets out ambitious plans for the future. Over the next 5–10 years, GFS aims to grow to 60 groups and reach 10,000 girls and young people through a range of interventions.

Michelle Corrigan added:

“As we celebrate our 150th year, we look back with pride and ahead with clear purpose: to ensure the next generation of girls grows up knowing their voice matters and their potential is limitless.”

Since publishing our Annual Report, we’ve held our bracelet measurement ceremony and discovered we broke the world record!

The full Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024–2025 can be read here