On 28 May we launched GFS Heywood in Greater Manchester. We had ten amazing girls attend and had so much fun getting to know each other, while making self portraits, friendship bracelets and glitter tattoos.
Our Head of Operations for the North, Charlotte Hunt, received a beautiful message from the local councillor, who said:
“Thank you for the invite. I’ve just had a message from one of the mums saying how her kid – who is very reserved and anxious – has come home giddy and excited and it’s made me emotional. Thank you.”
We ran sessions on 4 June, where we did the “downtown” activity to get to know the girls and their local area. On 11 June we had 12 girls attend and explored who we are and our future selves. Some of the parents fed back that their daughters were excited to come back to GFS.
We are starting to see friendships form with girls who have met at group and the girls are growing in confidence.
We have a few younger girls who were reluctant to leave their grown ups in weeks one and two, but by week three the girls had formed relationships with staff and volunteers, and were able to step away from their grown ups and embrace GFS alone.
Charlotte has been attending the group with Group Coordinator Elicia, and says it has been amazing to see her encourage girls to try new things and embrace friendship.
Charlotte said:
I have left each week feeling so fulfilled and happy knowing that our group is making a difference. I have always known that the staff and volunteer team are at the heart of everything we do and that without them there would be no GFS.
But having been hands on at group, I have a newfound respect and appreciation for all of the hard work our staff and volunteers do to ensure that the girls are having the best time at group! Tuesdays at GFS Heywood and Thursdays at GFS St Pauls are quickly becoming my favourite days of the week.