Navigating the way through the challenging teenage years does not get any easier for our girls. New demands appear faster than we can assimilate them and the landscape gets tougher by the year. Along with social media addiction, increase in sexual violence, impact of widespread porn and dangers of AI on identity and privacy, growth in misogyny in our schools and the pervasive use of drugs their world does not appear to be getting any easier, anytime soon. Not surprisingly, we are seeing an increase in poor mental health with self-harming and teen girls’ suicides at an all-time high, school absences on the up and aspirations struggling to even rank as important or relevant for many girls as they attempt to survive their brutal landscape.
We believe…
Quite often having someone to talk to and guide them through this frame-breaking time when their identity is taking shape, can make a huge difference and this is the remit of our Big Sister programme.
To watch more Big Sister videos visit our Greatest Hits page on our YouTube channel here.
The Big Sister programme targets the middle girls. The ones who are in danger of becoming invisible as they simply cruise through school trying to find their place. These are the girls who are neither seriously disruptive nor considered academically gifted, so they tend to get lost in the noise and either hide in the corner or look for validation in all the wrong places. The one thing they all share is a propensity to underperform. We understand these girls; we are passionate about these girls. We know for sure with some guidance and an awesome role model on their side these girls will step up, find their voice and shine.
These girls represent our future leaders, managers and entrepreneurs. They are the talent pipeline of the future and we ignore them at our peril!
The impact on the Little Sisters ie the mentees on this programme is life changing.
No better way to understand what our Big Sister programme is about than watch a clip from our latest graduation ceremony from 2024.
To watch more inspiring graduation videos go to our Greatest Hits page on our YouTube channel here.
To watch more Big and Little Sister stories visit our Greatest Hits page on our YouTube channel here.
Over the years we have come to realise the Big Sister programme is as much a personal development programme for the women stepping up to be mentors as it is for the girls they support. It is clearly impossible to help a young girl find her voice, become more visible, improve her confidence, advance her resilience and raise her game if you are not also doing this, so Little Sisters hold their Big Sisters to account without even knowing it! How empowering is that?
Big Sisters report major shifts in their confidence, risk taking, communications skills, leadership style, parenting skills, visibility and voice, mind-set shifts and career aspirations.
The women who step up, talk about their Big Sister experience as a major lesson in self-reflection, personal branding, life skills and leadership.
Are you in?
We recruit, select, train and support women from all walks of life to step up and become Big Sisters – from the corporate sector, entrepreneurs, the public sector and everything in between!
Since 2016 the demand for our work has escalated but school budgets for external intervention like this have all but disappeared, so to be able to continue with our much-needed work we ask Big Sisters to contribute to the cost of this programme as the benefits to them are substantial too.
You can do this by securing corporate sponsorship, fund raising or self-funding, The cost of your place is £1500. This allows us to deliver your 2-day Big Sister training upfront, 3 peer mentoring sessions during the mentoring year, coach supervision in school when you rock up for your 121 sessions with your Little Sister each month. Hosting and delivering 3 workshops for you and your Little Sister during the year, the launch and graduation events and all the school liaison and admin pre, post and during your experience. We also host keep in touch activities annually and host a reunion for all your cohort when the girls enter Year 11.
It is important to us we facilitate your ongoing connection with your Little Sister and we support you both on your journey.
The only other criteria for participation is simple:
To apply to join our Big Sister posse please click here
Sometimes we receive funding from other organisations and brands to support our work and often we allocate these funds to supporting Big Sisters in the public sector namely, Police, Fire Services and NHS.
We contract with a school to run a Big Sister programme for 20 middle girls, from the same year, over 12 months. We then recruit and train 20 Big Sisters and connect the Big and Little Sisters and they work together as a family unit within the school environment for the following year. Alongside monthly one to one sessions our team organise several group events throughout the year for the whole group of Big and Little Sisters starting with a launch event where the Big Sisters get to meet their Little Sister for the first time, ending with a graduation ceremony where the Big and Little Sisters get celebrate their year together.
Most Big Sisters commit 40 hours volunteering time. This is made up of 10 x 1 hour mentoring sessions in school, plus workshops and peer mentoring and 16 hours upfront training over 2 full days.
To date as a result of the Big Sister programme
We see shy girls find their voice; we see queen bees channel their street smart in a more empowering way; we see newly confident girls standing up for themselves, moving into new peer groups, making better choices with more emotional resilience and finally excited about their future.
To watch more inspiring graduation videos go to our Greatest Hits page on our YouTube channel here.
And most importantly we see girls recognising their potential and embracing their greatness and taking on our philosophy of paying it forward and becoming a Big Sister to other girls in their school who may need some support or a friend.
This film was taken at one of our Big Sister graduation ceremonies where Big and Little Sisters celebrate their year long journey of mentoring and support together. They thank each other, share journeys and say goodbye – very empowering event! To see more of our graduation ceremonies go to our Greatest Hits on YouTube
To watch more Big and Little Sister stories visit our Greatest Hits page on our YouTube channel here.
I wanted to step up to be a Big Sister because ultimately I wanted to prove to myself I had the confidence to do something totally out of my comfort zone. My Big Sister experience was really surprising because actually it made me reflect on how I was a teenager and I was really pleased to be able to share that experience with Jasmine, which helped the Big Sister, Little Sister relationship.
I think the other thing that I’ve really thought about is it’s made me feel more confident and it’s reminded me to step up myself and be visible. And actually, on the back of that, I’ve been promoted twice this year.
Beth – Operations Manager for Co-op
My Big Sister encourages me to be better, she gives me short term goals and I keep getting merits and less referrals.
My Big Sister inspires me to be me and that’s enough. We can talk about anything.
It’s great to have someone on my side to prove to me I am someone.
I am more confident and if people are mean to me I ignore them or tell them to shut-up!
My Big Sister reminds me who I am and how awesome I am.
