Welcome, you have arrived at the multi-award winning social enterprise Girls Out Loud. We are dedicated to raising the aspirations of teenage girls in the UK. We are passionate about empowering girls to find their voice. Our programmes are all about embedding more confidence, emotional resilience, self-assurance and self-esteem. In turn, this leads to real aspiration, real change and long lasting success.
Being a teenage girl in the world today is a challenge. Attempts to retain an element of individuality are threatened on a daily basis by the media, celebrity culture, premature sexualisation, peer pressure and bullying, lack of positive, strong female role models, privacy invasion and misuse of the internet, ladette behaviour and increase in aggressive behaviour amongst girls, to name a few.
This backdrop is leading to a generation of teenage girls arriving at puberty with a full on identity crisis. Eating disorders, promiscuity and teen pregnancies, body dysmorphia, self-harming, binge-drinking and substance abuse, panic attacks and exam anxiety, are just some of the symptoms apparent in their behaviour.
Not surprisingly we now have a confused generation, disengaging from education and the world around them which leads to low aspirations, poor body image, fickle self esteem and a confused identity.
We create and deliver a range of early intervention programmes from 2 hours to 12 months in duration that do just that! We are also champions for teen girls and know our work makes a huge difference.
We hope you will join our movement and get involved as a volunteer, role model, mentor, coach, employer, fund raiser, ambassador, influencer, school or advocate.
Our girls are in the midst of a mental health crisis and they need us to show them a better way NOW!
Girls Out Loud is a UK based social enterprise set up in 2009 by serial entrepreneur, author, coach, speaker, trainer and female champion Jane Kenyon. Jane had spent the previous 15 years as an entrepreneur in the personal development arena working exclusively with women and felt the need to expand her legacy to working with teen girls. At the time the UK had the highest teen pregnancy in Europe, low teen aspirations and mental health issues were just starting to peek around the corner in every school Pastoral meeting.
Fast forward 10 years and due to the dominance of social media, a society fixated on appearance with appalling body confidence and little movement on the role of women in society, teen girls are in the midst of a mental health crisis. Self-harming is at an all-time high, teen girl suicides are on the increase, grooming and porn has gone mainstream and 70% of girls experience cyber bullying. On top of this girls are now questioning careers due to low visibility of female role models and exam pressure and the fear of failure is putting them off even trying.
The mission of Girls Out Loud has now become more than a nice to have for the few. Our early intervention programmes empower girls to have a positive sense of self, to set personal boundaries, to believe they are worth more and harness their gumption – All necessary life skills if we are to make a dent in the unacceptable lack of parity across all sectors and all levels in the female talent pipeline.
We facilitate intervention programmes in schools from one day to 12 months in duration and in 2010 we launched a mentoring programme for teenage girls called BIG SISTER which involves us recruiting and training role models from diverse backgrounds to mentor teenage girls for a period of 12 months. The emphasis of all our activity is to embed a more empowering mindset in girls, which in turn, reconnects them to education, helps them achieve exam success and broaden their aspirations, encourages them to find their individual voice, take risks, make better life decisions, improve their self-image and become role models for future generations.
WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?…
To empower and inspire teenage girls in the UK and beyond to have confidence, self belief, emotional resilience and a positive self image which, in turn, supports them to think big, embrace risk and reach for the stars.
THE RESULTS:
So far, the girls that have been through our programmes have more clarity on the big picture in terms of their career and place in the world; Recognise the pitfalls of teen pregnancy and no longer see this as a career option; Have higher self-esteem and therefore make better choices in relation to their peer group, boyfriend/girlfriend, friends, family and education/career; Achieve better than expected exam results, are goal centric and have a more healthy external body image. Most importantly they stand up for themselves, their beliefs, their friends and family; know they are enough and live by our mantra…
BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, BE BEAUTIFUL, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY BE YOU. BECAUSE YOU, ARE ALREADY ENOUGH AND ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.
This is the Girls Out Loud Pledge. All of our role model volunteers and the girls who participate in our programmes sign up to this and it is the cornerstone of all our work.
Sister Act is a collaborative mentoring programme bringing employers and schools together to secure Apprenticeship places for girls.
The latest statistics tell us that one third of 18 – 24 year olds have become unemployed or have been furloughed as a result of Covid 19 a frightening number that looks set to increase. We know school leavers from the toughest socio/economic areas will be hit the hardest.
We want to play our part to help some of the regions’ leading employers promote their apprenticeship opportunities and recruit future female talent from the North West’s poorest areas. We all have a responsibility to inspire and effect intragenerational social mobility. Our work with girls tells us this untapped market is bursting with talent and potential. Let’s help them shine!
TOGETHER WE CAN INCREASE THE ASPIRATIONS AND EMPLOYABILITY OF THESE YOUNG WOMEN VIA SISTER ACT.
When you sign up to be a Big Sister with Girls Out Loud, you commit to spending a year getting to know, and supporting, a teenage girl who is at a pivotal stage in her life and education. Much of what we do is centred on building confidence – and being a role model – to show our Little Sister the value of education, and to encourage her to believe in herself at a time when no one else is doing so.
In October, I’ll say goodbye to my Girls Out Loud mentee. Mentee sounds quite formal, but it doesn’t feel formal. Mentee sounds professional and distanced, and we spend loads of time looking at Dogs on Instagram. It’s a little more relaxed. There’s a special tie between us, knotted with a thin thread that we’ve spent time weaving since our first session. At first that thread was fragile, held loosely, both of us convinced the other might drop their end at any moment. Now that thread is really strong. We both have tight hold.
Last week a group of our Year 9 girls who have been participating in the Girls Out Loud Big Sister Mentoring Programme enjoyed a trip to the Co-op Head Office at 1 Angel Square in Manchester. Our Big Sister Local
BE BOLD, BE BRAVE, BE BEAUTIFUL, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY BE YOU. BECAUSE YOU, ARE ALREADY ENOUGH AND ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.
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