Global Girl Leading: A Celebration for International Day of the Girl, October 2020

From December 2016-April 2017, a Student Leadership Committee (SLC) designed their own Girl Leading programme. This culminated in their running of a residential weekend attended by students from across the UK. Recruitment for the residential was focused on disadvantaged students, allowing girls who do not usually have access to such opportunities to see themselves as leaders.

The aims of the residential were to:

• Increase girls’ self-esteem and self-belief
• Empower girls through knowledge of the options open to them, enabling them to empower others
• Develop girls’ skills, focusing on leadership, public speaking, teamwork and creating and running projects

The weekend consisted of several panel discussions and skills-based workshops with expert speakers and facilitators. Student surveys showed that these activities consistently helped attendees improve their confidence both in themselves and in what they can achieve.

In order to sustain the impact of the residential, students were provided with a framework to run independent leadership projects, the results of which they shared three months later at Mulberry School for Girls. These projects included a Let Girls Learn day, a sponsored walk and a campaign to raise awareness around forced marriage.

For more information, please see the Girl Leading 2017 Impact Report.