Girl Power Leads To The Launch Of A New Charity
School girls from Bridgend County Borough have set up a new charity which aims to raise awareness of health and wellbeing issues being faced by young women.
Established with support from Bridgend County Borough Council and BAVO, the ‘Girl Power’ charity has been created by a group of secondary school pupils who want to encourage their peers to get more active and also tackle issues such as low self-esteem and body image.
The girls come from various local secondary schools, and are also members of the local Girls Network – an initiative set up five years ago by Bridgend County Borough Council’s Active Young People Department (AYPD).
Council staff have worked with the girls and partners including Sport Wales to help promote physical activity and its health benefits, and have also provided on-going support and training to empower the girls to become young leaders.
Councillor Hailey Townsend, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generation, said: “It’s great to see how the work of our Active Young People Department in local schools has really helped girls develop their skills and confidence so they felt able to set up the charity and become trustees.
“The Girls Network is doing excellent work to improve the health and wellbeing of young women and girls across Bridgend County Borough and this charity is the next step. I am confident that members of the group will continue to expand the work of the network so that all girls in the county borough feel motivated to take part in some form of physical activity.”
Whilst setting up the charity, a competition to create a logo took place among Year Six pupils from primary schools across the county borough.
The competition was judged by representatives of the charity who ended up choosing two winners, incorporating elements of both designs in to the final logo.
Winners included Emily Nelmes from Brackla Primary and Lowri Thomas from Garth Primary.
Trustee Jasmine King, who became involved with the network whilst a pupil at Cynffig Comprehensive School, said: “It was extremely difficult to choose a winner from all the great entries, but for me, the winning designs really summed up the aims of the charity, to empower girls to be the best they can be.”
Both girls received ten tickets to JumpJam in Bridgend and will see their designs included in future ‘Girl Power’ publications and associated literature.
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