This is possibly the most awkward thing I've ever had to do! I'm used to fundraising for charity, but fundraising for me to do something?! That's a whole new ballgame! So, I'm asking for your hard earned cash so that I can train as a Girls Journeying Together Facilitator. The intense training prepares us to work with and hold in a safe place a small group of 10-12 year old girls who meet on a monthly basis. I've added the links to the website because Kim and the Rites for Girls team are much better at explaining it than I am: https://www.ritesforgirls.com/accredited-facilitators/; https://www.ritesforgirls.com/girls-groups-info/.

What I want to tell you is why I am on the course. I found out about it very much at the last minute and felt so drawn to the work that I signed up straight away and after what felt like the longest wait of my life (it wasn't really long at all), I had an email confirming my place. I decided that if it was meant to be, I'd find a way to fund it. This is that way. What I'm hoping is that you will understand the importance of the work on a bigger scale, rather than seeing it as just my training. What Rites for Girls is trying to do is so important. Helping our young people to get through the transition of childhood to adulthood is imperative and is more so now that ever before. You only have to take one look at the news to know that our children, particular our girls, are suffering (https://www.theguardian.com/society/youngpeople+mental-health; https://news.sky.com/story/self-harm-in-girls-and-young-women-rising-at-alarming-rate-11735074; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45329030). As a mother to two teenage girls I can see how hard this time in their life is. It seems so much harder than it was when I was a teenager and I really struggled through my teens. I feel a huge sense of responsibility to all girls and this is my way of helping. This is my way of helping the next generation, who in turn will help the generation after that. I simply can not sit by and do nothing. Being a Girls Journeying Together Facilitator is my way of being part of the solution and preventing more suffering.

The intention of this work is to help the girls to develop the skills and resilience to get through these years of transition with a group of peers by their side. The facilitators role is to get them together on a monthly basis and guide them through sessions focusing on everything from periods to body image to mentors and culminates in a celebration of the girls. There is a huge responsibility involved in being a facilitator. The girls need to feel safe with you (as do their mothers) and they need to trust you. Part of the responsibility is teaching the girls that they are welcome just as they are. There's no expectation for them to be any one other than themselves and to show them that, we as facilitators need to be ourselves. A lot of the work we do at the training is self-reflective, looking at things that might be difficult for us either now or while we were 12, and breaking down those issues so we don't bring them into group. It's absolutely exhausting. The training is three lots of 8 day residential sessions during which we all live together. On top of that we have work to do between training sessions (assignments, tasks, preparation) and then we run one small group for a year whilst supervised by Kim and Helena, the two incredible women trainers who are guiding us through. Only then, once they have signed us off as fit to practice, will we be fully fledged facilitators.

Kim McCabe has been running Girls Journeying Together Groups for 10 years and has written an amazing book called 'From Daughter to Woman, parenting girls safely through their teens' which has been very well received by parents and parenting experts alike. Stephen Biddulph is a big fan of Kim's work and talks about Rites for Girls in the new edition of his world renown book 'Raising Girls'. Kim does regular talks around the country that are always really inspiring and where you can find out more about the groups. I will be setting up a local talk at the beginning of next year so watch this space for more info. To find out more you can follow this link https://www.ritesforgirls.com/talks/

Full financial transparency - these are all the costs I'm asking for funding for:

Training: £3960; accommodation: £1305; transport to training: £50; safeguarding course: £30; start up one off materials and resources: £129; dissertation submission: £100.

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