Girls at Knights in 2022
A special session, just for girls
Girls creates a space for young women aged 8-18 to learn and grow in a space with other girls and female staff.
Recently in other sections Knights has experienced much higher attendance of male members each week – while this is great news, it’s made our work giving girls their own space even more importance.
More than ten girls attend Girls at Knights each week. Our first aim is to emphasise the specialness of the Girls session: it’s just for them.
We’ve done a rich and varied range of activities together: baking, football, basketball, painting, competitive limbo and making cosmetics (like bath bombs and body scrubs). Any games with a prize on offer tended to go down well. An organic interest from the group in football led us to hire a coach from Street Soccer – another charity in Lambeth working with young people – their sessions have been a huge success. It's noticeable that the girls are more enthusiastic about sport in the absence of boys. Our sessions give them the opportunities to express themselves.
Trips further afield included a visit to the Ebony Horse Club, Kayaking at Wey Island, Go-Karting, Lasertag, Ninja Warrior, and Gravity in Wandsworth.
We use the last 15 minutes of each session to gather the girls together for some circle time. We cover topics such as ‘what it means to be a young woman in 2022’. This time is unique to the girls’ project. We’ve discussed Chris Kaba story, who was killed just streets away from Knights, and talked about how the girls relate to feeling safe in the Clapham Park area. We keep close tabs on how the girls are and what is going on in their worlds.
Elsewhere, partnerships are important to our work. One such partnership in 2022 was with the Lambeth Outreach team, who regularly visit sessions and talk our members through opportunities in the borough. Another guest was football coach, Alex: the members admire her and benefit from her coaching and mentorship.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however. Staff coming and going has meant we spent time in the second half of 2022 focusing on team-building and helping staff and members getting to know each other. Through all the change, we’ve made sure the girls know we’re there for them in the highs and lows of their lives.
