HOW Girls 2019
Our first HOW Girls pilot scheme launched in Mumbles, South Wales in June 2019. A block of 6 weeks this involved a 2 hour evening session at Surfside Cafe on Langland Beach.
A freelance session was delivered weekly Yoga, Beach Club Fit, Trust Games, Photography and one week we had an ocean swim and built a fire. We informally had a round circle chat each week in line with our core values. ‘If you were an animal what would you be and why?’ ‘How would others describe you?’ this was always a lovely way to start the session. During the course we invited some young local role models to come along and help out. Each week we did a beach clean and this lead to discussing plastic pollution and the importance for us to pick up as well as thinking about our useage. This was an angle we hadn’t expected the girls to take to so well. They continue to beach clean everytime they visit with their families now!
Scrapbooking was a big highlight of the course. Each week we collated information and had some focused reflection on what we had done during the session and how this had made us feel. Quiet time to think and process what they had learnt, done and experienced. Things from new friendships to struggling with a yoga move.
Our sixth session was a residential at a stunning North Gower location. A weekend full of fun, laughter, yoga, environmental craft - we made a jellyfish out of the plastic we had cleaned up off the local beach, stories, scrap booking, cooking together, fire building and generally having a great time together. An afternoon surf session in Llangennith was a highlight, with local legend and inspirational young woman, Gwen Spurlock. Gwen has been a breath of fresh air to us all and has embraced HOW and all it stands for. She has loved meeting and working with the girls and we have expanded to offer a HOW Surf arm with open sessions as well as intermediate and advanced sessions that she will continue to coach next year. The residential finished with a big family brunch that the girls helped prepare and they all left having made new friendships and having grown in confidence.
They loved it. We loved it.
Next up is HOW Girls 2020. Launching in March that will involve 16 girls and the same format, just tweaked and improved.
