Four Seasons Recruitment Collaborate with The Girls Network

The Girls Network was founded by Becca Dean and Charly Young, whilst they were working as teachers in central London. Both Becca and Charly were particularly shocked by the low expectations the girls had of themselves and their futures. The founders started inviting women from their own networks into their schools to speak to the girls. Both the girls and their visitors found the conversations so inspiring that they wanted to make more of a long term commitment. More women heard about the work and asked to join in, and so The Girls Network was born. 

In 2013 The Girls Network officially launched on International Women’s Day, since then they have grown to over 1000 women and girls. The Girls Networks mission is to inspire and empower girls from the least advantaged communities by connecting them with a mentor and a network of professional female role models. Four Seasons Recruitment wanted to collaborate with The Girls Network, and after we met with Charly we quickly learned what an inspiring, exciting and rewarding project we were about to embark upon. With the majority of Four Seasons staff being women, it was a match made in heaven. As a company, mentoring is an amazing way to share our experiences and skills with girls that might not benefit from this support otherwise. This is a powerful combination, and one that will transform the lives of teenage girls. After some initial training, the Four Seasons mentors attended the matching event held on November 2nd. The Girls Network had matched Four Seasons Recruitment primarily with Hornsey School for girls, based in Crouch End; however it was time to meet our mentee face to face. We started off by “speed matching” whereby we spoke to multiple girls for a timed slot of 5 minutes each. Within my little group the common theme was an interest in art and fashion - 5 minutes has never gone so quickly in my life! After our initial speed matching we paused for a breather and a small snack. Already we all felt huge pride in our collaboration with this fantastic charity and that we would be more than able to really help and guide our mentees. Before we knew it the matches had been made. It was time to organise our first sessions and exchange contact details. 

Since the matching event last week, the mentors are planning their first meetings. Some are off sight-seeing in London to build the foundations of a friendship, others will be focusing on Body Language and Tips for Confidence. Whatever the chosen activity, the girls will benefit hugely. Mentoring a girl will change her life forever. Last year, The Girls Network reported 100% of girls felt confident about how to get where they wanted to go and 100% of girls demonstrated moderate to high levels of resilience. At Four Seasons Recruitment, we are so pleased to be involved with such an amazing charity and urge any woman to get involved with this truly inspirational movement. For more information contact becca@thegirlsnetwork.org.uk