Raising the aspirations of young girls aged 13-15 years

Inspired by the work of the Girls Out Loud social enterprise, three employees from Costain have been taking part in their ‘Big Sister’ mentoring programme.

Girls Out Loud is a not for profit organisation that has been set up to raise aspirations of young girls aged 13- 18 and facilitates various interventions in secondary schools.

Big Sister is a mentoring programme that works with 13-15-year-old girls who are bright but sit in the middle cohort and just ‘cruise’. Girls Out Loud believe that these girls are the future leaders, managers and entrepreneurs and deserve investment.

In 2017, Jayne Geary, Katie Swanick and Shiona MacDonald were trained as Big Sister role models. Jayne and Katie were matched with their own Little Sister from Middleton High School in Rochdale and Shiona with a Little Sister from Cowley International College, St Helens.

Each month, the 'sisters’ met up on school premises for a supervised one to one session and also participated in group activities throughout the year.

The mentoring partnership provides a rewarding opportunity for personal development for both of the sisters.

The programme brings significant benefits to the Little Sisters. They receive guidance, support and motivation from their role model which increases their self- confidence and builds self-esteem.

The Big Sisters also embark on a journey outside of their comfort zone as they look to tap into the minds of young females and try to understand the pressures they face. It is an opportunity to develop skills and take their learning experiences back to the workplace. In addition, Big Sisters receive professional mentoring training and they have the opportunity to network with other successful women (across a variety of industries) who are taking part in the programme.

For more information about the Girls Out Loud mentoring programme visit www.girlsoutloud.org.uk