Students from different backgrounds have been brought together in a programme designed to empower teenage girls.
Since January Jewish community centre JW3 has hosted an inter-faith programming with female students in year 10 at Hasmonean Girls School, Islamia Girls School and UCL Academy.
Culminating in a celebration evening last week, the project has united the students from different faiths to explore themes including leadership, community and social impact.
The evening featured a short film highlighting the work of the project, a spoken work performance by the participants and a speech by Onjali Rauf, founder and chief executive of human rights charity Making Herstory.
JW3 youth programmer Anna Braybrooke – who came up with the project – said: “We discovered a lot about what brought the participants together, unfortunately, anxieties about body image and school pressure are widespread and a problem that teenagers from all sorts of backgrounds face. Feelings of low self-esteem and stress about school were shared by many of the participants.
“We did a variety of hands-on workshops throughout the project including a cooking workshop where the students talked about family recipes and a weaving session where having a physical activity to do whilst sitting together meant that the conversations flowed naturally amongst the different students.”
Guests for last week’s event included students, project leaders, teachers, friends and family.
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