Rochdale girls join Girlguiding’s body confidence revolution

32nd Rochdale Rangers are inspiring others to speak out and challenge beauty myths

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

32nd Rochdale Rangers have joined Girlguiding’s body confidence revolution and are inspiring others to speak out and challenge beauty myths.

The girls aged 14-16 years old took part in a series of fun activities during their girl-only meetings all aimed at boosting their self-esteem.

The ground-breaking programme, called Free Being Me, unmasks society’s beauty myths - highlighting airbrushing and challenging unhealthy body talk.

The group have been challenged to stand up and take action to stop unhealthy body ideals affecting the next generation.

Activities have been led by the girls themselves, with support from volunteer leader Wendy James, who has been trained to talk frankly to girls about a range of issues – from bullying to eating disorders.

During the sessions, the girls have been tasked with taking the body confidence to their community using posters, video and by spreading the words to other girls. This included running an awareness session for a local Brownie unit.

The Brownies, aged seven to 10 had also been working on this resource and the Rangers ran the final session for them – and included a compliment giving activity to boost self-esteem.

The Rangers and Brownies were rewarded for their efforts with a special Free Being Me badge.

Megan Callaghan, 15, said: “I really enjoyed doing all the activities in Free Being Me and I’m looking forward to spreading the message about body confidence to my friends.”

Ranger leader Wendy James, said: “This topic is so relevant to girls today. It’s important that we offer girls a safe space where they can talk about sensitive issues without fear of judgement.”

Latest research by Girlguiding reveals that UK girls are suffering from a body image crisis – with more than a third unhappy with the way they look.

To further boost the body confidence revolution – Girlguiding is expanding its Peer Education programme–recruiting and training an additional 180 young women this year to go out into the community to spread the message.