Generations of Scousers have made friends for life through the group
The Girls Friendly Society in St Michael In The Hamlet Church Hall have been there for over 50 years(Image: Photo by Iain Watts)
It’s now been decades since a local girls group first set up in one part of Liverpool – and over half a century on they still call the same venue home. Founded 150 years ago by Mary Townsend, feminist charity, The Girls’ Friendly Society (GFS), has a long history.
In 1875, Mary Townsend set the organisation up with the help of the Anglican church to provide young women moving from the countryside into cities for work with a network of support and community, while also pioneering a new form of preventative action that helped protect girls from the dangers of exploitation. Today, it encourages girls and young women, age five to 25, to develop their full potential through fun activities, training and other opportunities.
The GFS has had a presence in Liverpool since the 1800s, but today it is only the Aigburth group that remains. For the last 50 years they have welcomed generations to St Michael In The Hamlet Church Hall on Belgrave Road, seeing members grow and make friends for life.
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Anna Mulholland, from Aigburth, has been group coordinator for the last two-and-a-half years and said they are proud to be part of the town’s history. Anna, 41, told the ECHO: “We’re a safe space where girls can be themselves – but we support their development of socioemotional skills as well, like their confidence and resilience.
“I’d never heard of it until the job advertised and I grew up literally just a minute down the road from where it is – but I’d never even heard of GFS before. When it started 150 years ago, it was more of a religious organisation.
A former group in the hall decades ago(Image: Photo courtesy of Girls Friendly Society Aigburth)
These old photos were found in a tin in the cupboards(Image: Photo courtesy of Girls Friendly Society Aigburth)
“We’ve had the presence in Liverpool since the 1800s and we’ve been in this church hall for over 50 years. We recently found a tin of photos in the cupboard of all the previous groups.
“They were taken inside years ago and back in the day, they had to wear a uniform. In the pictures, you can see them doing gymnastics in their full uniforms. They’re just amazing photos.”
Today, young girls in the area and further afield meet with GFD volunteers every Tuesday, taking part in programmes as well as activities, trips and residentials. Currently the only GFS group in the city, Anna said the team hope to set up another group in Toxteth in the near future.
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Anna said: “It’s really nice because we get kids from all walks of life. Some of them travel as far as from Kirkdale to attend our group.
“My own daughter is 14 and she attends with me now. My group is officially for age seven to 11, but I’ve got kids as old as 15 because they haven’t wanted to leave.
St Michael In The Hamlet Church Hall, Aigburth(Image: Photo by Iain Watts)
“Liverpool City Council partly fund us and they would also like to see us extend to older girls, so the fact that the girls don’t want to leave kind of suits us at the moment and we can transition some of the older girls into leader roles.”
In over 50 years, GFS Aigburth have seen hundreds from the area attend, many making friends for life. Anna said: “It’s a long history.
Anna Mulholland from the Girls Friendly Society(Image: Photo by Iain Watts)
“When I took over it was already so well established. I’ve got between 15 and 20 girls attending every week and some of their mums attended.
“One of my girls, even her nan attended GFS, so it’s been passed down through the generations. One of my leaders, she was a GFS Aigburth girl and she just never left, she’s 30-years-old now.”
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To celebrate 150 years of GFS, earlier this week, Anna and the team hosted a festival themed celebration for the girls, with a silent disco, crafts, and more. With over 70 people attending, the group also welcomed back a number of former members who attended decades ago, who are still part of the church and local community.
Louise Henry, Emma Pulford, Jean Johnson, Georgia Fitzgerald and Val Jackson at the 150th party(Image: Photo by Iain Watts)
Anna said: “We had a lot of the older ladies turn up with all their badges and attended as far back as the 1960s. We asked the girls at the celebration what they love the most about coming here and they said it’s that they never know what they’re going to be doing – but they always know it’s going to be something fun.”