Sitting down in front of empowerment mood boards, poems, and pieces of work from City in the Community’s City Girls participants, Hemp shared her thoughts and feelings on their work.
The activity took place as part of International Women’s Day with the aim to inspire the youth of today.
Ahead of the day, City Girls participants from across Greater Manchester were tasked with creating mood boards and poems that reflected how they felt being a female in sport and what empowered them.
Commenting on the images, Hemp said: “I just wanted to say that I love all these inspirational quotes and poems and mood boards.
“Obviously, as players, we’ve been through the same experiences growing up and it’s important that you keep going, keep inspiring other people and just being amazing.”
After the activity with Lauren, the footage was shown to the City Girls participants who had created the mood boards and poems.
Commenting on Hemp looking at their work, one participant said: “I think it is inspirational and it made me feel good that a footballer has looked at my work and just to keep on going no matter how big of a mistake I have made.”
Another City Girls participant said: “I think that video was inspirational, and it made me feel good about myself knowing a Lioness has looked at my work.”
Community Outreach Officer for Girls, Georgia Dickinson, said: “Lauren Hemp is a huge role model to a lot of our female participants, especially after seeing her success at the Women’s 2022 Euro’s.
“To hear her relate to the participants thoughts and feelings will mean a great deal to our girls.”
City Girls is a free programme for girls ages six to 16.
Sessions aim to be fun and engaging with a technical base, with an aim to improve both the player and the person, by building confidence and empowering young people.
Changemakers, which forms part of the City Girls programme, is a UNITAR-accredited leadership initiative delivered in schools, funded by the Premier League.
It aims to empower, inspire, and develop leadership qualities in girls aged 11 to 16.
Activities on the programme include taking part in a variety of sporting sessions, planning social action projects, and engaging within CITC events, as well as a variety of workshops to develop communication, teamwork and leadership skills.
City in the Community empowers healthier lives with city youth through football.
To find out more, visit www.mancity.com/CITC or follow the charity on social media @CITCmancity.
