International Women's Day: Return partners with The Girl's Network charity

The Girls’ Network was set up by Charly Young and Becca Dean. After both teaching in secondary schools in North West London, the multiple barriers facing girls in their classroom became apparent to us.

We observed girls who felt the pressure to conform to ideals, while battling low self-esteem with few professional female role models in their lives. We believed that the girls needed greater access to these sorts of opportunities. We wanted to boost their confidence and provide them with the opportunities and skills to thrive.

The Girls’ Network, a charity which arranges one-to-one mentoring schemes for girls from the least advantaged communities across the UK, was launched in 2013. The charity aims to provide the enrolled girls with futures that are not determined or limited by their gender, background or parental income.

After starting the mentoring scheme with just 30 girls, The Girls’ Network now operates across Greater London, Sussex, Portsmouth, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, the North East, and Liverpool City Region, working with more than 1,000 girls each year.

Return

Return has partnered with The Girls Network to raise funds that will contribute towards its mentoring programme. We held two fundraising activities to raise money, a ‘Guess How Many Sweets Are In The Jar’ game and an ‘Inspirational Women Sweepstake’ and raised under £100.

We also have two representatives from The Girls Network coming into the Return offices to chat to the team. They’ll be hosting a session to explain more about the charity’s work, their mentoring scheme and discussing opportunities for the Return team to get involved in.

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 around the world. The day is not country, group or organisation specific; it’s a day to praise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The global day celebrates unity and also marks an important call to action for encouraging gender equality.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we asked some of our super-talented female team members at Return what being a woman in business means to them.

It's amazing to see such a strong workforce of women at Return. With over 65% of the office being female, it's great to work somewhere that doesn't limit anyone's potential by their gender.

Technical SEO expert, Cherie Bellingham, says: “I haven't experienced workplace gender discrimination which makes me so thankful for the perseverance and bravery of the generations before me, my current generation and the generations after me. I am a well-respected professional within Return earned through my work, and not because of my gender - the way it should be.”

While senior content executive, Emily Cotton, thinks: “During my time in the working world, I’ve been lucky enough to work for some very inspiring women. Women that not only know their industry like the back of their hand, but also who are more than willing to encourage the generation that follows them. I am very grateful for these women getting me to where I am today."

Pip Hough, senior marketing executive at Return.