NEWS

Behind the scenes...

Behind the scenes 🎬

A little sneak peek at what we've been up to in the office today...

All will be revealed soon, so keep an eye on our socials! 👀

A huge thank you to Eli Turay for your help with this project!

Happiness Brunch

We had our first Happiness Brunch of the year!!

Thank you so much to everyone who came along today, it so was nice to see some new faces and of course familiar ones too.

We had the lovely Natalie from Very Important Invitation discussing all things cervical screening.

The wonderful Imani from KMT Rising who talked about ways to try and eliminate stress by choosing alkaline/natural diets, energy balancing and mindfulness techniques.

Remember "You are enough and you're doing the best you can"

The FFS Roadshow - Wellbeing Workshops

Introducing The FFS Roadshows - Women's Wellbeing Workshops...

We want to empower women today for better health tomorrow!

Each month we'll be bringing our workshops to different venues throughout the community.

First up we have the amazing Imani from KMT Rising Ltd delivering "Your Confidence Building Toolkit" helping to create a positive you!

Venue: Elim Church, 1 Burlington Road, Ipswich, IP1 2EU

Date: Wednesday 19th March

Time: 10.00 - 12.00

And best of all, they're absolutely FREE to attend!!

International Women's Day 2025

IWD was a huge celebration this year that featured workshops, crafts and panel discussions on women's equality issues. We also set up a marketplace and lunch for the attendees. We cannot thank Suffolk Archives enough for all their hard work helping and supporting us to put this event together. We had over 380 people come through the doors at The Hold.

We had our amazing girls from our 'Girls Where You At?' project sharing poetry in a special and powerful open mic session. The have been using poetry writing as a tool to explore their emotional landscape, identity, and how it feels to be a girl in 2025. We also had the beautiful voice of Caswell performing and her track "Dorko Boda" which filled everyone with emotion. The amazing Tonia was one of our keynote speakers which was so powerful and looked at the abuse, identity and where what sits in adulthood.

It was truly an amazing day and we can't wait to celebrate again next year.

March Coffee Morning

We had another amazing coffee morning this month with the wonderful Natalie from Very Important Invitation discussing all things cervical screening.

Very Important Invitation is a co-production between Suffolk GP+, Public Health bodies, local charities, women and people in the community to promote accessible cervical screening.

We also had the lovely Sue running our adult crafting. We made beautiful little Easter treats that hold yummy chocolates.

We're haven't got our coffee morning in April but we look forward to seeing you all again in May.

Realise Futures

In March we partnered up with Realise Futures to offer our women the opportunity to take part in a Slow Cooker course.

They gained so much from money saving tips, recipes, and sharing ideas with each other.

The course leader Natasha was absolutely wonderful and even made some homemade bread and cakes in the slow cooker...yes you read that correctly...bread in the slow cooker!!!

At the end of the course, the ladies received their very own brand new slow cooker to take home with them.

Our first event at our new office...

On the 26th February we held our first ever event at our new office.

We invited local organisations and our new neighbours to come and see what FFS is all about. We received amazing support as always and the event was a great success.

Our founder Kim gave a beautiful speech explaining the history of FFS and what it means for the community. We also heard personal stories from our very own Stacey and Jackie telling us their journey and what it means to them. It was extremely moving and proved even more how much the community needs us.

We'd like to thank everyone who attended for showing your love and support.

BBC Introducing...

This month the Girls Where You At? group had an amazing opportunity to go on a trip to BBC Suffolk Radio.

The girls were so lucky to be invited into the studio to watch Angelle’s BBC Introducing show live in action. They were in the audience for the incredible live session with Nina Arya.

We had Nina play our FFS FEST a few years back and have loved watching her career grow!!

Wellbeing Day at The Mix

💖 Wellbeing Day – Love Yourself 💖

Future Female Society, in collaboration with Lighthouse and The Mix, is hosting a Wellbeing Day in Stowmarket!

📅 Thursday, 13th February
⏰ 11 AM – 2 PM
📍 The Mix, Stowmarket
🎯 Theme: Love Yourself

Come along and:
✨ Discover local support services available in the area.
🎁 Grab a goodie bag from Lush (first come, first served!).
☕ Enjoy free tea, coffee, and a Valentine’s treat.

Let’s celebrate self-care and community together! 💕 Hope to see you there!

MTM Coffee Morning

☕ Coffee Mornings Are Back for 2025! 🎉

We’re so excited to welcome you to our first coffee morning of the year on:
📅 Friday, 7th February 2025
📍 The New Wolsey Theatre
⏰ 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Here’s what’s happening:

Free coffee and a chance to meet new people. ☕
Sue is back with her amazing crafts – yay! 🎨
A guest from Suffolk and Norfolk NHS will be joining us to talk about the services they offer. 🩺
We can’t wait to see you all again and start the year off together. Spread the word and bring a friend! 💛

BIG NEWS!!!

We're kicking off 2025 with some BIG NEWS!!

WE HAVE A NEW OFFICE!!

After over 8 years of hot desking, working from home and cafes we finally have our own office. We are delighted to join a busy hub of community businesses at 19 Tower Street. We're so excited to be here, where we have enough space to hold our events, programmes and meetings. It's a huge milestone for FFS and something we're very proud to be sharing with you. We can't wait host our first event here next month and show you all around!

2024 Wrapped Up

Here's our amazing year wrapped up...

Regular projects GWYA and W2W returned
Coffee mornings on 12th Jan, 2nd Feb and 15th Mar
Professional video filmed at the February coffee morning!
14th February - Happiness Brunch at The Hive
8th March - Confidence workshop at the DWP
9th March - International Women’s Day event at The Hold
12th April - Attended The Eid party with Almas at The Hold
19th & 26th Apr - GWYA attended One Sixth Form’s culture day and LEAD the Hope Hack at Ipswich Town FC
5th May - The FFS area at May Day Festival returned
15th May - Happiness Brunch at University of Suffolk
25th May - The Big Afternoon at The Wolsey Theatre
Coffee mornings on 3rd May and 7th June
10th July - GWYA podcast workshop with Chantry High School
11th July - People’s Health Trust visited W2W
Coffee mornings on 12th Jul and 13th Sep
16th August - Cultural Community Day!
20th August - some of us joined The Hive on a day trip around Suffolk
14th September - Kim gave a talk at KMT Rising Exhale event
Coffee mornings on 4th Oct, 8th Nov and 6th Dec
8th October - the first More Than Mum project since 2021 kicked off
30th October - end of term party featuring Caswell at The Hold
29th November - we attended PHOEBE’s gender justice and intersectional practice conference
9th December - GWYA supported Volunteering Matters for community safety hack
10th December - Happiness Brunch with MTM at Burlington Church Hall
17th December - More Than Mum graduation

We couldn't have done it without you all, THANK YOU!!!

December Happiness Brunch

As part of the final task during the More Than Mum programme, we asked the women to plan and host our last Happiness Brunch of the year.

And what a fab job they did!!!

We had lots of stall holders from different organisations throughout the community. The women also held their own stalls including preloved childrens items, cakes, name the reindeer and a huge raffle. The raffle was full to the brim with prizes and vouchers which the women all sourced themselves.

We even had a visit from the Mayor!

All in all it was a very successful event, where the community came together and helped raise funds so we can continue for our programmes.

More Than Mum Programme 2024

After a long break due to Covid we were finally able to run our More Than Mum programme again at the end of 2024. Across the 10 week programme our group of women from all different backgrounds and circumstances came together on a journey to help find their identities again.

Here is what the women had to say about the programme at their graduation...

"We joined the programme to help build our confidence, help get us out of the house and discover what skills we have as a mum that we can transfer in to the workplace and community. We have learned so much about ourselves in the last 10 weeks. We have learnt how to beleive in oursleves, change our mindset and build our confidence."

"I really learned a lot about myself. I lost a lot of confidence when I had my son, he's now eight.

"I've been out of work for probably about four years, I got made redundant, and ever since then I've been a stay-at-home mum. I completely lost my confidence, didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, so coming on the programme it has really helped me see what other people see in me. I've actually made the decision to go into event planning so it has helped me find my passion and what I want to do."

The graduation was held at Christchurch Mansion on Tuesday 17th December where the Deputy Mayoress of Ipswich was in attendance along with BBC News.

Click the link below to read the full article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyd11we1r9o

Ain't No Party Like An FFS Party!!!

Come join us as we celebrate our milestones, showcase our progress, and give you a sneak peek into what’s next. We’ve planned an afternoon of fun activities, entertainment, and a chance to get creative!

Event Highlights:

🎤 Live Performances: Don’t miss an exclusive performance by CASWELL, featuring her brand new single “Dorka Boda”!
🎶 GWYA? and W2W Radio will be streaming live to keep the energy high.
🍕 Pizza Galore: Enjoy delicious pizza while you mix and mingle.
🎨 Crafting Corner: Join us for some hands-on crafting activities to create a fun keepsake from the day.

Event Details:

📅 Date: Wednesday, 30th October 2024
🕐 Time: 1 PM - 4 PM
📍 Location: The Hold, 131 Fore St, Ipswich IP4 1LN

It’s going to be an afternoon filled with music, creativity, and celebration, and it wouldn’t be the same without you! Whether you’ve been part of FFS from the start or are just curious to learn more, this is the perfect time to connect and celebrate with our community.

Cultural Community Day 2024

On Friday, August 16, 2024, we co-hosted a Cultural Community Day at Christ Church Park from 11 AM to 3 PM, bringing together over 450 attendees for an unforgettable day of community and celebration. This vibrant event was held in collaboration with our incredible partners, Lighthouse, Anglia Care Trust, Iscree and The Ferns.

Together, we created a space where people from all backgrounds could come together to have a free day out and to learn of the great support services within Ipswich

Over 45 organizations joined us for the day, offering an invaluable showcase of resources and support services. From health and wellbeing, family support, education, Fire awareness, children's craftin and Suffolk Police, each organisation brought its own unique contribution to the event. Attendees were able to engage with a wide range of local resources, connecting with representatives who were there to answer questions and provide guidance.

Thank You to Our Partners and Community!

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made Cultural Community Day 2024 a success. To our partners — Lighthouse, Anglia Care Trust, Iscree and The Ferns — and to the 45+ organisations who joined us, thank you for your dedication to our shared mission of supporting and empowering our community.

Looking Ahead to 2025

We’re already planning next year’s Cultural Community Day and can’t wait to bring the community together again in 2025. Stay tuned for updates, and thank you for helping us celebrate the diversity, resilience, and strength of our community.

HOPE HACK

On Friday 3rd 'May Girls Where You At' alongside Volunteering Matters, The Damilola Taylor Foundation and The Rio Ferdinand Foundation took part in a Hope Hack @ Ipswich Town Footballl Club.

We were so privileged to be a major part of the Ipswich Hope Hack it was phenomenal!
100 young people full of energy, ideas, and smarts, creating a space of hope now and for the future.
Our GWYA crew stepped into being the leaders that we know they are, choosing the categories, leading the workshops and feedback and just smashing it.
The Hope Hacks have been taking place all over the country, with the results being tabled into a youth manifesto for change. This manifesto will be delivered to the government to inform them what and how young people see and can contribute to changes in society.

We can't wait for the response.
Huge thanks to @ipswichtown The Hope Collective @rioferdinandfoundation @damilolataylortrust @_PCFoundation @ncs @uk.youth @#iwill_movement
#ipswichhopehack #hopehack #keephopelit #hopecollective #damilolataylor #youthsocialaction👌#ipswich #suffolk #GWYA #Futurefemalesociety.