Girl Gang Manchester

Find out more or book tickets here

Check out these cracking reviews from the show’s September run in Liverpool:

““A powerful piece of work that managed to blow me away in its opening lines and restore my belief in the power of theatre to give voice to characters that many of us do not see or sadly choose not to... Relevant, necessary and wonderfully performed.” ★★★★ North West End (Sharing at The Unity in 2021)

“Crackles with both tension and tenderness... Real, messy, and raw.”

“Funny and heartbreaking- Victoria Oxley’s writing debut is undeniably a triumph.”

Liverpool Noise (Royal Court, September 2025)

The show is being presented without any funding, and all donations will go back into the project to try and secure a future tour and potential Edinburgh run!

A DECADE: 10 Years of Us & You- less than 2 weeks to go!

Founded in January 2016, Girl Gang Manchester emerged from a desire to create feminist spaces that felt inclusive, playful and meaningful- spaces where people who hadn’t necessarily engaged in feminist movements or discourse before, could show up with curiosity, gathered around a shared passion or cultural moment and build connections in a values-led community committed to co-learning together.

We’re so excited to be using our tenth birthday to do just that! With a revival and celebration of some of the events and art from our archive and brand new installations and workshops to explore these themes and just what a decade means, both personally and collectively, together.

Where: 📍Stretford Public Hall

When: 🗓Saturday, 14 Feb 2026,⏰ 6:00pm – 11:00pm

What: Workshops, installations, decor, dancing, games, performance, panels, cake!

Spotlight on our limited capacity timed activity:

6.30-7.15pm & 7.45-8.30pm: Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman ritual:

Bad at dealing with change? Miss a previous version of yourself? Struggling to welcome in a new you? Join us for this reflective, calming and cathartic ritual based workshop where we honour our past selves and reflect on the way we, the world, ourselves and our lives have changed.

7pm-7.30pm: Looking Back, Looking Forward: Group Discussion

Add your voice to an important reflective, and hopefully galvanising discussion about what has changed in the last 10 years and how we work together to shape the next 10! With invited local artists, activists and community organisers who have been making things happen in Manchester, we will explore the decades behind and before us through a hyper local, global, creative and cultural lens.

7.45-.8.30pm: Party Games with a Feminist Twist:

Reviving a Girl Gang classic, expect such treats as “Pop the Patriarch”, “Get over the Glass Ceiling”, “Poo the Pay Gap”, “Pass the Privilege” and “Musical Chairwoman of the Board”.

And don’t forget the dance floor! (some vibes from our previous parties below)

So much more to look forward to! Check out the links above for full activity listings and get those tickets booked :)

XOXO, sending our love
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

FEBRUARY IS GOING TO BE EPIC AND HERE IS WHY

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:34:00 GMT

Hiii beautiful gang!

February is going to be a gorgeous month for us, with two amazing events happening and we couldn’t be more excited for you to join us and be together in person once again.

PREPARE YOURSELF TO BE ENTERTAINED!!!

Staying Alive

Happening on 5th and 6th February, Stayin’ Alive is the perfect play to warm up your heart on a winter night. Described by audiences and reviewers as the “Scouse Fleabag,” this darkly comic new show tells the story of Maggie, a young woman grieving the death of her Nan while her life threatens to fall apart around her.

Still living in her Nan’s house, with a useless therapist and a sister on the edge of losing patience, Maggie feels the walls closing in. Caught between the Blue Anchor pub, an Elkie Brooks record, and a broken Alexa that won’t stop playing the wrong songs, she begins to unravel and slowly rebuild as she searches for a reason to stay.

Written and performed by Victoria Oxley and inspired by her own experiences of OCD and close relationship with her “working class Scouse matriarch” Grandma , Stayin’ Alive is a funny, raw and unapologetically Northern show about grief, OCD, working-class survival and complicated family dynamics, told with biting with, brutal honesty, and dodgy tribute acts.

What: Stayin’ Alive- a piece of new writing

When: 🗓5th & 6th February, ⏰7:30pm

Where:📍53Two Theatre, Manchester

Wanna know more: Check out the trailer here, and further info page here

Tickets: Available now! Book in the link below.

The show is created without any funding and all donations will go back into the project to try and secure a future tour and potential Edinburgh run!

Girl Gang’s 10th Birthday Party: Celebrating a decade

As we said, February will be the best month of the year so far with us kicking off celebrations of a whole ten years of us, and we want to celebrate you as part of this history too. That’s why you cannot miss the party of the decade, no, no, the century!

Join us for a community “day to night” party celebrating ten years of surviving and thriving as individuals, a community and a DIY feminist events collective in Manchester! We’ll be hosting reflective workshops, reunions, crafts, games, talks, performances, panels, art installations, decor, DJ’s and dancing!

And yes, we know it’s Valentine’s Day, but really, is there a better place to celebrate than at an epic party with amazing music and incredible people? We don’t think so.

So put on your best outfit, spruce yourself up, and bring along your lovers, girlfriends, boyfriends, non-binary partners, spouses, and polycules are all very welcome.

Where: 📍Stretford Public Hall

When: 🗓Saturday, 14 Feb 2026,⏰ 6:00pm – 11:00pm

Tickets are available now!

Wanna know more: Click on the button to go to our ticket page and see the full plan for the day or take a peek at some of the activities we’ll be doing below and explore all the fun you’ll be having.

Book your tickets

Spotlight on:

Drop In Activities at our 10th Birthday Party:

Running continuously between 6-9pm

Our Decade: Art Installation & Community Zine Creation

Inspired by our Cultural Timeline scene from Millennial Pink- step into our interactive ten year timeline experience where we attempt to capture ten years of Girl Gang events and projects, ten years of global politics and pop culture and invite you to share your personal milestones and memories across those ten years with us!

The timeline will be accompanied by a craft table where we encourage people to create contributions to the creation of a zine we will be publishing to celebrate our tenth birthday.

(Our “cultural timeline” scene from Millennial Pink, documenting moving from childhood to young adulthood 1997- 2007)

Red Carpet Arrival Experience

Walk the red carpet and be treated like the star that you are! Starring YOU as a valued member of our community we will be capturing your attendance and finding out what girl gang(s) mean(s) to you.

(Eloise & Channique welcoming guests to Grand Finale, our immersive celebration event that toured schools in Salford in 2021)

Gift Swish:

Give to receive! Share the joy! Bring something you don’t want / need any more or something handmade, wrap it up and take something away in return. Or just give to give- we’ll also have a table collecting donations for Emmeline’s Pantry Foodbank.

(Check out a video from our Gemma explaining how to take part)

Make your own party hat:

Tap into your inner child and honour the fact it’s our tenth birthday after all with a throwback children’s party hat customisation station.

Screening Stations:

Enjoy previous Girl Gang projects and campaigns such as; Ode to Bedroom Dancing, Everything I Know, I Felt exhibition film, Bed Talks from artists activists and academics during lockdown, (I Fell In Love and) Everything Was Beautiful, Do you understand what’s in your blood? #SpreadtoPledge and A Woman’s Place is in the Home

(Party Hat craft table at our 2nd Birthday in 2018 and still of Yandass dancing in our dance film Do You Understand What is In Your Blood by Sophie Broadgate & Eliyana Evans for Everything I Know, I Felt, our exhibition at The Lowry in 2020)

Walk Down Memory Lane- Decor From the Archive:

Displaying some classic Girl Gang designs from our archive including our Processions banner from 2018, Love & Rage banner from IWD @ Aviva Studios 2023, The Eiffel Tower from our immersive screening of Bridesmaids in 2017, the winners podium from Bend It Like Beckham 2023 and many more!

Our iconic Eiffel Tower from Bridesmaids 2017, both by Jeni Holt Wright

Alongside all this, we will also have activities and workshops taking place during our 10th Birthday Party in specific time slots, such as:

Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman ritual workshop - reflective and calming ritual where we will honour our past selves and mark, mourn and celebrate the passing of time and welcome in new iterations of ourselves.
Looking Back, Looking Forward panel discussion- featuring local feminist figures reflecting on how the landscape has changed in the last 10 years and what we want for the next 10 years.
Party Games with a Feminist Twist - Reviving a Girl Gang classic, expect such treats as “Pop the Patriarchy”, “Get over the Glass Ceiling”, “Poo the Pay Gap”, “Pass the Privilege” and “Musical Chairwoman of the Board”.
Girl Gang- 10 Things We’ve Learned in 10 Years - What we are saying yes & no to as independent artists moving forwards. A little speech, toast, reflection and cake cutting ceremony!
Manifesto Relaunch & Re:Evolution Ritual - Collectively getting things off our chests and out of our systems to create space for a new era and kick off the party!
As well as, 10th Birthday Disco & Pop Up Performances - Expect decade spanning multi-genre feminist bangers soley from artists of marginalised genders, theatrical moments and surprises ranging from poetry to burlesque!

For full timings for the activities above and to get you ticket click the button below!

10 Bday Party Tickets here!

We’re so excited to celebrate with you all and so grateful to everyone who books their tickets in advance so we know how much cake we can afford to buy!

XOXO, sending our love
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

A Look Back at Girl Gang Manchester's 10th Birthday Party & Twelfth Night Casting!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 17:30:02 GMT

Hello gorgeous gang!

Thank you so much to all who attended and supported Girl Gang’s 10th birthday bash, a night of community, celebration, dancing, crafts, poetry, burlesque and cake!

Girl Gang’s 10th Birthday Bash

Photo credit: Heather Wood Photography

Images taken by Girl Gang’s Larissa

Highlights of the night included:

Megan’s discussion on the landscape of community events over the last decade and party games with a feminist twist, including Musical Chairwoman of the Board.
Caitlin’s calm and transformative ritual, a moment to pause and reflect during the celebration.
Gemma’s collection for Emmeline’s Pantry, a foodbank that serves Manchester’s women and domestic abuse survivors, (we collected two crates full of food, toiletries and gifts thanks to your kind donations), and her new poem, ‘10 Years’, a tribute to both Girl Gang and everyone who has survived the decade.
Charlie and Charlotte’s incredible ‘10 Years of Us and You’ installation, detailing the last ten years of Girl Gang, popular culture, politics and world events.
Charlotte and Larissa’s red carpet interviews and photography of our guests.
Party hat decorating and zine making tables.
Ten birthday cakes, candles and the ‘happy birthday’ song, sung together in true 10th birthday style!
Leonie’s spectacular burlesque performance which culminated in the 11th cake being sat on and thrown at members of Girl Gang!
And last but definitely not least, all of Megan and Ellie’s incredibly hard work to pull off an event worthy of Girl Gang’s 10th birthday!

Photo credit: Heather Wood Photography

One last thing: If you don’t mind doing us a quick favour, we’d be very grateful if all attendees would fill in this quick survey, thanks! 10th Birthday Party Survey

Open Casting For Shakespere’s Twelfth Night

We are now CASTING for our 2026 Unseemly Shakespeare project: Twelfth Night

We are building an ensemble of Manchester-based women & non-binary performers to be part of the 10-strong ensemble.

Our 2025 Shakespeare will tour:

Hope Mill Theatre

Rochdale Civic Theatre

The Dukes Lancaster

The Lawrence Batley Theatre

All applicants must be based in Manchester, or be happy to be based in Manchester for the project duration.

If you have applied to, or auditioned for HER before, feel free to send a very simple email - we want to save you time!

Please include: Your Spotlight link or CV & headshot.

Please highlight: If you have experience of Shakespeare, strong comic timing, clown experience and/ or strong singing

Send application to: hello@herproductions.co.uk

Deadline to apply: March 15th, 5pm

Casting days: April 4th & 5th

Important dates:

Company photoshoot: (compulsory) 19th April
Rehearsals: 11th May-12th June (3 days a week, 10am-6pm, you will not be called for all rehearsals but need to have good availability)
Performances: 19th-21st June The Dukes, 24th June-5th July Hope Mill, 9&10th July Heywood Civic & 14th&15th July Lawrence Bailey Theatre

Thanks for reading!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

10th Birthday Party Details Announced!

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:42:07 GMT

Hello and happy new year gorgeous gang!!

It’s finally here! January is our tenth birthday! Can you believe! It doesn’t quite feel real! And thus we welcome all public and private birthday wishes in person, via email, on Insta, send us a video or voicenote, text card, flowers, we’re up for it ALL YEAR!!

Read on for all the details of our 10th Birthday Party and to watch the trailer for Stayin’ Alive, our co-production with One Madam Productions.

10 years ago…

After working with Girl Gang Sheffield (the OG) for a year and knowing how much Manchester would absolutely rise to the occasion, I created a Facebook page and Instagram account on January 4th 2016 and published our manifesto. A week later I hosted a community meeting of 40 artists and friends I’d already collaborated with across my early 20’s working in the arts in Manchester, and in another week hosted another meeting of around 40 strangers who had gotten in touch saying they were keen to be involved. From these two groups of people the first “Girl Gang core team” was born <3

10 years is such a long time, and “decades” are a well established way that we as humans and societies measure era’s. Thus it felt right to use our tenth birthday as an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the past decade together! How we’ve evolved, changed, remained the same. And how the world around us has shifted too. We’re gonna be doing so much more reflecting back on the last ten years, but we wanna start by looking FORWARD, to our party!!!

A DECADE: 10 Years of us, 10 years of YOU! (Girl Gang’s 10th Birthday Party)

What does it mean to evolve, thrive, persevere, survive and stay true to yourself and your values for ten whole years?

Part retrospective, part relaunch and definitely part party, join us for a community “day to night” party celebrating ten years of surviving and thriving as individuals, a community and a DIY feminist events collective in Manchester! We’ll be hosting reflective workshops, reunions, crafts, games, talks, performances, panels, art installations, decor, DJ’s and dancing!

Reflecting on the resilience required to persevere (whether as an unfunded independent organisation like us, or just as a person in the world!) in an ever-evolving and progressively more expensive city- we want to toast you all, take stock and give ourselves a pat on the back for being big brave girls!

We’ll be looking back over our HUNDREDS of events and projects, reviving some old classics and collectively calling in a promising future for us all.

Expect cuteness, community, cake and chaos.

DATE: Saturday 14th February

VENUE: Stretford Public Hall

DRESS CODE: It’s our big birthday and we’re seeing it as an excuse to get our glad rags on! Feel free to get involved! Spruce yourself up and bring along your lovers- girlfriends, boyfriends, non-binary partners, spouses and polycules all very welcome!!

Timings overview:

5pm: Girl Gang reunion! Invite only

6pm: Event starts

6pm-9pm: Workshops, art installations, drop in activities, talks.

9-11pm: Dance party & performances

11pm: Event finishes

10th BDay Tickets Here

FEATURING:

SWING BY- Drop In Activities Overview:

Our Decade: Art Installation & Community Zine Creation

The timeline will be accompanied by a craft table where we encourage people to create contributions to the creation of a zine we will be publishing to celebrate our tenth birthday.

Red Carpet Arrival Experience

Starring YOU as a valued member of our community, capturing your attendance and finding out what girl gang(s) mean(s) to you.

Gifting station:

Make your own party hat:

Tap into your inner child and honour the fact it’s our tenth birthday after all with a throwback children’s party hat customisation station.

Screening Stations:

Walk Down Memory Lane- Decor From the Archive:

Displaying some classic Girl Gang designs from our archive including our Processions banner from 2018, Love & Rage banner from IWD @ Aviva Studios 2023, The Eiffel Tower from our immersive screening of Bridesmaids in 2017, The Moon from Moondance Menagerie 2017, the winners podium from Bend It Like Beckham 2023 and many more!

COMMIT TO THE BIT: (Stay for 30-60 mins workshops) & Activities in specific time slots:

6.30-7.15pm & 7.45-8.30pm: Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman ritual:

A reflective, calming and cathartic ritual based workshop where we honour our past selves and reflect on the way we, the world, ourselves and our lives have changed. This workshop encourages participants to take a moment to mark, mourn and celebrate the passing of time, grieve previous versions of ourselves and welcome in new iterations.

7pm-7.30pm: Looking Back, Looking Forward

A panel discussion with local feminist figures to reflect on how the feminist landscape has changed in the last 10 years and envision what we want for the next 10 years!

7.45-.8.30pm: Party Games with a Feminist Twist:

Reviving a Girl Gang classic, expect such treats as “Pop the Patriarchy”, “Get over the Glass Ceiling”, “Poo the Pay Gap”, “Pass the Privilege” and “Musical Chairwoman of the Board”.

8.45pm: Girl Gang- 10 Things We’ve Learned in 10 Years:

What we are saying yes & no to as independent artists moving forwards. A little speech, toast, reflection and cake cutting ceremony!

8.55pm: Manifesto Relaunch & Re:Evolution Ritual

Collectively getting things off our chests and out of our systems to create space for a new era and kick off the party!

9-11pm: 10th Birthday Disco & Pop Up Performances

Expect decade spanning multi-genre feminist bangers soley from artists of marginalised genders, theatrical moments and surprises ranging from poetry to burlesque.

Other vibes & happenings include:

2026 Programme Sneak Peak and Campaign Launch.
Reunion! We’ll be inviting all previous Girl Gang core teams and collaborating artists along to celebrate and say thank you! Girl Gang has always been a fluid collective and literally hundreds of artists, activists, volunteers and instigators have been involved over the past decade- we wouldn’t still be going without them!
Platforming the work of other independent feminist organisations making cool things happen across the city & networking- we’ll be reaching out to loads of groups with similar values and encouraging people to connect and share learning, recognising we are part of a larger DIY feminist ecology and encouraging more support and sharing of resources.
We’ll use the party as an opportunity to reconnect with people who have been around from the start and those who are just discovering us and are hoping to collect testimonials to evidence our impact and help us secure more funding and stability in the near future.

We’re so excited to celebrate with you all and so grateful to everyone who books their tickets nice and early so we know how much cake we can afford to buy!

Stayin’ Alive by Victoria Oxley

And now onto our first project of 2026, a fantastic piece of new writing we’re proud to be co-presenting with the newly formed One Madam Productions from Liverpool!

Maggie’s Nan is dead, her therapist is useless, and her sister is threatening to knock her out. Maggie? She’s still in her Nan’s house. The walls are closing in - but somewhere between the Blue Anchor pub and an Elkie Brookes record and a broken Alexa, she might just learn how she ended up here… and how to find a reason to stay.

Told with biting wit and brutal honesty, Stayin‘ Alive is a whirlwind through grief, sisterhood, survival - and a few of dodgy tribute acts. Maggie takes us inside a mind unravelling and rebuilding - one ritual, one memory, and one song (she’ll never sing) at a time.

Check out the trailer below to get a sense of the vibe and what critics and audiences said about the show so far!

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing along, join us at 53Two Theatre for two cracking nights of theatre, quizzes and karaoke this February!

What: Stayin’ Alive- a piece of new writing

When: 🗓5th & 6th February, ⏰7:30pm

Where:📍53Two Theatre, Manchester

Tickets: Available now! With loads more info and reviews etc at the link below.

Get your early bird tickets here

So much to look forward to! Any questions, always give us a shout! Really hoping to see you all soon,

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

£10 for 10 days! Our 10th Birthday Party Tickets on sale now!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:17:18 GMT

Hello!

Thanks to everyone who joined our final events of the year! Good luck in the mad dash to get everything you need to finish work-wise before Christmas done, as well as all the festive admin, you got this!

We’re very excited to have our first two events for next year on sale already, and they’re absolute corkers!

TICKETS ON SALE FOR OUR TENTH BIRTHDAY PARTY!

🎂 We’re turning TEN 🎂 We can’t quite believe it 🥹 But we wanna celebrate with EVERYONE who has been a part of our stories for the past DECADE! Whether you came along to our early immersive screenings, met your bestie at a speed mate-ing, volunteered with us or are one of the HUNDREDS of artists we’ve collaborated with to make the magic happen, we would so love to see you there! you all! Please pop this date in your diaries 🗓️

We’re hosting a gorgeous community “day to night” party 🎉 for our big birthday, hosting reflective workshops, reunions, crafts, games, talks, performances, panels, art installations, decor, DJ’s and dancing 💃 AND CAKE!
We’ll be looking back over the last decade and forward across the next year to celebrate thriving and surviving as an independent unfunded feminist arts collective for ten whole years! 🎨 💪 🌈 💖 All welcome! Tell ya mates, share our posts on insta to spread the word or BUY YOUR TICKETS NICE AND EARLY TO SAVE MONEY & HELP US ENJOY THE PLANNING!

EARLY BIRD TICKETS ONLY £10 FOR 10 DAYS! GO GO GO!

What does it mean to evolve, thrive, persevere, survive and stay true to yourself and your values for ten whole years?! Expect cuteness, community, cake and chaos 🤡
🐦 Early bird tickets 🎟️ now on sale for our big birthday! 🎂 10 for 10 days! save some pennies 🪙 get as a gift for your gang 🎁 or simply chill us out by putting your bum firmly on the seat 💺 before the new year has even begun! 😍

What: A DECADE: 10 Years of Us & You!
When: Sat 14th Feb 6pm-11pm
Where: Stretford Hall
Tickets: Available below- early bird runs out: 26.12.25 at 11.55pm!

There is tonnes more information about the party at the link too, check it out!! We so hope you can come!

Project announcement: Stayin’ Alive by Victoria Oxley

We are so proud to be partnering with newly formed One Madam Productions to this hilarious, heartwarming treat of a show, Stayin’ Alive!
Maggie’s Nan is dead, her therapist is useless, and her sister is threatening to knock her out. Maggie? She’s still in her Nan’s house. The walls are closing in - but somewhere between the Blue Anchor pub and an Elkie Brookes record and a broken Alexa, she might just learn how she ended up here… and how to find a reason to stay.

Told with biting wit and brutal honesty, Stayin‘ Alive is a whirlwind through grief, sisterhood, survival - and a few of dodgy tribute acts. Maggie takes us inside a mind unravelling and rebuilding - one ritual, one memory, and one song (she’ll never sing) at a time.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing along, join us at 53Two Theatre for two cracking nights of theatre, quizzes and karaoke this February!

Stayin’ Alive- Written by Victoria Oxley
Directed by Megan Marie Griffith
Produced by One Madam Productions & Girl Gang Manchester
Starring Victoria Oxley as Maggie
and Emma Bispham as Our Anne-Marie, Me Mum & Rob the Therapist plus a whole host of guest appearances.
Sound Design by Serafin Dinges
Artwork by Chris Ball

What: Stayin’ Alive- a piece of new writing

When: 🗓5th & 6th February, ⏰7:30pm

Where:📍53Two Theatre, Manchester

Tickets: Available now! With loads more info and reviews etc at the link below.

Last Chance to order our gorgeous Girl Gang Scarves for Xmas!

Ethical Crimbo gift alert!! Only £18 (+postage) and every purchase goes towards supporting us to create exciting events across our city. Just drop us a message if you’d like one!

On rotation right now:

Watching: Stranger Things (forever ten years late to the party, only just finished Season One!), Come See Me in the Good Light (the documentary about poet Andrea Gibson), Knives Out #3: Wake Up Dead Man and of course, my problematic fave: Love Actually!

Listening to: Fear No Man- Fela Kuti Podcast from the same team who made that excellent podcast about Dolly Parton in 2020!! Hard reccomend!!

Reading: Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, so cosy and cute.

Eating: Can’t lie, already eaten three Christmas dinners, with at least 4 more to come haha! It’s very much a Friendsmas for me this year, pray I don’t get gout!!

This may be our final newsletter of the year, we’re not sure, (depending on how all our pre-xmas deadline and planning go! So, we’ll wish you a wonderful Christmas, betwixtmas and New Year just in case! Really hope you have a nice bit of time of and get to spend it with people you love, even if that looks nothing like it does on a Christmas card.

It’s been another action packed year for us, full of theatre, workshops, book clubs, friendship, hope, frustration, connecting people and challenging ourselves and you guys to try new things! Thanks so much for being part of our gang, we’re really grateful to have you here and are really excited about everything we are planning for next year. The photo above is one of our previous “core teams” and we are really hoping to bring EVERYONE who’s been a part of Girl Gang together in the new year- so watch this space!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Cosy Christmas Crafts, Connections & Last Call for Wreath-Makers!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:35:25 GMT

Hiya gang!

Hope you’re all keeping cosy AND getting out for your silly little mental health walks weather regardless! Very important to chase those tiny cracks of daylight where we can! Happy first advent and congratulations for surviving Black Friday madness, congrats to everyone who abstained from buying anything they don’t need!

Next week is your last chance to join in with some wholesome festive fun with the gang, and booking closes for our wreath workshop Wednesday at midnight! At a glance info links with further information below:

Mon 8th: Girl Gang Mcr’s Speed Mating, Whitworth Locke, 6.30pm

Wed 10th: Girl Gang Mcr’s Your Wreath, Your Way, Whitworth Locke, 6:30pm

We’re sharing our tips, the crossword results and our audience survey and merch reminders :) Grateful for you all as ever x

On rotation right now:

Watching: Riot Women! Sally Wainwright has done it again. Middle aged women absolutely fuming about being treated as invisible as well as being expected to do everything, forming a punk band and singing songs about HRT and female rage!!

Listening to: Lilly Allen’s new album (still!) Can you sense a theme here…

Reading: Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon”, loads of great stuff on Substack, particularly The Anti-Cosmetic Surgery Essay Every Woman Should Read (which i don’t agree with all of, but also found galvanising!)

Planning: Loads of cute Christmas activities in and around the city all put together here, from walks, to steam train rides, to makers markets to the actual great great grandson of Charles Dickens performing a one man show of A Christmas Carol!!

Speaking of…

Attending: Tiny Tim at Contact by Uncurbed Collective 2nd-16th Dec Tiny Tim isn’t a retelling. It’s a rebellion. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol gave us a boy defined by pity – but now Tim refuses to stay small. Bold, funny, and unapologetic, this reimagining tears up the tale you thought you knew. Forget sainthood and suffering – Tim wants karaoke, chips, and a piña colada.

Eating: Food from One Pot, One Pan, One Planet. Deeeelish and seasonal.

Feasting my eyes upon: An amazing art substack from Rose Florence

Caitlin’s bedtime cryptic crossword results!

In last week’s newsletter, Caitlin set you all a cryptic crossword clue!

This approach to politics is something that will hardly breed togetherness, for a start, think negative atmosphere, and Enoch’s top tips followed by “representative” idiots (not Greens)- 9 letters

Here’s how you voted…

And here’s the results (drumroll please)….

Next Week:

Speed Mate-ing: Festive Friends

Monday 8th December, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

Did you make any new years resolutions around gently stepping outside of your comfort zone, trying new things or connecting with new people? Seeing the end of the year in sight and feel like you haven’t quite achieved that? We’ve got an easy and rewarding win for you…

It’s the last chance this year to connect with likeminded babes! Here’s a little video that gives you a sense of the vibe if you’ve been feeling nervous.

We’ll be looking back over the year together, reflecting and summoning in what we hope for in 2026! Gentleness and gidiness guarenteed. We’d love to see you there!

All further information and tickets available at the link below.

Book your tickets here!

Your Wreath, Your Way: last 2 days to book!

Wednesday 10th December, 6:30-8:30pm at Whitworth Locke

Want to build a wreath that you can bring out year after year? At a price that won’t break the bank? We got you!

In our recent audience surveying, so many of you asked for more crafty activities, so we would love to see your re-imagining of the traditional wreath, girl gang style! We reckon the amazing creations made at our last edition speak for themselves (see below!)

This workshop steers away from the traditional foliage wreath style and encourages you to revamp those old bits of tinsel to create something surprisingly spectacular! Recycled wreaths last forever, don’t break the bank, and reduce waste for the world. Plus they look really nice and sparkly.

Go classy or go tacky - think, tinsel, tassels, baubles and bubbles... While you sip refreshments (available for a small donation) we’ll guide you through how to create a wreath of your very own from all recycled materials.

Bring your own bits and bobs from the christmas decorations box; or pick and mix from our buffet table of baubles!

All materials provided
Bring old Christmas decorations along to add to the table if you like
Guided demonstration, ideas and inspiration provided
Friendly Girl Gang helpers
Drinks and snacks available for a small donation
Recycle, re-imagine, relax!

At the end of the evening you’ll have a lasting wreath to take away with you and some new mates to make stuff with!

Feel free to bring your own snacks if you’d like.
We do advise bringing a bag for life (or similar!) to take your wreath home safely in.
Buy your ticket in advance to avoid disappointment, as places are limited.

All materials provided
Bring old Christmas decorations along to add to the table if you like, or just bring you
Guided demonstration, ideas and inspiration provided
Friendly Girl Gang helpers
Drinks and snacks available for a small donation
Recycle, re-imagine, relax!

SAVE THE DATE!

This is still a little TBC; but we wanted to give you as much notice as possible. We reckon our big tenth birthday bash is gonna be on Saturday February 14th, 4pm- late. Lovers and flings alike very welcome! Get it in your diary in pencil and we will tell you when to trace over it in pen! We are excited already!

Girl Gang Scarves available now!

Ethical Crimbo gift alert!! Only £18 (+postage) and every purchase goes towards supporting us to create exciting events across our city. Just drop us a message if you’d like one!

Feed into our 2026 event’s calendar!

With the year drawing to a close, we are turning our attention to 2026 and want to hear from YOU about what you would like to see more of from us!

Thanks so much for continuing to support us, we hope to see you soon!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Winter is Coming

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 14:34:52 GMT

Caitlin’s bedtime cryptic crossword clue for you

Hi, It’s me. I’m doing the newsletter this week.

I’ve been trying to do cryptic crosswords and I find it quite relaxing (I think because it takes me so long to think of the answer I fall asleep in the process), so I’ve made a clue up for you to try.

This one’s called a ‘charade’ which means it’s a longer word broken down into smaller parts and requires an almost impossible mind meld with the setter to work out. Just like Christmas.

Clue:

This approach to politics is something that will hardly breed togetherness for a start; think negative atmosphere, and Enoch’s top tips followed by ‘representative’ idiots (not Greens).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

(9 letters)

Tune in next week to find out why and what the hell.

My diary pics at a glance

This Week:

Today (Nov 20th) Last night of The Thing With Feathers, at the Kings Arms

Nov 20th, 21st & 22nd: Bloom After Dark, Night People,19:45-21:00, Waterside Arts (find out more below)

Next Week:

Thurs 27 Nov - free, informal live art sharing/meet up Social Experiment at Contact MCR from 6pm to 9pm

Sat 29th Nov Scripted Social monthly play reading group (Constellations by Nick Payne) - 53two, 10am

First week of Dec:

Santiago Yahuarcani, The Beginning of Knowledge - exhibition - The Whitworth, until 4 January 2026

The Wind in the Willows , Stockport Garrick Theatre, until Sat 6th Dec

Second week of Dec:

Mon 8th: Girl Gang Mcr’s Speed Mating, Whitworth Locke, 6.30pm

Wed 10th: Girl Gang Mcr’s Your Wreath, Your Way, Whitworth Locke, 6:30pm

(find out more below)

Your Wreath, Your Way returns!

Wednesday 10th December, 6:30-8:30pm at Whitworth Locke

All materials provided
Bring old Christmas decorations along to add to the table if you like, or just bring you
Guided demonstration, ideas and inspiration provided
Friendly Girl Gang helpers
Drinks and snacks available for a small donation
Recycle, re-imagine, relax!
check out last year’s creations:

Speed Mate-ing- Festive Friends

Monday 8th December, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

18+ // Trans and non-binary inclusive // Wheelchair accessible

Speed Mate-ing is open to people of all ages (we are ALL about a cross generational friendship!), genders, sexualities, races, classes, backgrounds, we just love people!

Doors and arrivals from 6.30 for free form mingling, to get drinks and get settled in- grab a drink or dive straight in with our guided ice breaker.

Buy your ticket in advance to avoid disappointment, many of these events have SOLD OUT!

Book your tickets here!

A Special Discount Offer From Our Friends Night People

3 Night Performance: “Bloom After Dark” - Night People x PRISM Festival 2025

We’re just 4 Days from launching Bloom After Dark, our brand-new Dance & Digital Experience for Prism Festival 2025!

To celebrate, we’re sharing a cheeky £5 ticket discount code you can use at checkout.

We’d love you to join us, spread the word and support us as we grow this unique piece of work for Manchester audiences.

Where: Waterside Arts, Sale, Manchester
When: November 20th, 21st & 22nd, 19:45-21:00 each night
Cost: Please use our Discount Code for BLOOMVIP5 £5 tickets! Input during checkout.

A brand-new commission for PRISM Festival 2025 - a bold collision of club culture, dance and immersive art. Expect electric visuals, fierce physicality and a deep dive into self-expression and transformation. An immersive experience to socialise, dance and experience art in new ways (plus have a good dance on the DJ D-Floor with a cheeky drink or two...)

Book tickets: watersidearts.org/events/bloom-after-dark

Girl Gang Merch - Girl Gang Scarves available now!

Ethical Crimbo gift alert!!

Feeling the Winter chill?! Why not get your mitts on one of our girl gang scarves to keep your neck warm and look gorgeous in the process (just like our gal @roisinbrehony, pictured here)

These football inspired scarves were made for our immersive screening of Bend It Like Beckham last September and are reversible, super soft, high quality and British made.

Only £18 (+postage) and every purchase goes towards supporting us to create exciting events across our city. Just drop us a message if you’d like one!

Feed into our 2026 event’s calendar!

With the year drawing to a close, we are turning our attention to 2026 and want to hear from YOU about what you would like to see more of from us!

We want to know more about you and who makes up our wonderful Girl Gang community and so we’ve put together a short quiz to learn more about you!

To make our 10 year birthday super special we want to make sure we focus our energy on stuff you want to do!

Therefore we would be super duper grateful if you could take 5 mins to feed back on some of the plans we are workshopping for next year and let us know what we’ve missed if there’s some glaring errors! Thank you so much in advance!

Jane social media and Girls Out Loud’s social media.

Thanks so much for continuing to support us, we hope to see you soon!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Introducing our the Girl Gang Angels & festive wreath making workshop!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 18:17:32 GMT

Hello!

As some of you may have seen, in the summer we put out a search on our social media for Girl Gang Angels, an advisory committee who could help steer and support us as we move into our tenth year of operation! We had a fantastic response and are delighted to announce the six wonderful people below that we have recruited to be part of the Angels. This is very new for Girl Gang and we are so excited to work and learn from this talented group in the year ahead.

In other news we still have lots of upcoming events for you to get involved in before the end of the year, including our alternative festive wreath making workshop and our last Speed Mate-ing date AND we you can get your hands on a limited edition Girl Gang scarf…

Introducing our Girl Gang Angels!

(Clockwise from the top - Auriel Majumdar, Samson Owolabi (BeardedSamson), Jane Kenyon MBE, Lia Baron, Hannah Ellis-Ryan, Jonathan McGrath)

Auriel Majumdar:

Auriel Majumdar has spent over 15 years revolutionizing coaching and leadership development through creative, arts-based approaches. As an EMCC Master Practitioner and Coach Supervisor, she works with national institutions, universities, and cultural organizations to unlock potential in unexpected ways, proving that the most powerful transformations happen when we move beyond traditional methods.

A gifted public speaker and celebrity interviewer, Auriel is known for her sensitive and thoughtful conversation creation. Her interviews, including conversations with Spice Girl Mel C, showcase her ability to create meaningful dialogue that goes beyond surface-level interaction.

Currently Chair of Flux Rotherham Consortium and with an advisory role with No Bounds Festival, Auriel champions innovation in the cultural sector. She’s a published thought leader contributing to The Digital Coaches Handbook and Arts Based Approaches to Coaching, developing methodologies that combine poetry, creativity, and professional expertise.

Whether working with senior leaders, teams, or emerging practitioners, Auriel creates space for authentic growth and meaningful connection. She’s proof that when we combine professional expertise with creative courage, we don’t just succeed—we revolutionize how people think about leadership and development.

Auriel’s website and social media.

Samson Owolabi (BeardedSamson)

Creative Director & Group Facilitator- London & Lagos

Samson leads Bearded Fellow’s video department from the initial campaign concept through to the delivery of the final production assets. Over 12 years of experience with a background and education in Theatre, TV, and Film, he brings deep insights and knowledge about how the creative process can solve business challenges, having managed and directed successful online and TV campaigns with the likes of Warner Bros., Remington, Reebok, EE, BBC, Princes, and more.

Since establishing Bearded Fellows, they have gone on to win multiple awards for our work, as well as working and collaborating with various brands and companies throughout Europe, America & Asia. Samson also takes a strategic lead on education and speak frequently on entrepreneurship and business panels that are centred around giving knowledge, such as growth, infrastructure, management, and many more.

He has a clear understanding of community and an extensive history in leading community workshops and various engagement programmes in different spaces for different cultures. Samson is currently working at the mental health charity 42nd street as well, co lead of a young black mens group called JET42. The focus here is on group working and creating plans, recording engagment, reporting to the board and making sure we encourage group peer-to-peer therapy sessions

Bearded Fellows website and socials, Samson’s LinkedIn

Jane Kenyon MBE:

An award-winning, female champion who has dedicated the last three decades to passionately advocating for female equity, enablement and empowerment. Jane is an unapologetic feminist, motivator and audacious commentator, her wisdom and impact in this space is unrivalled.

In the past 30 years she has worked with over 10k women as a coach and trainer and touched the lives of over 30k teenage girls via the social enterprise www.girlsoutloud.org.uk she founded in 2010. Alongside this she is also an author, a serial entrepreneur and an international speaker and continues her advocacy for female equity through her personal brand www.thefaithfulfeminist.com

She was awarded an MBE in the King’s birthday honours in 2025 for her services to women and girls.

Lia Baron

Lia Baron is a creative yet methodical soul, proudly northern, with Manchester as her first true love. She is currently Head of Venue for an immersive experience and has devoted her career to events, ranging from orchestrating stage shows, to peacekeeping between clients and creatives, to hardline operations, all driven by a belief in the arts and storytelling as empathic tools to connect people and communities. An intersectional feminist who values listening and nuance, she is passionate about advocating for people regardless of hierarchies. She’s well excited to be involved in Girl Gang!

Lia’s Socials and LinkedIn and SuperMassive website

Hannah Ellis-Ryan

Hannah trained at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, before relocating to the UK in 2012. Hannah is the proud Artistic Director of HER Productions, based in Manchester, producing over 40 independent productions. She has also produced short-films with Brew Up Productions, the latest of which ‘Filter’, won Best Short at the British International Film Festival. In 2025 Hannah was awarded the Olwyn Wymark Award for her work in new writing by the Writers Guild of Great Britain.

Hannah co-directed HER’s The Taming of the ’Shrew’, which was included in the Stage’s Top 50 Shows of 2025.

As an actor, she is best known for playing villain Hannah Gilmore in ITV’s Coronation Street. Her theatre includes: COCK by Mike Bartlett (Shakespeare North Playhouse, Cockpit Theatre & Hope Mill Theatre); Othello (Elysium Theatre Company); Macbeth & A Midsummer Nights Dream in Rep (Durham Shakespeare Festival); A Dolls House (Elysium Theatre Company), Maryland (Take Back Theatre) & Kill Climate Deniers (The Pleasance Theatre, London).

HER Productions website and Hannah’s Social media

Jonathan McGrath

Jonathan has spent the last 24 years making things happen across theatre, outdoor arts, live art, opera, TV, and digital work, often in spaces and places you wouldn’t expect. He’s worked with artists and communities all over the world, but his focus has always been on making the arts more inclusive, accessible, and relevant.

Alongside producing and directing, Jonathan has taken on leadership and fundraising roles with Arts Council England, Without Walls, and FutureEverything, where he helped organisations grow, adapt, and fund big ideas. Now Development Manager at Oldham Coliseum, he leads their fundraising strategy and works closely with local communities to ensure the theatre is part of Oldham’s future regeneration.

Jonathan specialises in managing the emotional and somatic challenges that come with making art and regularly mentors emerging artists, especially those navigating the challenges of building sustainable careers in the arts. He lives in Manchester with his wife and two children, aged 8 and 2, who are amateur stuntmen.

He’s excited to bring his governance and fundraising experience to Girl Gang Manchester, helping them evolve and prepare for the next decade of badassery!

Jonathan’s website.

Your Wreath, Your Way returns!

Wednesday 10th December, 6:30-8:30pm at Whitworth Locke

Pine-ing for some purse friendly festive fun? We’re back with our punky recycled wreath making workshop, this year for one night only!

Bring your own bits and bobs from the christmas decorations box; or pick and mix from our buffet table of baubles!

All materials provided
Bring old Christmas decorations along to add to the table if you like
Guided demonstration, ideas and inspiration provided
Friendly Girl Gang helpers
Drinks and snacks available for a small donation
Recycle, re-imagine, relax!

Speed Mate-ing- Festive Friends

Monday 8th December, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

Why wait beneath the mistletoe when you could come to Festive Friends and bag yourself a new bezzie for Christmas?!

Speed Mate-ing is an evening of speed sessions so fun that you’ll step outside of your usual comfort zone without even realising. You’ll be chatting to new people in no time and maybe even meet your new BFF!

Taking inspiration from dating shows, agony aunts and teenage sleepovers, we’ll encourage you to undertake creative challenges and respond to conversational topics, creating authentic connections between new friends.

As the year draws to a close we’ll create space for reflection, Christmas loves hates and big feelings- what are your favourite traditions? Most hated Christmas films? Do you relish, dread or totally avoid time with your family over the festive season? We’ll create space to unpick it all together over mulled wine and a mince pie!

18+ // Trans and non-binary inclusive // Wheelchair accessible

Speed Mate-ing is open to people of all ages (we are ALL about a cross generational friendship!), genders, sexualities, races, classes, backgrounds, we just love people!

Doors and arrivals from 6.30 for free form mingling, to get drinks and get settled in- grab a drink or dive straight in with our guided ice breaker.

Buy your ticket in advance to avoid disappointment, many of these events have SOLD OUT!

Book your tickets here!

Girl Gang Merch - Girl Gang Scarves available now!

Feeling the Winter chill?! Why not get your mitts on one of our girl gang scarves to keep your neck warm and look gorgeous in the process (just like our gal @roisinbrehony, pictured here)

These football inspired scarves were made for our immersive screening of Bend It Like Beckham last September and are reversible, super soft, high quality and British made.

Only £18 (+postage) and every purchase goes towards supporting us to create exciting events across our city. Just drop us a message if you’d like one!

Feed into our 2026 event’s calendar!

With the year drawing to a close, we are turning our attention to 2026 and want to hear from YOU about what you would like to see more of from us!

We want to know more about you and who makes up our wonderful Girl Gang community and so we’ve put together a short quiz to learn more about you!

To make our 10 year birthday super special we want to make sure we focus our energy on stuff you want to do!

Thanks so much for continuing to support us, we hope to see you soon!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Building A Better Future & Black History Month Highlights & Feed into 2026

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 10:53:34 GMT

Hello!

Today we’re dropping in to remind you of our time sensitive offerings (Conversations for Change, this Thursday! In Defence of Witches book club, next Thursday!) celebrating our Build A Better Future series, giving some recommendations for the remainder of Black History Month, asking more about what you want for 2026, the last Speed Mate-ing date of the year and inviting you to mark your calendars for a the newly announced wreath making workshop to round off the year…

BLACK HISTORY MONTH HIGHLIGHTS:

This October, Manchester will come alive with the stories, and achievements of African and Caribbean communities as the city marks the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress for BHM. Embracing the powerful theme ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride,’ this celebration honours the enduring strength, creativity and resilience of the Black diaspora

Friday 24th October, 7pm- 3am: SeeMyWorldFestival : SEE MY WORLD presents, a one-night music festival flaunting Manchester’s music legacy, featuring CHUNKY, LayfullStop, Isaiah Hull and more.

Factory have a particularly strong BlackHistoryMonth events programme, platforming plenty of local talent alongside international artists with events, workshops and installations.

Race, Roots & Resistance project is hosting an exhibition at the Portico Library

You can enjoy a deep-dive talk about the Pan-African Congress with Parise Carmicheal-Murphy, exploring Manchester’s role in Pan-African history at the Friend’s Meeting House, 29 October, 6-8:30pm. Tickets available here.

And here’s a reminder of some local community groups that operate all year round!

Throughout October, Mancunians are being encouraged to reflect on the city’s role in Black history. From the rows of former cotton mills in Ancoats that housed cotton from plantations to the Royal Exchange Theatre that once operated as a stock exchange for the trading of cotton picked by enslaved Africans.

Why we’re running our Conversations for Change this Thursday & think you should come!

How do we have hard conversations? Who should we be having them with? When is the best time to speak up? How do we take care of ourselves? Why does it matter?!

Navigating the online space at the moment can feel like a minefield, but how do you assess whether it’s important to correct information or save your energy for in person interactions? We’ll be exploring just this, with an emphasis on real world conversations, which we believe have the potential for the most impact and potential for change.

Gina Martin’s brilliant book is structured via an essay on a particular insiduous and disruptive phrase and topic grounded in facts and from the lived experience of the author. The essay is followed by a bullet pointed list of prompts for discussion, which we will be using to role play and practice responding in different scenarios and then some really useful short form facts and stats that could be memorised or easily reached for as a reminder.

Conversations for Change is a practical workshop full of case studies, group discussion and opportunities to practice. Some of the phrases we will be role playing with include:

“Boys will be Boys”

“To play devils advocate…”

“Children shouldn’t be allowed to transition because what if they change their minds?”

“Not all men”

“We need fast fashion for poor people”

“They’re really just illegal immigrants”

“Innocent until proven guilty”

“Islam is oppressive to women”

“I don’t see colour”

“The police are here to protect us”

“You can’t say anything these days”

“Overweight people glorify being unhealthy”

Find out more about BABF Series here

Build A Better Future Series!

All of the events we currently have announced in our Autumn programme are part of our on-going, much-beloved Build A Better Future series, which has been running in one form or another for nearly 5.5 years now. It really feels like we and the world need all the help we can get in navigating and supporting one another in these turbulent times, and we’re proud to continue to build a co-learning community around just that.

If you’ve never been along to a build a better future space before, pretty much every session is stand-alone and newbies and solo attendees are always welcomed with open arms! This is not a space to show off or shame people for not understanding complex topics, but instead to support one another in seeking to understand them more, much of which is done by asking questions and hearing the perspectives of other people. The rest of our season, listed below is a great way to get involved and we’d love to meet you or see you again!

In Defence of Witches (Book Club):

Thursday 30th October 6.30pm-8.30pm @ Whitworth Locke & online

With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defence of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms.

“n Defense of Witches demonstrates that a woman’s decision to go against the grain — especially by not having children — inevitably becomes a political act, even an act of resistance.”—Rachel Donadio, The New York Times Book Review

“A smart feminist treatise reclaiming the witch and her radical way of life as a path forward for women…. Chollet’s informed and passionate treatment will appeal to readers looking for more substance amid the witch trend that’s otherwise been largely commodified and often scrubbed of its feminist origins.”—Jenna Jay, Booklist

“Allows us to understand... the witch hunts of the past influenced the representation of women today.” —Le Monde (France)

“Rehabilitates the figure of the witch, this dangerously independent, educated and strong woman.” —Slate

“Mona Chollet demonstrates how...those who emancipate themselves from certain social norms, are in fact direct heirs of those that were hunted down censored, and eliminated during the Renaissance.” —Huffington Post

“Explores the worldview that the witch hunt has sought to promote - and its consequences on society today.”—Vice

If you are struggling for time to sit down and read the book we suggest you check out this fab conversation between Mona Chollet, Gloria Steinem and French journalist Clémentine Goldszal as they discuss the concept and the social category of “witches.”

A Workshop About Collective & Individual HOPE: Thursday 13th November, 6.30-9pm Online

Recognising the Stranger- On Palestine & Narrative by Isabella Hammad

WHADDYA WANT NEXT YEAR?!

Picture from our first Millennial Pink R&D sharing in January 2023.

Knowing who is in our gang and actively coming to events massively helps us plan relevant content! For example, parents have different availabilty than none parents often, people in their early 20’s and mid 40’s probably seek different kinds of activities. Equally, helping us understand why you HAVEN’T engaged yet if you’ve been lurking for a while is really useful… incase you didn’t tell us a bit more about who you are yet, you can do so below!

We are keen to make our 10 year birthday super special but at a time when making events without core funding, and getting people out of the house and parting with their well-earned and spread-thin cash is harder than ever before, we want to make sure we focus our energy on stuff you want to do!

Last minute ticket sales can really sap the joy of event planning and doing so much for very little money or purely for the love, we would love to announce things and see them go off cus they’ve been decided on consultation with our treasured community.

Therefore we would be super duper grateful if you could take 5 mins to feed back on some of the plans we are workshopping for next year and let us know what we’ve missed if there’s some glaring errors! Thank you so much in advance!

Speed Mate-ing- Festive Friends

Monday 8th December, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

Join us for the final Speed Mate-ing of the year, with a focus on the joys and difficulties of the festive season, bonding activities, wrapping paper madness, and maybe even a mince pie or two, we’d love to see you!

Your Wreath, Your Way returns!

Pine-ing for some purse-friendly festive fun? Let your creativity run wild with foraged foliage and recycled flourish at our wreath-making workshop.

We’re exciting to be reviving the fantastic DIY wreath workshop we ran back in 2023! Though our final date is TBC, we’d love for you to pencil in your calendars and signal your interest at the link below.

Your Wreath, Your Way is an evening of friendly, facilitated fun with the gang. Come alone or bring pals, joining us as we create wreaths that reflect our own personal styles, picking from a range of foraged foliage and natural or recycled materials. Everyone will leave with a warm festive feeling and a DIY wreath to take away.

Thanks so much for tuning in, feeding in, telling others, booking on etc! We appreciate you!

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Must be the season of the Witch...

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:44:47 GMT

Hiya gang!

Been a little quiet sorry! We’ve been working on other things, going on holidays, spending time away from screens and soaking up every last drop of summer before Autumn envelops us all! I don’t know if anyone relates, but it’s taking us longer to recover from busy periods than it used to, and for the first time, we’re trying to actually honour that. BUT we actually have a fair few things coming up!

So, roll up roll up and join us this Autumn! Also keep going to the end of the newsletter for other interesting events and initiatives upcoming in the city and/or if you or a mate are in need of somewhere to live…

THIS MONTH:

Conversations for Change (Workshop):

Thursday 23rd October 6.30pm-9pm ONLINE

Conversations for Change is a practical workshop chock full of case studies, group discussion and opportunities to literally practice practicing what you preach. We will share and build skills and strategies to keep the conversation on some of society’s most urgent topics from being derailed.

It’s more important than to ever speak out for the things we believe in! But how do we continue to speak calmly and compassionately with people we disagree with, or worse, seem to be actively trying to antagonise us? How about challenging those closest to us?

After a fantastic first session, we are repeating the workshop in a digital format to try and make accessible to a broader range of people.

Inspired by Gina Martin’s brilliant book “No Offence But...” How to Have Difficult Conversations for Meaningful Change, we will tackle some of the most enduring conversation stoppers, (think “not all men” or “I don’t see colour”), equipping participants with knowledge, tools and context to respond with confidence. The book is an empowering roadmap for changing the conversation on social justice issues, packed full of excellent texts, tools and case studies from other trailblazing writers, educators and advocates including Aja Barber, Cathy Reay, Charlie Craggs, Azadeh Hosseini, Nova Reid and Salma El-Wardany.

Together we will share experiences, ideas and practical processes to unpick some of these insidious phrases, address their harm and feel empowered to continue and change the tone of the conversation rather than letting it be disrupted!

After a fantastic first session facilitated by feminist writer, activist and creator of Manosphere: Debunked Aileen Barratt (@tindertranslators) and Girl Gang Manchester Artistic Director, artist and community organiser Megan Marie Griffith, we look forward to re-creating a welcoming, accessible and constructive space online, with plenty of time to strengthen your muscle to stick with tricky conversations in a friendly supportive atmosphere. Tickets below!

In Defence of Witches (Book Club):

Thursday 30th October 6.30pm-8.30pm @ Whitworth Locke & online

The witch has held a place firmly in our imagination for centuries - from whispered warnings in folklore to pop-culture driven heights. But what does it mean to be a witch now? Join us to explore at this months Build A Better Future Book Club! With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms.

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?

Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions.

By the way, we ALWAYS say come along either way! It’s not a test and you are always welcome if you’re interested in the topic even if you didn’t read a single page! BUT if you would like to be able to contribute to the conversation, you could also listen to

And Ok, Ok don’t spoil it for yourselves (as we will most likely host a space specifically about this as we are so obsessed!) but you could also listen to Witch from BBC Radio 4, India Rakusen peels back the soft, sharp, and shifting edges of what it means to be a witch. The story of the witch is, it seems, the story of us all. But don’t spoil it for yourselves as we will most likely do a whole session on this at some point too!

NOVEMBER:

A Workshop About Collective & Individual HOPE: Thursday 13th November, 6.30-9pm Online

After a cracking first co-learning session, we will be re-jigging and re-running the workshop in November as we are plunged into winter.

In this workshop we approach hope as a skill that we can practice and improve, that we can nurture in our own lives, cultivate in our communities and foster for our collective future. It will include group activities, solo reflections, shared struggles, pearls of wisdom, collective grief and wonder.

At a time when political, environmental and social gloom can seem overpowering, join us to explore tools , resources, daily practices, small tangible actions and co-created survival strategies to keep us moving through these “unprecedented times.”

Recognising the Stranger- On Palestine & Narrative by Isabella Hammad

From the award-winning author of The Parisian and Enter Ghost comes an outstanding essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of narrative

Nine days before October 7, 2023, award-winning author Isabella Hammad delivered the Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture at Columbia University. The text of Hammad’s seminal speech and her afterword, written in the early weeks of 2024, together make up a searing appraisal of the war on Palestine during what seems a turning point in the narrative of human history. Profound and moving, Hammad writes from within the moment, shedding light on the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Recognizing the Stranger is a brilliant melding of literary and cultural analysis by one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and a foremost writer of fiction in the world today.

Longlisted for the NBCC Award for Criticism
A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Most Anticipated Politics & Current Events Title for Fall
A Most Anticipated Book of from Literary Hub and Kirkus Reviews

“Extraordinary and amazingly erudite. Hammad shows how art and especially literature can be much, much more revealing than political writing.” —Rashid Khalidi, New York Times bestselling author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

“Recognizing the Stranger combines intellectual brilliance with moral clarity and profound resoluteness of purpose. This is a book that calls us to witness our place in history. Isabella Hammad deserves our thanks for sharing it with the world.” -- Sally Rooney, author of Beautiful World, Where Are You

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOU PLZ!

Picture from Silent Night our Christmas party collab with Silence of the Jams in 2022

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to fill in our brief survey so far! We’re asking you to tell us a little more about you and what kind of events and communities you engage in both in and outside of Girl Gang so we can plan a 2026 programme that is juicy and relevant to as many people as possible! We’d be so grateful if you could contribute here:

We are turning TEN in January (!!!) and we’re really keen to have a glorious year of celebrations together!! In our next newsletter we’ll be asking you some more specific questions about what you might like to see from us, so do feed into that too please!

Community Bits

Check out Manchester Commons Calendar UK A place to find and promote events from across the left in Greater Manchester.

We love ConnectwithOumou on Insta who is a radical community care and mental helath practitioner! Follow for inspiration of how to show up for yourself and your community.

Anyone need a short term rental or know anyone who does?! I (Megan) have had someone drop out of subletting my house very last minute so am looking to fill my house whilst I’m mainly in Berlin for the rest of the year (long distance relationship!) Would be super grateful if people could spread the word!!

Thanks for being part of our gang and look after yourselves and each other.

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Who are ya?! & Celebrate 9 years of Speed Mate-ing with us this week!!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 19:26:18 GMT

Hiya gang!

How we all doing? Hope everyone’s dealing with the rather brutal seasonal transition Ok. Not to mention the ongoing chaos of the world… it certainly feels like a frightening time with all these bloody flags everywhere. Sending so much love to everyone feeling it, especially the global majority and migrant babes in our gang, we love you so much.

This week we are tapping in with a short questionaire that we would be so grateful if you could fill out, an invitation to join us for a special anniversary this week, a look back at Bend it Like Beckham and a brief reminder of what else there is to look forward to this Autumn…

Grab a brew and buckle in!

WHO ARE YA?!

We are feeling a little out the loop with who our “core audience” is made up of and what kind of events you would like from us! So as we approach our tenth birthday (!!!) and start to curate our 2026 programme, we’d love to know a little more about you and what you like so we can make sure we can all get together as much as possible and have a fantastic year! We will send a few of these short surveys out as we continue to plan and filling it in will really help us to plan and tailor events around you so you have the best chance of coming and we are all able to fill our cups.

Tickets & info for Speed Mate-ing here

THIS WEEK!

Speed Mate-ing #35: 9 Years of Speed Mate-ing Special!

7pm, Thursday 18th September @ Whitworth Locke

🥹 We just had a super emotional (and impossible 😅!) time trying to go through photos of 50+ Speed Mate-ings we have had over the past 9 years!

Starting off as a pop up event as part of Ladyfest 2016 on stage in the Three Minute Theatre in Afflecks Palace, we’ve done freshers weeks, store launches, corporate clients in Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol and more! Even within Manchester we have had so many different homes! texture, plant noma, Whitworth Locke, the wonder inn, contact, bruntwood - literally too many to mention!!
🥰 It was so cute going back through photos and seeing people in the pics who have gone on to become girl gang core team members, or little friendship groups we know have stuck!! Thank you so much to everyone who has made and continues to make this event so special!
Join us this Thursday at Whitworth Locke for our 9th birthday, a real “revival” of all kinds of fun and games and a chance to connect with some really lush people 👯‍♀️👭

LOOKING BACK: BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM!

We can’t believe it’s been a whole year since we took over Stretford Mall with our immersive screening of Bend it Like Beckham! It’s so joyful looking back on the lovely range of people who came to celebrate women in sport, south asian culture, queerness and 90’s nostalgia with us! From pop up performances, bollywood dance workshops, feminist football chants, panels, poetry, delicious food and dancing, it really was the event that had it all! Not to mention a massive giveaway and transformation of the mall- our biggest space yet!

We’ve always been really bad at looking back, as we’re always so busy organising what’s coming up! But we’re really going to try and be better, so we hope you enjoy walking down memory lane with us across our newsletters and if you’re new to the gang it gives you a little taste of the kind of magic we like to make together :)

OCTOBER:

NOVEMBER:

Recognising the Stranger- On Palestine & Narrative by Isabella Hammad

Tickets & info for Speed Mate-ing here

Thanks for being part of our gang and look after yourselves and each other.

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Looking ahead to our Autumn Season!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:40:30 GMT

Hello everyone!

Happy Pride to all who celebrated! It’s always a joy to see the city take to the streets and the incredible range of alt-pride and community events that push back against the rather corporate main event.

Summer bank holiday may have come and gone, but it’s still summer! And we always have that little warm snap in mid/late September, so it’s not over yet!! But, we wanna get ahead of the game and add some dates into your diary as we announce the first events in our Autumn season! There might be a few more treats to come, we will see..!

It’s also last chance to apply for our Girl Gang Guardians informal advisory board which closes at the end of the week, so if you’d like to be involved in shaping our next steps, then do get in touch! Also check out a few exciting things happening in Manchester from our wider community…

SEPTEMBER:

Speed Mate-ing #35: 9 Years of Speed Mate-ing Special!

7pm, Thursday 18th September @ Whitworth Locke

This September we celebrate 9 WHOLE YEARS of Speed Mate-ing! Can you believe?! Wild! And whilst this is our 35th ticketed event in Manchester, this does not count all the times we’ve been commissioned to take Speed Mate-ing to organisations, charities, universities, parties, festivals and more! We’ve run it in Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh, Bristol to name a few! We’d estimate we’re closer to having run around 100 Speed Mate-ing’s in total!

So to celebrate, we’re bringing back some vintage Speed Mate-ing activities from the archive- think sweet towers, snog marry avoids, freeze fame films, scavenger hunts etc as long as our usual conversation starters and group discussions to get you LOLing and bonding before you even know it :) Check out the link below for tickets and full event details:

OCTOBER:

Conversations for Change Workshop

6.30pm, Thursday 23rd October, Online

It's more important than to ever speak out for the things we believe in! But how do we continue to speak calmly and compassionately with people we disagree with, or worse, seem to be actively trying to antagonise us? How about challenging those closest to us?

After a fantastic first session, we are repeating the workshop in a digital format to try and make accessible to a broader range of people.

The workshop will be hosted on Zoom in 45 minute chunks with 10 minute breaks a format of: 45 mins content and activities, 10 min break, 45 mins of content and activities, 10 min break, 40 mins of content and activities.

In Defence of Witches: Why Women Are Still on Trial

6.30pm, Thursday 30th October @ Whitworth Locke & Online

For October’s Build A Better Future Book Club, we’ll be exploring Mona Chollet's In Defense of Witches, a “brilliant, well-documented” celebration (Le Monde) by an acclaimed French feminist of the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution.

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed? Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted:

The independent woman
The childless woman
The elderly woman

Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions. With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms.

NOVEMBER:

Hope in the Dark (A Workshop About Hope)

Thur 13 November, 6.30pm, Online

After a cracking first co-learning session, we will be re-jigging and re-running the workshop in November as we are plunged into winter, as we forsee we will need some restabilising!

Recognising the Stranger- On Palestine & Narrative by Isabella Hammad

From the award-winning author of The Parisian and Enter Ghost comes an outstanding essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of narrative

Girl Gang Guardians - Advisory Committee - Last Chance to Apply!

If you’ve been thinking of getting in touch to put yourself forward, ask a question, or suggest someone else, then these are the final few days to do so :) We are so excited by how our team is shaping up but we are really keen to hear from as many people who may be interested as possible!

Check out our website to get a more in depth sense of our work and values and find all the information you need about who we’re looking for, what’s involved and how we hope our coming years looked to see if we might be a good fit for each other :))

Girl Gang Website

🌟 On rotation this week/reasons to be hopeful:

Listening to: CMAT Baby! (New album in 2 days!!!)

Reading: The Story of 2 cities- the struggle for a black history of Manchester

Attending: Pleasure Rebellion- A Theatrical Extravaganza by So La Flair, Night People & Beg Steal Borrow at HOME this week!

Watching: Too Much (Lena Dunham’s new thing on Netflix- not 100% sold but curious..)

Remembering to: Check in our friends, give ourselves grace, do a kind thing for someone else when you feel shite!

We appreciate you all! Look after yourselves,

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

HOPE together on Thur, Gaza community relief resource round up & recruitment for our informal advisory team.

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:20:43 GMT

Hello everyone!

We hope everyone is looking after themselves at this time. The world doesn’t seem to stop being an incredibly challenging place and the internet is feeling particularly traumatic right now with the images of starvation, massacre and displacement in Gaza peppered with corporate marketing promotions, random comedy reels from content creators you don’t even follow and important, sometimes joyful life updates from friends. It’s really important to moderate your time online, get outside, connect with those you love and find ways to be constructive.

We’re encouraging our community to gather together one last time before a Summer pause and a more condensed than usual Autumn programme, to explore Hope together this Thursday.

We’ve also gathered some legitimate mutual aid funds to help get relief into Gaza below, reasons to be hopeful, and are re-sharing our call for an informal advisory board of “Girl Gang Angels” and a few upcoming cultural highlights in Manchester this summer. We hope to see you very soon xxx

TOMORROW:

A Workshop about Collective & Individual Hope (Build A Better Future Series)

Thur 31 July, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

Cultivating a practice of hope in your personal and political life is absolutely crucial right now! But it can feel bloody hard can’t it? So let’s get together and try to figure it out, share learning and spur each other on.

No-one changed the world without believing it was possible, and so many rights that we take for granted today, once seemed absolutely naive and unachievable, often, not THAT long ago!

Here’s some reasons we can think of to be hopeful right here, right now, today, in spite of everything:

Reasons to be hopeful

1: Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana are founding a new PROPERLY left wing political party, based on the re-nationalisation of major services, wealth redistribution (AKA taxing the super rich), building millions of council houses and advocating for a free Palestine. Sign up to www.yourparty.uk to help shape their strategy and be part of this exciting new movement! They have had over half a million sign ups in only a few days which feels so exciting!!!
2: In June, solar power was Europe’s biggest source of energy for the first time in history!!
3: Research of successful resistance movements suggests that no government can withstand over 3.5% of dissent or opposition! It doesn’t take a majority to create huge change!
4: A June YouGov poll demonstrated that 55% of the population are opposed to Israeli aggression, with 82% of these people categorising it as genocidal. This translates to 45% of all adults in the UK.
5: If you smile at people, more often than not, they smile back at you. Suggesting that people have a more natural inclination to kindness than hostility (with a little encouragement.)

If this feels like exactly the sort of information you need right now, then join us at Whitworth Locke tomorrow for group activities, solo reflections, shared struggles, pearls of wisdom, collective grief and wonder.

Find out more about the workshop and book your tickets at the link below- do share with anyone else who might need it right now!

Tickets to A Workshop on Hope here

Seeking: Girl Gang Angels - Advisory Committee

We are looking to connect with movers and shakers within arts, culture, education, heritage, social justice, council and corporate circles who can lend an ear, extend a hand, offer a shoulder to cry on and help us gently steer the ship as we celebrate 10 years of Girl Gang in Manchester!

As an unfunded collective. we are seeking informal advisors and advocates to hear us out, plug skills gaps, offer advice and advocate for us in rooms we are not in.

If you’ve never been on our website, check it out to get a sense of our values, model and previous work to think about if we might be a good fit for each other.

Girl Gang Website

Who we are looking for:

Experienced arts professionals and/or people with more experience than us.
Passionate people who align with our values. People who’s values and or work is centred around social justice and joy, who believe in connection and collaboration.
Availability to attend 4x meetings a year.
Northern based or willing to travel to engage with both meetings and our work more widely.
Initial year long commitment, but ideally we hope to connect with people who are interested in being engaged more long term- who are looking to build a relationship with us and help grow something together!

*Including but not limited to:

People who work in the arts, charity, not for profit or volunteer sectors.
May have run DIY collectives long- term (past or present) or who have worked in radical/non-hierarchical ways.
Perhaps you work nationally or internationally & could help us expand.
Strong Northern roots or connections.
Maybe you have experience in moving or have supported organisations to move from volunteer/project based models to funded or more financially sustainably models.
Our core team is reflective of people of all protected characteristics, we would like to echo this across our Angels. We are particularly keen to hear from global majority, trans and disabled people.

HOPE IS DIRECTLY LINKED TO ACTION- ACT NOW!

As the famine worsens in Gaza, the most effective way you can help financially is to support mutual aid groups to purchase any food on the market and make it available to Palestinians through their networks. The price of food has gone up astronomically, meaning that the resources of mutual aid projects are stretched increasingly thin.

Please consider donating to groups active on the ground. Reviving Gaza team on the ground are doing incredible work in impossible circumstances. Donate here

Please circulate widely in your networks if other friends and family are feeling helpless or confused of how to support.

Skepticism about how aid reaches Gaza has caused life-saving support to drop drastically. This post draws on multiple on-the-ground Arabic firsthand accounts of Gazans addressing these doubts and urging continued mutual aid.

This is not charity; it’s a basic human responsibility, more so when your governments fund and arm the genocide and starvation with your tax dollars.

More information on how aid IS getting into Gaza here.

Here I am posting verified traceable links to grassroots organisations, direct giving and mutual aid funds, found from within the above posts for ease if people want to give fast and know someone else has verified it:

The Queer Social Worker Linktree collection of verified direct giving and community soup kitchen campaigns.

The Zayneb Project for orphaned children, run by volunteers with no overhead, all paid staff and Gazan’s and survivors.

Rapid Relief Fund (using donations to buy what is still available at hugely inflated prices to distibute to those most in need)

Gaza Roots Initiative & Grassroots Gaza

EMAIL YOUR MP and demand a stop to the blockade to let aid in!

National: Write to David Lammy- template here

Local: Write to your local MP- template here

ATTEND A PROTEST!

Greater Manchester Friend of Palestine, round up of activity across the city and it's boroughs here- including pots and pans protests from your own home.

Palestine solidarity camp international round up

Thanks for taking 10 mins to help make an impact! Here’s an update from comedian Jen Brister on the impact that donations are having.

We invite you to take a pause, breathe, leave your screen, look at the sky, make a brew and come back in for a few positive creative things close to home to help give you some connection to counterbalance the grief and dispair.

🌟 On rotation this week/reasons to be hopeful:

Basking: In the glory of the Lioness’s winning the Euro’s and changing history, once more! An overview of just some of the ways they are breaking records and making history.

Listening to: The poetry of Andrea Gibson- truly life affirming stuff.

Reading: What is the role of a writer in a broken world?

Going to: Greater Manchester Fringe Festival- so many fantastic independent productions to support!

Looking forward to: Partisan Collective relaunching in new venue Bridge Mill 5! Become a member and get involved in shaping their upcoming programme!

Remembering to: Get outside into green space despite it not being tanning weather! There’s still gorgeous leaves, flowers and the fact the temperature has dropped reminds us to appreciate the nature whilst we have it!

LOOKING AHEAD TO AUTUMN:

Our next Speed Mate-ing will be held on September 18th, get your tickets here.

The next Build a Better Future book club will be “The Work We Need: A 21st Century Reimagining” by Hilary Cottam, exploring the centrality of meaningful work to our lives, identities and wellbeing and why we need, and can create a work revolution together, now! Find out more and get your tickets here for September 25th.

Check out the rest of the schedule for Build A Better Future series here and get buying those books, engaging with the themes via articles, podcasts and chats with your pals.

We appreciate you all! Look after yourselves,

Loadsa love,
The Girl Gang Manchester team 💖

Seeking Girl Gang Angels & join us for free feminist football anthems & friendship this week!

Girl Gang Mcr's Newsletter — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 16:49:56 GMT

Hello everyone!

Hope you are staying cool as more hot weather approaches for the week ahead!

In this week’s newsletter we are excited to announce an extra special opportunity from us, as we put the search for some Girl Gang Angels to join us and serve as an advisory committee for the next year. We are looking for experienced and empathetic people with opinions who can help steer us into our tenth year as a collective next year.

If you think you might be interested please do get in touch with us, we can’t wait to hear from you! If you don’t think you are the right fit, you can still help us and we would reeeeaaaalllllyy appreciate any support by you sharing the opportunity to your networks, friends, work colleagues, family or anyone else who you think might be interested! We need all the help we can get sharing this far and wide! See more details below.

As for this week don’t forget to come down Manchester International Festival’s Festival Square for our Feminist Football Anthem workshop and to watch the Euros with us, or join us for Speed Mate-ing on Thursday. We are also running our Collective Hope Workshop at the end of the month too.

Come join us before we take a break in August, it’d be lovely to see you!

Seeking: Girl Gang Angels - Advisory Committee

What we are looking for:

As an unfunded collective. we are seeking informal advisors and advocates to hear us out, plug skills gaps, offer advice and advocate for us in rooms we are not in.

About us:

Girl Gang Manchester is a collective of artists, activists, academics and party instigators who create meaningful and magical live experiences.

Our work has ranged from immersive screenings, experiential exhibitions, creative club nights, theatre, campaigns, creative workshops, social justice book clubs, support groups and zines; connecting people across Manchester and Salford over debates, discussions and dance floors since 2016!

We’re proud to have collaborated with a range of organisations across Manchester from: The Lowry, HOME, Factory International, Manchester Metropolitan University, The People’s History Museum, The Proud Trust and more across a range of projects and contexts.

Find out more about our work on our website: www.girlgangmcr.com.

Some pipeline projects and aspirations we have:

Remounting our multi-artform exhibition Everything I Know I Felt.
Booking a national theatre tour for the first time for our show Millennial Pink.
Creating a “radical dinner party” immersive political dining experience.
Creating an immersive theatrical clubbing experience exploring Manchester’s evolution as a pop-cult city.
Seeking core development funding from the arts council/Manchester city council
Creating a programme of activity to celebrate our 10th birthday!
Eventually being able to pay our core staff

Who we are looking for:

Experienced arts professionals and/or people with more experience than us.
Passionate people who align with our values. People who’s values and or work is centred around social justice and joy, who believe in connection and collaboration.
Availability to attend 4x meetings a year.
Northern based or willing to travel to engage with both meetings and our work more widely.
Initial year long commitment, but ideally we hope to connect with people who are interested in being engaged more long term- who are looking to build a relationship with us and help grow something together!

*Including but not limited to:

People who work in the arts, charity, not for profit or volunteer sectors.
May have run DIY collectives long- term (past or present) or who have worked in radical/non-hierarchical ways.
Perhaps you work nationally or internationally & could help us expand.
Strong Northern roots or connections.
Maybe you have experience in moving or have supported organisations to move from volunteer/project based models to funded or more financially sustainably models.
Our core team is reflective of people of all protected characteristics, we would like to echo this across our Angels. We are particularly keen to hear from global majority, trans and disabled people.

To apply:

Please email us to say hello, why you’re interested in working together & why you might be a good fit for us!

Get in touch by 31st August 2025

Email us here

This week!

FREE Feminist Football Anthem Workshop Tomorrow!

Wed 9th July, 7-8pm (with a taster during half time at 5.45pm!) at Aviva Studios, The Social Space

Join Mancunian music-maker Ellen-Beth Abdi for a drop in, collaborative songwriting experiment!

Taking inspiration from football chants and chart anthems, join musicians, songwriters and football enthusiasts from Girl Gang in borrowing some conventions and subverting others to create a new, powerful football anthem with fiery feminist energy!

Presented as part of Factory International’s Manchester International Festival “Festival Square” programme, we’re mega excited to be collaborating with Ellen whose enchanting and distinctive sound has gained her spots at Manchester International Festival, and support slots for Olivia Dean, Hollie Cooke, Ishmael Ensemble, Oscar Jerome and Allysha Joy as well as collaborating live with music legend Angélique Kidjo to open viva Studios for Manchester International Festival 2023.

Having been taken under the wing of the old guard of Manchester, while being very much representing the new school: Ellen has had a unique mentorship allowing her to learn from the best. The synergy between past and present allowing her to develop a well-rounded, nuanced skill set and an innate appreciation for the city's rich cultural heritage- of which she is an integral part.

The workshop is free to attend and will happen in The Social space directly after a screening of the England V Netherlands match! Also on at Festival Square that evening there is:

Queering Football , a talk with Manchester laces (3.30pm)
We’ll Go Down in History a documentary about TRUK, a proudly trans grassroots football club (4.30pm)
Hot Matches- England v Netherlands screening presented by Tinder (5pm kick off!)
Red Rodero Club queer line dancing club with violet blonde an shank sunrise 5.30pm

So much to get involved with come on down!!

More Festival Square Info Here!

Speed Mate-ing #34: Making mates, made easy!

Whitworth Locke, Thur 10th July 7-9.15pm (soft arrivals from 6.30pm)

Sick of complaining about how hard it is to make friends as an adult? Come along to this, or share with a pal you know who needs it! We need connection more than ever and we are fast losing the art of conversation with stranges. Even if your circle is tight, Speed Mate-ing can be an empowering and affirming experience to step outside your comfort zone, connect with others and remember how many lovely likeminded people there are out there who aren’t in your direct line of vision!

Here’s a broad overview of the event in case you’re struggling to imagine:

6.30pm: Soft arrivals, people bingo, self-guided ice breaker & donations bar

7-7.50pm: Intro, scene setting and a mixture of games, group activities, one on one chats

7.50-8.05pm: Breather

8.05-9.15pmish: Creative challenges, one on one more in depth chats and small group problem solving and heart to hearts, plus check out and congrats!

Speed Mate-ing tickets & info here

End of the month:

A Workshop about Collective & Individual Hope: Build A Better Future Series

Thur 31 July, 6.30pm, Whitworth Locke

In this workshop we will approach hope as a skill that we can practice and improve, that we can nurture in our own lives, cultivate in our communities and foster for our collective future. It will include group activities, solo reflections, shared struggles, pearls of wisdom, collective grief and wonder.