We are excited to share our newsletter, bringing you stories, updates, and insights on what’s happening at Girl Power globally! ​
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With half a year gone, we are reflecting on what we have accomplished as an organisation and what is to come.

Creating pathways for women: The Girl Power Leadership Academy continues

After our residential in Hamburg in April, our young leaders are now taking part in the second stage of the Girl Power Leadership Academy. We are providing our young leaders with opportunities based on their career interests and leadership aspirations.

Mentorship: We have welcomed a cohort of 11 mentors to work with 13 of our young leaders through 1:1 mentorship and group workshops.

Coaching courses in Hamburg & Berlin: 12 young leaders (3 in Hamburg and 9 in Berlin) have completed the course to receive their first football coaching certification and be able to start working as coaches with football clubs and grassroots teams.

Impact Forum Hamburg

Girl Power attended the Sport x Impact Forum in Hamburg represented by our team member Shraddha Palaneer.

Over three days of panels, workshops and conversations, organisations in the sport for development sector came together to discuss impact, monitoring & learning and reporting to funders.

Here the key topics discussed:

1. Data use for reporting vs how we learn
2. Evaluation is not neutral
3. “Most significant change” matters
4. Trust is the foundation
5. Impact is not just numbers

For Girl Power, this experience reinforced something important: we already have strong stories and growing data, but our next step is strengthening the connective tissue: linking what we do with the outcomes we believe in.
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Refugee Week 2026: Celebrating inclusion through football

During Refugee Week, Girl Power United CIC joined communities across the UK in celebrating the strength, resilience, and contributions of refugees through football, leadership, and storytelling.

Champions on and off the pitch

Our Girl Power football team from Doncaster proudly took part in the Refugee Football Tournament in Leeds, a mixed-gender competition celebrating diversity and inclusion through sport. The team delivered an outstanding performance and proudly brought home 1st place.

For Girl Power, tournaments like these are about much more than winning. They create opportunities for refugee women and girls to play, connect, build confidence, increase their visibility, and expand their networks through the power of football.

Sport as a tool for inclusion

As part of the week's celebrations, Girl Power representatives were invited to one of South Yorkshire's largest Migration Festivals in Sheffield. Our Founder, Khalida Popal, delivered a keynote on the role of sport in promoting the inclusion and integration of refugees and migrants in host communities.

Drawing on Girl Power's work across several countries, she shared how football and leadership education have transformed the lives of refugee and displaced women and girls by creating safe spaces, developing leadership skills, and building stronger, more inclusive communities.

Recognised by UNHCR UK

Refugee Week also brought national recognition for the impact of our work. UNHCR UK featured the inspiring journeys of two Girl Power coaches, highlighting how they have rebuilt their lives through football and leadership. Girl Power's approach to empowering refugees through coaching was also showcased across the UNHCR UK website and social media channels throughout Refugee Week.

These recognition reflects the heart of Girl Power's mission: using football as a platform for empowerment, leadership, and social inclusion, ensuring that every woman and girl has the opportunity to belong, lead, and thrive regardless of where her journey begins.

You can read more about their stories here in this link: https://unrefugees.org.uk/learn-more/news/refugee-stories/fatema-sevin-playing-for-women-girls-afghanistan/

Girl Power expands to Mexico through World Cup Legacy activities

As the excitement of the FIFA World Cup reaches Mexico, Girl Power is proud to officially launch its presence in the country through a new partnership with Más Sueños México, a community-based organisation that has been delivering football and educational programmes for vulnerable children and young people, with a particular focus on girls.

While Girl Power has collaborated with partners in Mexico since 2016, this marks an important milestone in establishing a long-term local presence and expanding opportunities for women and girls through football, leadership, and education.

Girl Power's work recognised on World Football Giving Day

We are honored to be one of the recipients of the Football for Good Capacity Grants awarded as part of World Football Giving Day by Common Goal and adidas.

This capacity grant will be key to support Girl Power's growth beyond program delivery.

The power of football is undeniable. At Girl Power we use the sport to create safe spaces, activate leadership, amplify voices and strengthen community power, especially for women and girls facing displacement, conflict, and systemic exclusion.
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Together we are stronger. We are grateful to be part of the Common Goal network and of the football for good movement with the rest of powerful organisations supporting their communities.

10 years, 10 impacts

This year, we are celebrating 10 years of Girl Power. We have collected a list of our top impacts as an organisation over the years:

1. Building a multi-country leadership pipeline from the ground up
2. fghan women's football advocacy: from exile to the pitch
3. Scale trajectory: from hundreds of participants to 106,000+ reached
4. adidas Breaking Barriers Leadership Academy: our most replicable programme model
5. A coherent five-country European footprint under one strategy
6. Institutional credibility — from grassroots to UEFA, FIFA, and UNHCR tables
7. Funding mobilisation growth —> €204,000 in 2025 from diversified partners
8. Coaching education as a systemic pathway into the sport system
9. Child and youth-centred impact at scale across four countries
10. Peer recognition and award wins across three continents

Find out the details by following us on Instagram and Linkedin or becoming a Girl Power member.

YOU can contribute to creating more impact by supporting our 2026 fundraising campaign:

Our Goal: €10,000 by end of 2026
​Your Part: Just €10
​Our Dream: 1,000 donations = 1,000 believers

What your €10 does: Funds a girl's spot in our Leadership Academy. Travel. Accommodation. Course costs. A career pathway. A completely different future. One donation. Ten euros. Infinite impact.
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👉 DONATE NOW​