A PROJECT to improve the self esteem of teenage girls in Accrington has been so successful it is going on tour across East Lancashire.

Twenty one girls at Hollins Technology College took part in the Beyond Labels project which involved them meeting inspiring women and then writing motivational poetry and quotes for a live performance and book.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The book is full of poems and quotes all about the girls’ aspirations, from becoming architects to having children, and includes inspiring comments by some of the women they met in the process.

The project was launched in March where the girls, aged from 12-15, met inspiring women from business and the arts from across Pennine Lancashire.

Then every week for three months they met after school to write poetry and organise the project, helped by a variety of artists.

The girls discussed their achievements, fears, how they had overcome obstacles and dealt with problems; then they created inspiring poetry working alongside Yvonne McCalla from Manchester’s Contact Theatre, which resulted in a live performance at Accrington and Rossendale College.

Now they are planning to put the inspirational messages on the school’s website from September onwards.