Girls' Friendly Society

The Girls' Friendly Society (also known by their program name GFS Platform, or just GFS) is a philanthropic society that empowers girls and young women, encouraging them to develop their full potential through programs that provide training, confidence building, and other educational opportunities. It was established by a group of Anglicans in England in 1875 to address, through Christian values, the problems of working-class out-of-wedlock pregnancies. As M. E. Townsend expressed it in a letter of 1879: "[We] are fighting one of the greatest battles the world has ever seen--the battle for the purity of womanhood, for the possibility of virtuous Christian maidenhood." As well as addressing the issue of out-of-wedlock pregnancy of working-class girls, GFS soon grew into a support organization for unmarried girls and young women who wished to better themselves.

History

Beginnings

In May 1874, the Reverend Thomas Vincent Fosbery (chaplain to Bishop Samuel Wilberforce), together with Mary Elizabeth Townsend (1841-1918), Catharine Tait (1819-1878), Elizabeth Browne (wife of the bishop of Winchester), and Jane Senior (1828-1877), met at Lambeth Palace and agreed on the basis for establishing the Girls' Friendly Society, which officially began its work on 1 January 1875. "The original rough plan of the Society's work and aim was written down in pencil in a tiny notebook in 1872," Mary Elizabeth Townsend wrote in 1882 recalling her original concept. She shared her concept with Reverend Fosbery who had encouraged her in her previous charitable work with working-class women. Reverend Fosbery introduced her to the older women with whom they formed the original steering committee. Mary Elizabeth Townsend was the first president of the GFS and served as such through 1882. She was succeeded by Lady Grey who served from 1883 through 1889, when Townsend again resumed the presidency from 1890 through 1892. Mary Sidgwick Benson, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was president from 1893 through 1895.

The GFS was set up to be non-sectarian; however, it utilized the infrastructure of the Church of England with parish, deanery, and diocesan groups. Its central office was in London as befit a national organization. Originally it was open to unmarried girls fourteen and older, but by 1879 it began to admit girls as young as eight years old. The core values of the GFS aimed at high moral standards for its members; they attempted to supply "for every working girl of unblemished character a friend in a class above her own." There were two classes of membership: the working-class girls, known as members, and the ladies, called associates. Both classes paid annual subscription fees tailored for their class, half of which went to the local group and half to the central office. Associates provided "recreation rooms" often in parish facilities, although sometimes in their own homes, where working-class girls could meet with associates and each other, read, sew, sing, and enjoy simple refreshments. Later "houses of rest" were established for these purposes. The local groups were called "branches" and the whole organization was conceived of as a large tree with the central office as the trunk, and the members as leaves.

The central office of the GFS established a wide range of departments: one for their shop and factory workers programmes, one for publications, one for their "houses of rest" and one to deal with affiliated societies. GFS services included a circulating library and an employment exchange. The GFS published various journals including Friendly Leaves, Friendly Work and The Associates Journal. Publicity was also provided by Charlotte Mary Yonge, who featured the GFS in such novels as her The Two Sides of the Shield (1885).

By 1878, the GFS had a presence in 19 dioceses in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, as well as the first branches of the Girls' Friendly Society in America and Ireland. It had 10,678 members and 4,442 associates. As the GFS expanded so did their concerns and the scope of their work. New departments established in the late 1800s included one dealing with the special needs of sick and blind members, and one dealing with the safety of emigrating girls and women had been established. During the 1880s and 1890s, the GFS increased their offerings of training courses and workshops. Beginning in 1880, Queen Victoria bestowed her royal patronage on the society and the queen herself acted as an associate and admitted servant girls at Balmoral to membership.

1900s

The GFS was not a participant in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

GFS in the United States

The GFS quickly spread across the Atlantic and around the Commonwealth. A number of Holiday Houses (retreat centers) as well as summer camp facilities were established in the United States, and many remain in operation. The national board, GFS-USA, oversees local branches and is a member of GFS World.

There are active chapters in:

• California
• Pennsylvania
• Connecticut
• New Jersey
• New York

Programmes

England and Wales

Locally the GFS reaches out at the branch level, with over 40 parish-based branches across England and Wales. These voluntary youth work branches work with girls and young women aged 7 and up.

The central office has three community projects based in (1) Great Yarmouth; (2) Penge, South London; and (3) Skegness. These work with young women up to the age of 25 who may be socially excluded from aspects of mainstream society.