Why Lewes FC girls have designs on women's first team

Lewes FC's under-14 and under-16 girls will design posters promoting womem's first team games / Picture: Getty

As the first football club in the world to close the gender pay gap between male and female players, Lewes have announced a collaboration with ‘Sisterhood’ – a female-led design team who create social action programmes for girls.

It will see 15 girls from Lewes under-14s and under-16s work digitally with Rebecca Thomson and Rachita Saraogi of Sisterhood to co-create each of Lewes FC Women’s matchday posters.

All Sisterhood’s pro-jects aim to empower girls to be leaders and changemakers in their own lives and communities. This fits perfectly with Lewes’ mission to use football as a vehicle for social change.

The girls’ sessions will take place over video and they will work to a brief asking that one of the first team players is featured in each of the posters.

The girls will get to meet members of the Championship team for inspiration, and they’ll learn practical skills like how to problem solve, Photoshop, turn ideas into action, receive feedback and how to present their work.

Sisterhood co-founders Rebecca and Rachita said: “We know from our experience of working with young girls how important it is to make sure we provide spaces for them to thrive, to have their voices heard, and have equal opportunities.

“We firmly believe the road to equality is paved with deeds not words, so we’re extremely proud to partner with Lewes FC who do indeed pave the way forward with their deeds. This should be a fantastic project.”

Club co-director Karen Dobres said: “We’re delighted to work with Sisterhood, and admire the work they’ve done with girls. It feels powerful to link up our girls with their elders in this creative way, because Lewes FC Women are excellent role models to aspire to! We hope all our female footballers will inspire each other, and we can’t wait to see what the girls produce.”

The project will start at the end of August, with the first poster due out in time for Lewes’s first home match at The Dripping Pan. Keep your eyes peeled to see the girls’ work appear near you.