The London Lonely Girls Club
Looking for connection in one of the world’s busiest cities? Holly Cooke talks to us about why she started The London Lonely Girls Club and how it can inspire you wherever you are.
“Stepping outside of your comfort zone, saying yes to every opportunity to meet others, being bold.”
We talk to Holly Cooke, founder of The London Lonely Girls Club about why she started these IRL meet-ups for women looking for connection and how this idea can inspire you wherever you are.
What is it? The London Lonely Girls Club is a community in London, created to help women in the city meet up, hang out, build friendships and make London life a little less lonely.
Why do people need it? As an adult, it can be really difficult to meet new people, make new friends or simply find others with similar interests or hobbies. And so The London Lonely Girls Club was created to meet this need and help women across one of the busiest cities in the world connect with each other!
What do you offer? We are both an online and physical community. We have an active Facebook group of over 10.5k women. Within this forum our members can post, engage and get to know each other at their own pace. Alongside this, we run meet-ups multiple times a month where our members can get to know each other IRL whilst visiting some of London’s loveliest places or doing fun activities together.
What makes it different? The London Lonely Girls Club was specifically created to help women connect, make friends and beat loneliness. It’s as simple as that, no strings attached!
What do people need to know? LLGC, as we call it, is an inclusive, supportive, fun community that any woman in London can engage with in their own way. Whether they’re just looking to find someone to go on weekend walks or theatre trips with, advice on the best place to get their hair done in a specific part of northwest London, or to build lifelong friendships, everyone is welcome!
What’s your story? Before founding The London Lonely Girls Club, I was a very lonely girl living in London. I’d moved to the city for work and to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in the best city in the world. But very quickly moving to a city where you know absolutely no one can be both isolating and terrifying. From this The London Lonely Girls Club was born, a community created to bring the women of this incredible city together under the flag of unity, connection, and friendship. With meet-ups each month that allow people to connect in person, rather than just via a screen.
How can people be inspired by your initiative wherever they are? Every day the members of LLGC teach me about bravery and courage, whether it is sharing their story in our group’s main feed and looking for others who share a similar struggle or journey, stepping outside their comfort zone by coming along alone to our monthly IRL meet-ups and connecting with others in person over a coffee, burger or glass of wine, or simply revealing themselves by joining a community with lonely in the name.
I think this is something that can inspire everyone, no matter where you live, how you identify, or what your social situation is. Stepping outside of your comfort zone, saying yes to every opportunity to meet others, being bold. Just one small decision of courage really can change your life, I should know, it did mine!
Where inspires you? The women of our community and the incredible city that we live in. They’re both so inclusive and diverse and vibrant and loud and unapologetic, but also kind and supportive and beautiful. It is inspiring to get to be just a small part of these things.
Anything we’re missing? If a woman in London is reading this, then we’d love to have you be part of our community! Whether you’ve lived here your whole life or you moved a day ago, feeling lonely is the worst. As humans, we’re built to be in community, surrounded by others who can lift us and love us and support us during both our triumphs and challenges and that is what The London Lonely Girls Club aims to do.
To find out more visit: Our website | The LLGC FB community | Our social media
Discover more places to feel connected
Therapy for Black Girls
From providing access to therapists who understand the experiences of Black Women to offering products and publications that destigmatize common mental health issues, Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls.
“ Stigma is probably a primary reason why lots of people of color struggle with seeking help for mental health concerns. Historically, it’s not something that has been done in our community. Lots of us were raised to feel like what goes on in this house, stays in this house. ”
Go here: For therapy specifically and mental wellness more generally that takes on the unique life experiences and social contexts of Black women and girls.
What you need to know: From providing access to therapists who understand the experiences of Black Women to offering products and publications that destigmatize common mental health issues, Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls. It was founded in 2014 as a blog by licensed psychologist (and Oprah Magazine resident) Dr. Joy Harden Bradford after watching the positive energy created in the TV show Black Girls Rock and wanting to apply that same uplifting feeling to Black women’s experience of therapy. With the addition of a directory of Black therapists and a popular podcast in 2017, Therapy for Black Girls has since been recognized by Solange Knowles as the place for Black women to prioritize their own mental health.
Why it matters so much now: Therapy for Black Girls aims to contend with the stigma and mistrust around the practice that has been felt within the Black community. Similarly, therapy has traditionally neglected the specific realities of Black women and girls or reinforced their oppression. The mental wellness sector has similarly failed to contend with issues of collective trauma, systemic racism, and social inequalities of Black Americans. At a moment that Black Lives Matter is advocating for justice and equality, the one profession that needs to take this on is the one that speaks to healing, transformation, and wellbeing, that of therapy.
How to bring this into your life: In addition to their online directory of ‘culturally competent therapists’ that now has over 800 listings (some of whom offer virtual therapy sessions), Therapy for Black Girls also offers an entire online community for Black women called The Yellow Couch Collective: a space for Black women to support one another, connect, learn and thrive (with off-line events that have included a Netflix watch party for Michelle Obama’s Becoming).
In their own words: “So often the stigma surrounding mental health issues and therapy prevents Black women from taking the step of seeing a therapist. This space was developed to present mental health topics in a way that feels more accessible and relevant.”
One piece of advice, something to inspire, to do: Listen to the popular weekly mental health podcast (with one million downloads in its first year!), Therapy for Black Girls, hosted by Dr. Joy.
To find out more: Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook
If you’ve experienced Therapy for Black Girls or have other resources directed at the mental health of people of colour that you would recommend tell us about them at hello@ifloststarthere.com so we may bring these into our guide.