A felt‑tip sign taped to the door of a private room announces "GIRLS ONLY", "Boy's don't Eneter!" [sic], and, by way of a cheeky flourish, "don't worry boys!". The sign is covered in colourful hearts and stars. A group of around a dozen girls at DRMZ youth club in Carmarthen, Wales, are already deep into a competitive card game when I join them at a large round table. Conversation flows easily as we chat and pizza is duly ordered.
This visit is part of my Radio 4 series About The Girls, for which I spoke to roughly 150 girls, the vast majority aged between 13 and 17. What we discussed at that table echoed so many of those conversations.
Savvy, chatty, funny and bright, the girls were uplifting and brilliant company. Full of ambition and plans for their futures ("I would like to have a fridge that you can have a vase in… And be a doctor!"), love for their friends ("I can tell her anything") and a great awareness of the value of caring for family members ("I go to town to top up my Nan's electric. I love looking after her.")
The conversation hopscotched between the card game at hand, school dramas, teachers they like (and those they don't), stuff they'd seen on social media and debate about whether there were enough slices of Cheese Feast to go round. There were.
