Hawzah News Agency - (Cardiff - Wales) - It’s Friday night and a group of eight schoolgirls are chatting and laughing in a room just off Cardiff's Loudoun Square.
As afternoons go this one is pretty productive. To mark the end of another week these teenagers are unwinding and letting off steam before getting stuck in to the night ahead of them.
Today their subject is mental health and the girls’ aspirations. A few weeks ago it was kick boxing, on another occasion it was cooking and nutrition – whatever they feel like doing.
While these may seem like activities any after-school club may cover, for these young Muslim girls a female-only group was not an option they had before.
But rather than accept that they just went ahead and created one right in the middle of Butetown.
Saynab Isman is 16 years old and a year 11 pupil at Fitzalan High School.
She speaks four languages – Somali, English, Dutch and Arabic – after moving from Holland to Cardiff around four years ago, but to her that’s not a big deal.
Now she is putting her head down and studying hard and is thinking about becoming a lawyer. Every week Friday nights are a time to focus on her.
Saynab, who also attends with her 13-year-old sister Aisha, said: “We wanted somewhere for girls. The boys used to have the pavilion every Friday and as girls we wanted to have something like that as well.
"We do exercises, cooking, mental health discussions. I feel more comfortable here. I can take my hijab off, it’s just more comfortable.
"I can be myself. I’ve gained more confidence. I used to be shy, not speak to people.
"I’ve learnt how to express myself, to talk in front of people.”
Co-founded by Mymuna Soleman and her 16-year-old cousin Hafsa Mahamoud, Project GLOWW (Girls Leading Others With Wisdom) is based in the CCHA Culture and Media Centre in Plas Iona, Butetown.
A building with a constant hum of activity, it's the perfect venue for the group. To accommodate the girls the centre even frosted the windows of the room they use to allow them to remove their hijabs if they wish.
Both Mymuna and Hafsa's vision saw them create the group as a safe space for girls of all ages, religions, and backgrounds to come and open up about the pressures of teenagehood. Since then it’s gone from strength to strength with as many as 15 girls turning up to take part.
As well as their weekly Friday meets up there are big plans on the horizon including a camping trip in the near future and preparations to make for a community-wide Eid celebration.
Hafsa, who is thinking about going to midwifery after she finishes school, said: "This is out of the school environment. You’re not just learning all the time you are doing things out of the classroom.