Project Fearless

We have wrapped up our first season of 2026 in Project Fearless! This Spring season was all about Physical Wellbeing. 126 girls and non-binary kids across 12 programs and 1 event got access to our 8-week program, led by 33 women volunteers who show them what it means to be Fearless. Girls explored recognising their body signals, body confidence, and moving without judgement, in programs from Kickboxing to Football to Rethink Fashion.

I'd love to share one 10 minute exercise in our playbook that you can do right now, our Body Signals map. 

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Our bodies send us messages all the time, even when we don't know what they are. We're going to listen to them. 

First, do a quick body scan for 2 mins. You can notice your feet, your legs, your belly, your shoudlers, and your face, while breathing. when done, move gently for 30 seconds, in any ways that feels good. This can be a shake, or a sway, or rolling shoulders. 

We're then going to map what how our body talks to us. Notice where you feel stress or worry. Where you feel energy or excitement. Where do you feel this in your body? Are there signals that feel quiet rather than loud? Girls in our programs mapped this quite literally, making drawings of where they feel these signals and what it felt like. 

You can take this exercise into the rest of your day by finishing this sentences: "One body signal I want to listen more kindly to is __"

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We see the impact of these confidence-building exercises and more outside of our programs.

One parent of a skateoarding participant told us: 
"Her [school] class last Friday won a 'reward' for doing well on a program and they chose to go to the skatepark.  She got to ride/share/help others with skateboarding, which wouldn't have been something she would have been so confident with a year ago."

Our Run Club coach in Amsterdam Nieuw-West also shared: 
"Ik ben tevreden met dit seizoen. Ik denk dat de meiden een leuke tijd hebben gehad met veel beweging, elkaar en de groei die zij hebben gemaakt zowel fysiek als mentaal. Ik ben blij dat ik daarbij een steentje kon bijdragen.”

You made this and more happen. Thank you for another season of support! 

If you would like to continue helping us, you can always make a donation, come to our Fearless 5K on October 11th in the Amsterdamse Bos, or by sharing more about Project Fearless with friends and families who should know about us. 

This summer seaon's theme is Social Wellbeing, from themes such as building community, spreading kindsness and growing friendships. We'll share more with you after these next wonderful season with our participants. 

With Fearless hugs,
 
Vanessa