Future Dreamers is a Girls Club

Future Dreamers is a Girls Club based in the heart of Byron Bay. Set up by three women who saw a need for a space for girls aged 12-25 to come to, hang out, learn and be inspired by the amazing women in the local Byron community. Sienna has collaborated with Future Dreamers to create an amazing duck-egg blue pearl nail lacquer, with all proceeds going directly back to Future Dreamers. We met with Cath Artmstrong, one of the founders, to talk everything girls, and why creating such a special space for them is so important.

What they do

Future Dreamers began as a collective of women who wanted to inspire the next generation in the local area. The Future Dreamers clubhouse is in the centre of Byron Bay, and is a hub for girls to come after school, during school holidays, and participate in workshops, creative sessions or just hang out. The safe and nurturing environment allows the girls to have input into what they like and what they want to learn about, and teaches them to express themselves as individuals and embrace their passions. Future Dreamers draw on local businesswomen, artists, musicians and creatives to hold sessions and speak with the girls. They provide them with guidance on practical life skills and career advice, as well as sessions on goal setting, inspiration and self-love.

The beginnings

Before Future Dreamers, there wasn’t a lot available to the local girls in the Byron Shire area. Future Dreamers provides a safe space for them to hang out, grow within themselves, and most importantly, just have fun. The pressure for young girls to grow up too fast in today’s society is constantly building, so Future Dreamers offers a step away from that, for them to develop into young women in their own way.

Launching into the community just over a year ago, Future Dreamers just began with the daughters of the founders, as well as their close friends and through word of mouth has grown from there. The growth of the program has been organic, and allowed the not-for-profit to build a strong foundation within the community. To get them teaching and imparting their knowledge onto the next generation of girls is so awesome.

Future Dreamers hosts after-school and school holiday programs for girls, as well as movie nights and their Life Notes series. Girls travel from all around the local area from Mullumbimby to Ballina to attend Future Dreamers, as well as travelling from interstate during school holidays. The online side also allows girls from all over the world tap into the Girls Club and keep connected and inspired.

All the programs are offered free of cost to the girls. Most of the materials used are donated, and inspirational speakers offer their free time to Future Dreamers to provide an enriching experience for the girls. It is more than just a out-of-school activity, Future Dreamers set themselves apart from traditional sporting teams and extra-curricular activities, with their urban cool edge, salute to nature and by instilling positive lifestyle habits. The running costs of Future Dreamers, is in excess of $150,000 per year, and they rely solely on fundraising, donations and government grants for this.

Beyond the Byron shire, Future Dreamers hopes to expand to not only across Australia, but internationally. Interest has already come from New Zealand and the UK. They also hope to get their girls into the community and giving back, volunteering their time, and eventually running some of the workshops at the Girl’s Club. Hearing about Future Dreamers makes us wish we had something like this growing up! We have partnered with Future Dreamers to create a stunning duck egg blue pearl nail lacquer, with all proceeds going directly to the girls’ club house.

Check out the amazing colour in the image below, we were so spoiled with Cath’s amazing nails!