It’s a Thursday evening in London, and instead of heading to the usual after-work drinks or another generic networking event, a group of women have gathered for something more meaningful and instead opted for an intentionally designed space where the sole purpose is genuine connection.

Last week, Yes Gurl teamed up with Huckletree and VAMP UK to host a night dedicated to fun, friendship, and hands-on exploration of their new friendship app. Guests mingled, sipped drinks, explored the app, picked up branded goodies, and most importantly, connected with new faces in real life.

In a world increasingly focused on romantic connection and hustle culture, friendship, especially adult friendship between women, often gets left behind. We’re living in what many are calling a loneliness epidemic.

For women navigating post-uni life, career shifts, moves to new cities, or simply the slow, natural drift of growing older, friendship is no longer the guaranteed support system it once was. Despite being hyper connected online, many women in their twenties quietly feel platonically disconnected. Especially after the pandemic, the weight of loneliness has become more apparent, even if it’s often unspoken.

As women move further into adulthood, friendship often falls through the cracks. While our culture offers plenty of infrastructure to support romantic and work related social needs, from dating apps to co working spaces, there is very little designed to help us maintain or build friendships. Platonic connection is often treated as something we should have already figured out. But adult friendship requires care, effort, and space to grow. This is exactly why Yes Gurl exists.

Born out of a magazine, co-founders Annette Christian and Francesca Mariama launched Yes Gurl but they quickly realised their audience wanted more. The pair recognised a need for community and spaces where women who wanted friends could meet in real life. Through events like speed friending and activity based gatherings such as Pilates and Mingle, they’ve built a space that does exactly that. What started as a publication has grown into a movement, a thriving community that’s reimagining what friendship between women can look like in adulthood, reminding us that we need spaces built intentionally for it. At the heart of it all is the Yes Gurl app, where a new kind of connection begins.

Annette Christian

Community on Purpose

In a world saturated with dating apps, filtered DMs, and swiping fatigue, the idea of a “friendship app” might raise eyebrows. But Yes Gurl’s approach is refreshingly different.