Girlguiding
With over 550,000 members, Girlguiding UK is the largest volunteer organisation for girls and young women in the UK. We offer a unique female-only space and fun, challenging activities to girls and young women of all cultures and backgrounds, whatever their ability or means. Girlguiding Inverness-shire covers an area from the Isle of Skye across to Lochalsh, Fort Augustus, Lochaber, Badenoch & Strathspey, Inverness, Beauly, Drumnadrochit and Nairn and has around 1,700 members.
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The Rainbows
To help illustrate why Girlguiding is becoming more popular, here is a story of Kirsty, a Rainbow. She is 5 years old, maybe a bit shy to start with, but as soon as she gets to know her Rainbow friends, becomes more confident and outgoing. She is desperate to choose her bright raspberry coloured Rainbow clothes and be introduced to the mascot doll, Olivia. Throughout her time as a Rainbow Kirsty will be enjoying choosing from a Jigsaw programme. Looking at the world around her and learning to explore her environment and community. Learning about daily life, perhaps visiting the local shop to see behind the scenes where all the food is stored, inviting the RSPCA to the Unit to talk about looking after pets, enjoying activities with her older Brownie friends and of course playing games. Laughing - creating a work of art and at the same time making a mess with paints and glue, singing silly songs with actions, having celebrations, enjoying life. The last piece of the jigsaw is Love which is learning to care and share with family and friends and being kind to others.
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The Brownies
So, Kirsty has made sure her mum has put her name down for Brownies and at seven years old is ready to join her big ‘sisters’. She has already had experience in making choices and working in small groups and knows all about having fun, so the new Adventure await. Brownies want to know more! They have boundless energy, are noisy, talk a lot and will happily give opinions on almost anything. As a young Brownie, Kirsty may have a buddy in her Unit to help her understand strange words such as ‘Sixes’ and ‘Pow Wow’, the Brownie special song, the Promise and Law, and of course be introduced to the bright, modern uniform. Some of the exciting opportunities that await Kirsty’s Brownie Unit might be archery with a qualified instructor, an opportunity to try activities such as fitness, arts, finding out about worldwide Girlguiding. Then perhaps a chance to go on an organised sleepover, camp or holiday, plant bulbs in a community garden, and work on interest badges, such as Entertainer, Friend to Animals, Stargazer, and many more. As she grows in confidence, she may get the chance to become a buddy herself, and a Sixer – in charge of her very own small group.
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Joining the Guides
At 10 years old, Kirsty is ready to spread her wings and join Guides. This section is very much girl lead, meaning that the Guides are encouraged in their Patrols to make decisions on their term’s programme and be responsible for making those decisions work! Go For Its! are wonderful themed activity resources for Patrols to work on. One, called Take your toothbrush prepares the Patrol for getting away with other Guides and provides lots of activities to do while away. The resource encourages the girls to think for themselves, find out the pitfalls of organising events and hopefully at the end having a successful time.
The main Guide programme covers: Healthy lifestyles (promoting physical, emotional and spiritual well-being), Global awareness (thinking about environment, citizenship, world issues), Skills and relationships (looking at communication, rights and responsibilities, teamwork, self-reliance, self-esteem), celebrating diversity (covering discrimination, community action, disability awareness), and finally Discovery (visiting places, new experiences, adventurous activities, learning new skills).
The ultimate achievement for a Guide is her Baden Powell Challenge. It’s not about achieving a set standard or being academically able – it’s for Guides who wish to stretch themselves as individuals to achieve the very best that they can, such as bivouacking, cooking over an open fire, learning to ski, finding their way round a busy city!
Next on the agenda for Kirsty as she reaches 14 years is Senior Section and now she can look forward to achieving personal goals. She can decide to become a Ranger or perhaps a Young Leader helping with Rainbows, Brownies or Guides, and eventually gain a leadership qualification to become a Young Guider. There may also be opportunities to go abroad with other young people from Scottish Guiding. Recently, a Guide went to a Centenary camp in Australia!
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Volunteering with the Girlguides
Perhaps you are wondering who gives girls like Kirsty all those opportunities. Our leaders are mums, career women, students, all with busy lives but giving up their time to make a difference to the girls in the guiding units. One of our Leaders sums it up: “Girlguiding has provided me with motivation, has made me active outdoors, continually provides a sense of achievement and most importantly has provided friendship, support and laughter.” Guiding is run by volunteers and we’re always keen to hear from anyone who’d like to help out. If you can offer enthusiasm and commitment along with your skills and experience, we’ll provide all the ‘on-the-job’ training you need. Those skills can be anything from looking after animals, reading, games, craft, cycling, dancing, fitness, sport, outdoor activities and loads more. If you are a whizz with figures, you could play a vital role helping a Unit with accounts.
To run a Unit you need to be between the ages of 18 and 65 and although we are an ‘all female’ run organisation, our male counterparts have willingly got involved helping in Units, at camp, with maintenance, fundraising, keeping accounts, training – what would we do without them! Girlguiding UK enjoys an excellent reputation for providing a safe environment for its members to enjoy activities, whether indoors or outside. It is the policy of Girlguiding UK to safeguard its members from physical, sexual and emotional harm while participating in guiding activities. All our members go through an enhanced Disclosure check.
If you would like to know more – and we hope you do!
Please contact Tel: 0800 169 5901 or visit www.girlguiding.org.uk and www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk |
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