Give Guiding a Go!

Our camp earlier this year

So, on Friday evening last week I was trying hard to fall asleep at a Brownie and Guide sleepover at our local school.  We had films and popcorn and hot chocolate and then not a very peaceful nights sleep but then I'm not sure anyone was really expecting to! Those of you that have read my blog before will know that last year I started volunteering with a local Guide unit that was desperately needed in the area because of the amount of Brownies wanting to move up.  We have now been going for over a year, the unit has grown and we have already enjoyed our first camp - another exhausting but really fun experience.  I am really lucky that in my district Guiding is very popular and the volunteers running the various units are really committed to providing great opportunities for young women - as the sleepover proved.  They are also really good fun and in addition to enjoying working with the girls, I have made some great friends in the area.

When I was a teenager volunteering with Guides, I didn't really give any thought to why I did it.  It was just something to do.  It wasn't a huge commitment and I had the time to spare and I enjoyed the weekly meetings.  Now, as a Mum with an 8 year old Daughter, I look at Guiding very differently; with news stories about sexual harassment at school becoming more frequent and the pressure of social media for girls to look a certain way, I think it is so important to provide a safe space for girls to just be girls.


I understand it isn't necessarily for everyone but if you think you know Guiding, I would say have another look.  GirlGuiding UK campaigns on issues (such as harassment) and has introduced new badges relevant to the pressures young girls face like the Think Resilient badge.  Alongside this, it still offers the traditional stuff for those that enjoy doing that traditional stuff and for those who want to do different things, this year we have done belly dancing, geocaching, space experiments, Harry Potter stuff, Big Gig, raft building, kayaking, abseiling, low ropes and tons more.

But we need more! We need more girls to experience this safe, exciting space where it is ok to be yourself and to allow more girls to attend, we need more volunteers!  So please do think about giving some of your time, it really is so worthwhile.

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