GUIDING IS ENORMOUS FUN

Girls and young women get involved in a huge range of exciting activities from outdoor challenges including climbing, abseiling and canoeing to learning new skills such as first aid, toy making and much more. And then there’s the opportunities guiding provides for international travel, getting involved in community action projects, camping and trying out new sports.

As a Leader you can take an active part in some of these fun and exciting activities yourself. Or if, for example, abseiling is not your cup of tea, you can simply organise activities for the girls and get pleasure from watching them enjoy it to the full.

GUIDING CHANGES GIRL'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S LIVES

Of course, there’s more to guiding than having a good time. Guiding is a game with a purpose. It provides opportunities for girls and young women to:

• Be challenged by new experiences and achieve a sense of pride in accomplishment.
• Think for themselves and make decisions.
• Undertake teamwork and acquire leadership skills. 
• Acquire self-awareness, self-respect and self-confidence.
• Develop personal values which give their lives meaning and direction.
• Do their best according to their abilities.
• Seek spiritual development.
• Contribute to society.
• Live by a simple code - the Guide Law.

In addition, guiding offers a girl-only space. This means that girls and young women, who may have less self-esteem and self-confidence than boys, are able to assert themselves, make decisions, take on positions of responsibility and work in teams in an environment which best suits them.

We have 50,000 girls and young women on our waiting-to-join lists. By volunteering as a unit Leader or helper you'll enable several of these girls to take part in guiding and allow their lives to change in the above-mentioned ways.

GUIDING CHANGES VOLUNTEER'S LIVES

As a volunteer you will get a great sense of satisfaction from watching the girls and young women in your unit develop their confidence and skills, as well as have lots of fun. In addition, working to improve your community both directly with the girls and possibly outside the unit on community projects will give you a huge sense of personal achievement.

As a volunteer you’ll also gain from the experience by making new friends and learning new skills such as leadership and organisational abilities that you can use at work or put on a CV. 

UNIT LEADERS

Every Rainbow, Brownie, Guide and Senior Section unit has at least one qualified Leader. The Leader has overall responsibility for the unit. The unit Leader is usually supported by Assistant Leaders.

Unit Leaders are given training both ‘on the job’ and through training sessions. Initially they gain the Girlguiding UK Leadership Qualification and there are further training opportunities available once qualified. Leaders are supported by a mentor while training and there is a local support network.

Unit Leaders are women between the ages of 18 and 65. They can choose to lead:

• Rainbows aged five to seven
• Brownies aged seven to ten
• Guides aged ten to 14.

Or support Senior Section units for young women aged 14–26 including:

• Rangers aged 14–26
• Young Leaders aged 14–18
• Look Wider groups aged 14 +
• Young Leaders.

When and how often units meet depend upon the commitments of participants involved. For example, some may meet once a week in the evenings, others may meet once a fortnight on Saturdays. 

UNIT HELPERS

Helpers are vital to guiding. Girlguiding UK has recommended ratios of adults to children, dependent on the age group, so it is vital that units have committed helpers. For example, one additional Unit Helper for a Brownie unit can mean that up to eight more girls can join.

If you can help on a regular basis, once a week or fortnight, you could become a Unit Helper, assisting the unit Leader. 

Parent/occasional helper

Many units have a rota, where a group of parents, adult family members or other adult volunteers take it in turn to help at the unit meeting. Just once or twice a term, it's your chance to get stuck into a wide range of games and activities enjoyed by the girls.

Unit/District Gift Aid Co-ordinator

If you don't mind completing a few forms and are happy with keeping data up to date, you could help to bring more money into the unit by claiming back Gift Aid.

If you're happy working with figures, you could play a vital role in helping the Unit Leader or District with the accounts.