Girlguiding volunteer & life advice
Girlguiding (apparently accidentally) soft-launched its new branding today - the official launch, hopefully with some fanfare, is coming tomorrow. Let's talk about it! First, there is no new uniform coming! Well, there is, but it's not until 2026. Girlguiding won't start thinking about designing it until late 2025, then they'll have supply and demand issues,... Continue Reading →
As a child, I was shy to the point of both silence and muteness. In year 8, my teachers and my head of house conspired to set homework that explicitly required us to go and ask the teacher what the answer was, and to award me merits every time I opened my mouth. It didn't... Continue Reading →
Last week (I'm trying to get back into the habit of doing these weekly) I talked about gathering your evidence for your leadership qualification and I thought I'd do a very quick chat on the subject of referencing. There are no marks for referencing, no style guide, no "correct" way to do it. All you... Continue Reading →
If you've heard rumours that you've got to speed up your Adult Leadership Qualification, I'm afraid it's true. If you're using the old book, you have to finish by September. Lean hard on your fellow leaders, lean hard on your Mentor and you can do this! Perhaps what's slowing you down is writing it all... Continue Reading →
Should we be wearing uniform? Girlguiding is a uniformed organisation. That means uniform is - give or take specific circumstances - non-optional. Look, it's a pretty practical uniform. I compare our hoodies and softshells to the Scouts. Yeah, they look nice and smart in their shirts but they don't have a lot in the way... Continue Reading →
I did Rangers from September 2007 to March 2020. Then, faced with all the uncertainty that came with the pandemic and finding myself suddenly the only official leader for an entire Brownie pack, I sacrificed my Rangers until such time as I could pick them up again. There were only two of them but it's... Continue Reading →
I mentioned neckerchiefs in yesterday's posts and I thought I'd expand on the subject a bit. Neckerchiefs were a standard bit of uniform for a very long time. They were smart but they were also practical - you could whip it off and use it as a bandage or a sling, you could filter water... Continue Reading →
This is one that will depend on your area but broadly yes, Brownies, Guides, Rangers and adults do go to Remembrance Parade and they go in their uniform, all smart and wearing a poppy. If you're a village unit and your village doesn't have a parade or service, your nearest town will and the best... Continue Reading →
It hadn't occurred to me that it's a bit odd but for outsiders, the whole thing with the adults being called Owls, the dancing around a toadstool, the (old) Six names being things like Elves, Imps and Pixies... what's going on there? Long story short, when our Founder, Lord Baden-Powell (BP) created Scouts, they were... Continue Reading →
One way that I try to sell Girlguiding to potential new leaders is the boost to their CV. You pick up a lot of skills and if you know how to present that to an employer in a way they can understand, it can definitely put you a step ahead of your competition. Leadership, teamwork,... Continue Reading →
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