Girlguiding volunteer & life advice
I'm not talking about the paperwork (there's so much paperwork!). I'm talking about what it's actually like on camp, all those things the Going Away With licence don't prepare you for. 1) The girls will sneak electronics in Part of the charm of camp is having time to digitally detox. You tell the girls not... Continue Reading →
I've been a Senior Section/Ranger leader since 2007 and what I've seen in my district is that Young Leaders are undervalued. Plenty of units have them but mostly they're an older girl who doesn't want to leave or a daughter who's not allowed to leave or something of that sort. They turn up every week... Continue Reading →
This brought to you by local INTOPS and an ex-Guide of mine who got rejected for being too quiet. INTOPS is International Opportunities. I don’t know much about how it works but I gather trips abroad are planned and then girls are put forward, by unit or district or county or whatever, depending on the... Continue Reading →
I love campfire singing. If you have even the briefest Guiding contact with me, you’ll probably learn that. I’ve become the go-to person in my district for it and so you’ll find me getting volunteered to lead at Thinking Day and once even hauled out of the audience at a national event, thanks to my... Continue Reading →
If you’re new to Guiding (or presumably Scouting), you may have noticed that lots of the adults go by weird names. How do you get one of those? Well, that depends on the unit and the existing leaders and what they’ve established. Sometimes the leaders pick the names. Sometimes the girls pick the names. Sometimes... Continue Reading →
This is something that I think will come up during your Adult Leadership Qualification but I think it's worth having a think about it. How do you lead your unit? When I took over the local Guides back in... when was it, 2016?... the old leader said "You know you've made it when you're sitting... Continue Reading →
Last night was my first in-person meeting back at the usual hall in two years and two weeks. We did outdoor meetings on the local field in the summer term last year but it rained pretty much every Monday for the entire term and anyway, there's only so much you can do outside in a... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago there was an uproar in Certain Newspapers and across social media because a school had started to use “your grown-ups” instead of “your mum and dad”. Let’s be clear. They were not banning the use of normal gendered parent names. They were not telling the kids not to use them. They... Continue Reading →
We all remember the joy of earning badges as a Brownie and we all know the disappointment that we're expected to go through life without being rewarded for doing all the things with a badge. But adults can earn badges! As a Girlguiding (or Scouting, I guess) volunteer, you'll have extra opportunities to pick them... Continue Reading →
Throughout this blog, I'm likely to use "Brownie" to mean "Girlguiding". It just feels more familiar to people who are not within the Girlguiding movement. Almost everything applicable to Brownies is also applicable to Rainbows, Guides and Rangers, and some of it will also be applicable to Young Leaders, adult members, Inspire and Trefoil Guild.... Continue Reading →
The Internet's Brown Owl 