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Girl Guides is an organisation for girls from the age of five years old and upwards. It is open to girls from all religions and race that can understand and are prepared to take the Guide promise. Guiding was started almost 100 years ago just after the formation of the Scout movement and now boasts over 600,000 members in the UK and is part of a worldwide organisation for girls. The main aim is to enable girls and young women to fulfil their potential and to take an active and responsible role in society through its distinctive, stimulating and enjoyable programme of activities delivered by trained volunteer leaders.
Girls are encouraged to pursue personal achievements as well as being part of a team. They can even choose what uniform they wish to wear from a range of mix and match options. A five year old can join the Rainbow Guides where the emphasis is on fun, they take part in indoor and outdoor activities, exploring, sharing and discovering.
At Rainbow they play games, paint, draw, make things listen to stories and sing songs. The Rainbow uniform is a sleeveless tabard worn over their usual play clothes, so there is no big outlay. They can enjoy Rainbow up to the age of seven where they’ll be encouraged to join the Brownie Guides.
At Brownies the girls will belong to a unit and will work in small groups called Sixes. This gives each girl a sense of belonging to something special and a group of ready-made friends to look after her. Brownies usually meet on a weekly basis during school term. During the school holidays most Brownie units run some weekend activities - the highlight of the year being the summer holiday or camp. At the weekly meetings girls learn new skills by playing and working for badges which cover a wide and diverse range of subjects.
They can enjoy Brownies until they reach the age of 10, in some circumstances they can stay on a longer, but at 10 they can join Guides if they wish
Guides
The Guide unit, similar to the Brownies work in groups but are called Patrols. They elect their own leader and all have input into the activities they wish to pursue under the guidance of the Guide leader. This carries on the theme of belonging to a special group of friends within the overall unit.
Guides follow the theme started in the Brownies, but the activities become more adventurous and the work for badges allows them to mature and achieve greater goals.
As with the Brownies, the highlight of the Guides year is the summer camp, which could be abroad, in the UK or a holiday with a particular theme.
If this type of organisation appeals to you and your daughter, she can join at any age she doesn’t need to have been in the younger units to qualify.
The local units are normally listed in Parish magazines, local newsletters or there will be someone at your daughters school.
Go along to a unit and have a chat with the leaders, who, because of the commitment they put in are very dedicated and enthusiastic people.
On the web: www.girlguiding.org.uk
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