Why Girlguiding is great


Recently I was reading a blog post by a Girlguiding Advocate called Emma (which you can read here), and it included a fact which I thought was pretty incredible- research conducted by Edinburgh and Glasgow universities found people who had been involved with guiding and scouting have a 15% lower risk of suffering from anxiety and mood disorders! Being a member of Girlguiding has been found to reduce the chance of its members suffering from mental health disorders and I think that is pretty incredible!

Guiding opens the door to so many opportunities, I've known people who have travelled to Malawi and Oman and everywhere in between! International trips provide girls with experiences that they would otherwise never have dreamt of and allows them to do life changing work! Even in the UK the opportunities are amazing, from the Queens Guide award to a Rainbows first sleepover, every member gets to do something they otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

I've seen girls join Rainbows and not talk and go up to brownies super chatty and confident! I had one Rainbow who wouldn't join in any games but now volunteers to start them and i had a super proud leader moment when on their first Rainbow sleepover not one girl wanted to go home and all stayed the night! Personally guiding has developed my confidence, leadership and communication skills and when it comes to applications and jobs the skills I've gained from being part of Guiding has helped me so much!

I also love the fact that guiding is a girl only space! I know this is starting to be questioned more and more but i honestly believe it is crucial to provide a space for girls to be themselves without the presence of boys, particularly for Guides and Rangers! Guiding provides a safe and fun environment for girls to be themselves and despite pressure saying boys should be allowed to join, the members want it to be a girl only place and what sort of organisation wouldn't do what their members want!

Programme and section changes recently have been a lot to take in and confusing in places but i felt we just needed a reminder about how great guiding is! Let me know down below why you love guiding too!

M x



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