Meg's Guiding Adventure's

From the 1st until the 7th of June it is national volunteers week in the UK and I've loved seeing the coverage it's been getting across social media! I wanted to write a little bit of a post about volunteering and what it means to me, as well saying thank you to all those who give up their time and help others! The world would be a much worse place without volunteers!  Since starting University in September I have volunteered 155 hours and I'm not sure how I managed to fit it all in! Most of this is though being a Rainbow and Brownie leader as well as Peer Education but I've also done a fair few hours through being a University Academic Rep, ambassador and as well as being part of the Events society and volunteering at things such as the Chester Christmas light switch on. And theres so much more I wish I could do but time just doesn't allow!   'You can do anything but you can't do everything'  I'm incredibly thankful for all the volunte...

Despite being in guiding since Rainbows, it wasn't until I became a young leader that I began to understand the District, Division, County, Region structure of Girlguiding. Despite being in guiding since Rainbows, it wasn't until I became a young leader that I began to understand the District, Division, County, Region structure of Girlguiding. Once I understood this I realised how many roles there is within Guiding beyond that of leadership which need to be filled for Guiding to work! Over the years now I've heard more about these roles and what each one takes and there is some that over my Guiding journey I would like to hold! I'm not sure if i'll ever hold any of these roles or not or I might end up with different ones but I think it is important to have goals and ambition (and fun of course) in whatever you do, even if it is volunteering!  Before I get on to what roles I would like to be in the future I would also like to add that I don’...

I've had this post half written for quite a while now however due to recent announcements from Girlguiding I thought now would be the best time to get this finished off and posted!  Last week Girlguiding along with their advocate panel launched a new resource and campaign to help reduce period poverty in the UK.  One in ten girls in the UK cannot afford the products they need, resulting in them having to use toilet roll or old clothes instead! Facts like this are commonly associated with girls in developing countries however we are facing similar problems at home which I don't think enough people realise!  Scotland is leading the way providing the products for free for girls in low income households and although I think thats great, more needs to be done! Any women can experience their period coming unexpectantly without having products on them and I think this is particularly important when thinking of girls just starting and perhaps aren't experiencing a regu...

I love my role of a Peer Educator within Guiding and the messages I get to teach the girls in the units I visit. Body Confidence and Mental wellbeing are both incredibly important for girls to get talking about from such a young age but I've got to say Breaking Free, the latest Peer Education resource based on gender stereotypes has got me feeling inspired and excited to get out and about running sessions.  The Girls Attitudes survey, conducted by Girlguiding found half of participants feel they need to conform to gender stereotypes which makes girls feel angry, anxious and less important than boys- we need to change! But the survey does show there is hope, finding gender stereotypes make girls more determined to succeed and that we are living in a society where change is happening!  I think breaking free of stereotypes, no matter what gender you associate yourself with is extremely important and no one should feel limited on what they can achieve just because the...

In February last year I started my Queen's Guide Award and as you have three years to complete it I have until February 2020 to finish. To be honest since starting I haven't achieved too much of it but I still have plenty of time to finish and my goal is Thinking Day February 2019 which I can achieve if I stick to my plan so we shall see! I thought I'd do a post on what I've done, what I've yet to do and how I plan to do it!  Part 1- service in guiding, getting involved in guiding at lots of different levels and projects!  Element 1 is practical guiding for 60 hours with 20 hours dedicated to one particular project. I've found this part probably the easiest and my 40 hours quickly added up with rainbow meetings, a rainbow sleepover and holiday brownies. For my 20 hours on a specific project I've decided on my Brownie module 1 qualification which I aim to finish by summer/early autumn.  Element 2 is attending a residential event and accepting a...

For today's post I thought I would share with you all a little bit of a Guiding update, what I'm currently doing and what I'm working towards as at the moment I am getting up to lots of exciting stuff.  As you all know I am a Rainbow leader and am also currently working on my module one for Brownies where I also help out! I have just taken over as leader in charge at my Rainbow unit (with the continued support of the previous leader in charge) which I am really excited about! 6 of our current Rainbows are moving up to Brownies next week which although is sad I've gotten to offer places to 6 girls on the waiting list which is very exciting! We have a busy term coming up, celebrating the Royal wedding, taking part in Future Girl and we are also going to be working on a Roundabout after half term. This term is also very exciting for my Brownies too as the unit is celebrating their 90th Birthday! I got the job of organising the badge (you know I love badges!) a...

After an Easter break, filled with lots of chocolate and rest, the summer term will soon be here! I’m sure lots of you are currently planning the term ahead so I thought I would share with you some of my ideas for the next term! Girlguiding has released an all section inclusive badge called ‘ Future Girl ’ for units all across the UK to take part in! Future girl is simply a way for girls to get a say in Girlguiding’s future and has activity cards for each section for leaders to use to achieve the badge! I think Future Girl is a great idea as the only way for an organisation to be powerful and successful is for it to listen and act upon its members ideas and beliefs and doing this on such a large scale is great, especially during a time of such heavy change! If you want to get your unit involved with Future Girl you have to do it this term as the deadline for the questionnaire (and to get your badges), is the 15th of July! I’m hoping to do this with my Rainbow unit, and although ...