Changing the World

In September 2008, Girlguiding challenged all our members to take part in a landmark community action project to kick off our Centenary celebrations… and almost 300,000 members rose to the challenge, raising over £850,000 for charity in just one year! 

However, it wasn’t all only raising money. The Changing the World project focused on activities that raised awareness of some important issues that affect us all and provided our young members with the opportunity to take part directly in some community action tasks.

Girlguiding teamed up with well-respected partner organisations - 18 charities and our Girlguiding Branch Associations - to create 19 unique projects for girls and young women to take part in.

We recorded all our members’ actions to show that little things make a big difference including:

• raising over £130,000 to enable WaterAid to take 8,681 people out of water poverty in Nepal.
• sending 26,400 books to Africa with Book Aid International.
• working with the Woodland Trust to plant over 56,000 trees across the UK
• 
  This truly proves that GIRLS + ACTION = CHANGE.

Helen Humphreys, Lead Volunteer for Changing the World ,was thrilled at the success of the project: 'Girlguiding: Changing the World was a chance for girls and young women to choose the issues that matter to them most and act to make a real difference'.

'Not only do they know more about our charity partners and the issues that they tackle, they have also through their actions and fundraising made a difference to many young people and their families in the UK and across the world,' she added.

You can view the full results of our Changing the World project here, which were announced by former guiding member, Pixie Lott, at Girlguiding’s Centenary Big Gig in October 2009.