Heritage projects

Throughout our Centenary year we gave girls and young women ground-breaking opportunities – but this was nothing new. We always have, and always will, put girls in the lead.

‘A girl is not allowed to run, or even to hurry, swim, ride a bike, or raise her arms above her head…’ according to a 1909 publication, but just a year later girls in guiding were heading off to camp, where, in a girl-only space, they could raise their arms as high as they liked!

Girlguiding has a diverse heritage and we wanted to celebrate the impact guiding has had on girls’ and womens’ lives, and on society in general, by looking at our heritage and sharing experiences from the last 100 years of guiding. We did this through three key heritage projects: story-gathering, exhibitions and open houses.

Story-gathering

Girlguiding’s archives contain a number of significant oral histories, some of which include stories that go back as far as 1909. The Centenary story-gathering project made these fantastic tales available to all through our online Story Bank.

Your story is important too!

Through the continuation of the Story Bank beyond the Centenary year, we want to keep gathering and publishing many more stories in video, audio and text formats from individuals who are or have been involved in guiding at some point in their lives. You can even include your own photos to accompany the story.
Add your story to the Story Bank or search the huge number of stories already published online.

Exhibitions

Girlguiding members across the UK staged exhibitions of all sorts and sizes, many of which gave a flavour of local guiding stories from the beginnings of the guiding movement through to more recent events. There were six key themes which many exhibitions incorporated into their displays:

• Adventures
• Beginnings
• Challenges
• Changing Worlds
• Flying High
• Here and Now

Girlguiding's Training and Activity Centre in London, ICANDO, held a special Centenary exhibition. Photos below and right.

Open houses

Every year in September, thousands of venues of every age, style and function open up free of charge across the UK as part of European Heritage Days. The idea of these events is to celebrate architecture, heritage and culture by allowing visitors free access to interesting properties that are either not usually open, or would normally charge an entrance fee.

In September 2010, a number of guiding-related properties opened to visitors. These included unusual unit meeting places, County and Region-owned buildings and Training and Activity Centres. Venues such as National Trust properties with a connection to guiding and campsites used by guiding across the UK also took part. For our members it was a great opportunity to celebrate our heritage with friends and relatives, raise awareness of Girlguiding and be a part of the UK’s largest voluntary cultural event.