Volunteer roles in guiding

There are so many roles available within Girlguiding, whether you’d like to work directly with girls or support guiding in other ways.

Whether you're new to our charity and choosing your first role or thinking about your progression as a volunteer - you'll find something to suit you. 

• Volunteer roles working directly with girls.
• Volunteer roles supporting guiding (roles that don't involve working with girls directly).

Which roles are open to everyone?

The majority of volunteering roles are open to everyone, as long as you have the right skills and complete any necessary checks and training. This applies at district, division, county, and country or region level.

• Unit support roles, including unit helper, unit administrator, supported volunteer and young external volunteer.
• Non-unit support roles, including archivist, ID and first aid verifier, treasurer, administrator and coordinator roles, excluding peer educator, queen’s guide award, and leader in training coordinators.
• Specialist roles, including lead volunteer, trainer, trainer development programme mentor and adviser roles, excluding section advisers.
• Honorary roles, including supporting member, ambassador, president and vice-president roles.

Which roles are open to women only?

The following roles are open to women only. This applies at district, division, county, country or region level.

• The following leader roles: leader, assistant leader, leader-in-training, supporting leader, young leader.
• The following commissioner roles: commissioner, deputy commissioner, and assistant commissioner.
• The following mentor roles: leader development programme mentor, going away with mentor, and mentor for commissioners.
• The following coordinator, adviser and verifier roles: peer educator coordinator, Queen’s Guide award coordinator, leader in training coordinator, section advisers, and going away with scheme verifier.

Why are some volunteer roles open to women only?

We believe we best meet the needs of girls and young women by having a girl-only space. We believe that ensuring our leadership roles are held by women creates the best environment for girls to thrive. So some of our volunteer roles are open to women only.

When we use the term girl or woman in relation to Girlguiding roles, in line with the Equality Act 2010, this refers to those whose sex at birth is female.  

Using role descriptions in your team

Role descriptions help you find and keep the volunteers you’re looking for.

Role descriptions outline the purpose of a specific volunteer role, the tasks involved and the skills and attributes needed. If you're recruiting volunteers in your area, descriptions will help you show how roles are relevant to individuals.

Use our role descriptions to plan what to do next, help volunteers feel valued or show your team how they can develop their skills. Your journey through guiding is up to you!

Flexible volunteering

We know our volunteers give up a lot of their time to get involved in guiding. That’s why lots of our roles are designed to be flexible to suit different interests and availabilities. Role descriptions are designed as a guide to support volunteers in their role – but you may wish to adapt them, combine them, or spread responsibilities across several roles.

Check out our guidance on flexible volunteering for more information.