Child safety
How do we keep girls safe?
Girlguiding UK offers fun, challenge and
adventure to our young members in the UK. We know that
young people thrive in safe surroundings so Girlguiding UK takes
the safety of girls and young women very seriously and has an
excellent reputation for providing a safe environment for members
to enjoy both indoor and outdoor activities.
We have clear safety guidelines which all our
volunteers follow. We also have our own Leader qualifications and
training.
We carry out recruitment checks on all
volunteers who work directly with our young members. This
includes criminal record disclosure checks, two references and an
informal discussion with a local Commissioner – a member of guiding
responsible for the management of adults involved in guiding.
Leader qualifications and training
All our adult Leaders and Assistant Leaders
take a Leadership Qualification which includes a module covering
safety. They are also encouraged to undertake other training such
as First Aid and child protection awareness on a regular basis
Out and about
We undertake a risk assessment for all trips,
residential events and holidays, and ensure all adventurous
activities are run by properly qualified instructors. Leaders
wishing to take young members on a residential adventure work
towards completing a qualification to ensure that the young members
stay safe whilst having fun!
We also have strict rules regarding the ratio
of adults to girls when going outside the usual meeting place:
- Rainbows: one adult to five girls
- Brownies: one adult to eight girls
- Guides: one adult to twelve girls.
Ensuring that parents are kept informed and data is kept
safe
So that Leaders can keep parents informed of all the exciting
opportunities available to our young members, parents are asked to complete a Starting Form
which gathers some very basic data that is stored on the
Girlguiding UK membership database (Go!). All the information
provided on this form will be stored securely and destroyed in line
with the Data Protection Act 1998, and protected against unlawful
or unauthorised use. It is the policy of Girlguiding UK that
all personal information, eg names and contact details, will only
be used for guiding purposes and never be passed to a third
party.
If you have any compliments or concerns
Compliments are gratefully received! All
of our volunteer Leaders give their time freely to ensure our young
members have fun and enjoy the opportunities that guiding can
offer. Being an adult member of guiding is hugely rewarding
but hearing from parents how much the girls are enjoying themselves
is very rewarding too!
Sometimes things may not be going too well and
it is Girlguiding UK’s policy to deal with all questions, concerns
and complaints in an open and fair way. If for some reason
you are unhappy with your daughter’s participation in guiding
please talk it through with her Leader so that the situation can be
resolved as quickly as possible. If you feel you cannot do
this you can talk to the local Commissioner or select ‘Contact Us’
on the Girlguiding UK
website and select the compliments and concerns link.
Online Safety
No message is posted on our message or chat boards without being
reviewed by an adult first. We remove any personal information such
as email addresses submitted by girls that could put them at
risk.
Girls' full names are not included on Girlguiding UK websites,
or in any publications, and photos of girls are not shown without
their parents' permission.
We also take care to inform our girls and Leaders about how to
stay safe online.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Vetting and Barring Scheme?
Registration with the VBS has been halted
to allow the government to remodel the scheme.
The scope and timing of the remodel are
expected to be finalised shortly and we will communicate any
updates as soon as more information is available.
Can I ask to see references or disclosures relating to adults
working in my daughter's unit?
No. Under the Data Protection Act and the CRB Code of Practice,
all such information about adults in guiding is confidential.
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