5 Jan 2009 - Guiding's Guide to the credit crunch and street safety
Girlguiding UK issues new guides on issues facing the modern
girl
Guides team up with expert partners including Suzy Lamplugh
Trust, the Mental Health Foundation and Kidscape to help girls
manage important and sensitive issues.
Tips include avoiding store cards, cutting down on shop-bought
coffees, never using unlicensed cabs and not using mobiles or iPods
when walking home.
Girlguiding UK has issued the first in a new series of
'Guiding's guide to' the top issues for the modern girl. Launched
with expert partners, the guides will look at a range of issues
from managing money to beating bullying, to help get girls clued up
and ahead of the game. The guides for 16- to 18-year-olds are part
of Girlguiding UK's programme to help girls confront the new
responsibilities and risks of growing up.
The first two guides being launched today are:
- Guiding's Guide to Managing Money in the Credit
Crunch
- Guiding's Guide to Street Safety
Future guides will address a range of issues relevant to today's
girls, including a Guiding's guide to Beating Bullying,
which will be launched in partnership with Kidscape and the Mental
Health Foundation.
Money management was identified as the number one skill that
every girl should have by 93 per cent of girls polled by
Girlguiding UK. As the credit crunch hits homes The Guiding's
Guide to Managing Money gives the next generation of savers a
few tips on how to survive the credit crunch. From avoiding store
cards and protecting yourself against fraudsters to cutting down on
your shop-bought coffees, the guide equips girls aged 16 to 18 to
make sensible spending and saving decisions in the current economic
climate.
Guiding's Guide to Street Safety is launched in
partnership with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the leading personal
safety organisation. The guide teaches girls how to be street savvy
and avoid danger when on their own, including advice from carrying
trainers in your bag when you're out in heels and not talking on
your mobile to avoiding shortcuts and never taking unlicensed cabs.
Recent polling by Girlguiding UK revealed almost of the girls
worried about walking home alone after dark.
Sian MacCarty-Cole, aged 17, said: 'These guides are really
useful in giving you confidence to do things that make you nervous.
When you first start having to walk home alone after dark,
particularly in the winter, it can be really scary. Knowing how to
protect yourself makes you feel safer.
'I'm about to go to university and the tips on managing money
have helped me feel more confident about being in charge of my
finances for the first time.'
Denise King, Chief Executive of Girlguiding UK, said: 'As UK's
largest organization providing a safe female-only space for girls
and young women, we see it as our responsibility to give girls and
young women the knowledge to confidently and knowledgably deal with
the new experiences they face growing up. These guides are intended
to give girls confidence in dealing with issues they have voiced
concern about, helping them to understand and overcome any
potential hazards.'
David Whitely from the Financial Services Authority said: 'This
is a very helpful initiative from Girl Guiding as we believe it's
important for young people to learn the basics on how to manage
money early on. They will then have more confidence when it
comes to making more important money decisions as they get
older.'
Jo Walker from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust said: 'There's a fine
line between giving young people safety advice and scaring them
about the risks. We believe this new Street Safety
guide has got the balance just right. It offers young women a
wealth of common sense advice on how to stay safe when out and
about, which in turn will give them extra confidence to get
out there and live their lives to the full.'
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