Why volunteer?

Archery

Guiding is fun, fun, fun!

Guiding is enormous fun.

Girls and young women get involved in a huge range of exciting activities from outdoor challenges including climbing, abseiling and canoeing to learning new skills such as first aid, becoming a circus performer, toy making and much more. And then there’s the opportunities guiding provides for international travel, getting involved in community action projects, camping and trying out new sports.

As a Leader you can take an active part in some of these fun and exciting activities yourself. Or if, for example, abseiling is not your cup of tea, you can simply organise activities for the girls and get pleasure from watching them enjoy it to the full.

Guiding changes girls' and young women's lives

Of course, there’s more to guiding than having a good time. Guiding is a game with a purpose. It provides opportunities for girls and young women to:

  • Be challenged by new experiences and achieve a sense of pride in accomplishment.
  • Think for themselves and make decisions.
  • Undertake teamwork and acquire leadership skills. 
  • Acquire self-awareness, self-respect and self-confidence.
  • Develop personal values which give their lives meaning and direction.
  • Do their best according to their abilities.
  • Seek spiritual development.
  • Contribute to society.
  • Live by a simple code - the Guide Law.

In addition, guiding offers a girl-only space. This means that girls and young women, who may have less self-esteem and self-confidence than boys, are able to assert themselves, make decisions, take on positions of responsibility and work in teams in an environment which best suits them.

We have 50,000 girls and young women on our waiting-to-join lists. By volunteering as a unit Leader or helper you'll enable several of these girls to take part in guiding and allow their lives to change in the above-mentioned ways.

Guiding changes volunteers' lives

As a volunteer you will get a great sense of satisfaction from watching the girls and young women in your unit develop their confidence and skills, as well as have lots of fun. In addition, working to improve your community both directly with the girls and possibly outside the unit on community projects will give you a huge sense of personal achievement.

As a volunteer you’ll also gain from the experience by making new friends and learning new skills such as leadership and organisational abilities that you can use at work or put on a CV. 

Read what our volunteers have to say about guiding here.

Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and the Senior Section

To find out more about the different sections of Girlguiding UK, please click here.

 

More in this section
Different ways of volunteering

There are many ways of helping out to suit people with different interests and lifestyles.

Members' views on volunteering

At Girlguiding UK we think guiding is fantastic – but don’t take our word for it, read what our Leaders have to say.

Questions about volunteering

Find answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Become an adult member!

All adults can now apply to be members of Girlguiding UK.

Our youth websites - providing games, activities, and other online fun in a safe environment.
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