Girlguiding UK has recognised that more and more young people go away for periods of time as a peer group without an adult present, or a single person nominated to be in charge. In practice, this has also been happening for many years under the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Therefore, from January 2004, Senior Section Peer Group Residentials have been introduced to enable this type of event to happen.

So, whether it is camping in your friend’s garden, going to a weekend concert or staying in a youth hostel during a weekend shopping trip, the Senior Section Peer Group Residential is for you.

The scheme requires participants to undertake training as a group, complete the required forms and appoint a supervisor to meet up with the group every 24 hours to make sure everyone is safe and happy. These are all detailed in full in the guidelines (you can download these from this page). The Peer Group Residentials can take place anywhere in the UK, so you do not have to stay in your own County, but instead look wider and explore what else is out there!

The Leader(s) with overall responsibility for the event will be the Senior Section Leader. This could be a Unit Leader or District/Division/County Senior Section Leader, depending on the make-up of the group, or a Camp or Holiday Licence Holder. The Licence Holder may also be the Senior Section Leader, in which case only one person has responsibility for the event. Neither the Senior Section Leader nor the Licence Holder is expected to be the supervisor for the event.

The supervisor may or may not be a member of Girlguiding UK. They must, however, complete the relevant procedures to ensure they are cleared to have contact with members of Girlguiding UK – in an emergency situation they could be left in a one-to-one situation with a young person. They also have to be within 30 minutes travelling time of the group. Their responsibilities are defined in the guidelines detailed below.