Welcome to 4, an exciting initiative that’s all about working ‘4wards, 4 self, 4 others’.  It’s moving ‘4wards’ from the previous peer education projects, providing personal development ‘4 self’, and training and ideas ‘4 others’.

4 was launched in September 2003 and is open to all Senior Section members. 4 was created and is run by a group of Senior Section members, who are involved in running the trainings, writing the training materials and planning what happens next!

Peer education is about learning from each other – similar people sharing knowledge and information with one another. In the Girlguiding UK context, a peer is a person who is the same age, or belongs to or works with the same section, or who has a similar guiding role to you.

There are many different ways that you can get involved with 4 – it depends on what you already know about peer education or how much time that you’ve got to give.  The 4 different levels of 4 training are:

Tasters 

Designed to be ‘have a go’ activities, find a basic peer education activity from existing resources and try it out with peers.  For example: Mind Out for Mental Health, All About Me, Girls get Real, Right Directions, Action on AIDS

Basic

If you decide to go further. Trainings will be available at national level and may also be run at a Country, Region or County level. This is a two-day training with two basic topics included. Once you’ve been on a Basic Training, you’ll be called an In4mer.

Refresher

For those who have taken some time out of peer education, after time at university, for example. Refreshers are also for those who were peer educators previously – a way to understand the new type of peer education. A weekend training is recommended before taking part in the new initiative.

Topics

One-day training. These are to provide background knowledge on a specific topic for example, media or bullying.  Participants should have attended a basic or refresher training before coming to these. Three different topics will be offered each year. 

Advanced

A pre-requisite of attending an advanced training is to have at least 18 months practical experience and to have delivered sessions for different sections on a variety of topics. The advanced training is designed to prepare participants to be able to train new In4mers and others, including Patrol Leaders, Sixers and Seconds to be In4mers within their own peer groups.

So if you are a group of Senior Section members who hear about ‘4’ and want to know or do more, try a taster activity together in your normal meeting and see how you get on.

Older Guides can try a taster activity to see if they would be interested in belonging to the Senior Section.

A Senior Section member who hears about ‘4’ can find a taster activity to try in guiding magazine,  in the December 2003 edition and future editions, on the activities page of the website, or by asking to borrow a book from their local Senior Section Leader.

Someone who has participated in a taster activity and enjoyed it, may think that she wants to go further – and will apply for a basic training.

A group of Senior Section members may identify a need in their area, and then decide that a peer education project is the best way to meet that need – and all decide to undergo the basic training before they work on the project.

Former peer educators can join 4 at any point – they’ll need to go to a refresher
or basic training to renew their skills and to learn how the initiative works. They can also go to a topic training that interests them prior to that and then do the basic or refresher training afterwards.

Want to know more?

If you’d like to attend a training – then please check the news pages on the Senior Section website.

Another good person to contact is your County Co-ordinator or Senior Section
Adviser – they may know of other In4mers in your area, who are also
interested in getting involved, or of existing projects that are already up and running.

Have a look around this website, especially on the Frequently Asked Questions page.
If you still have any questions please email SeniorSection@girlguiding.org.uk .

Activities The following activities are designed to give you a chance to have a taster of some basic 4 activities and to discover the common peer education techniques.