In one year, girls spend equivalent of a century on Girlguiding’s new activities

Girlguiding celebrates the first year of its new programme, as girls embrace new badges and spend the equivalent of 106 years building skills for their future.

• Over 2 million new activities have been completed by girls in the first year of Girlguiding’s new programme.
• More than 122,000 new badges have been awarded to girls and young women across the UK over the past year.

In July 2018, Girlguiding updated its iconic badges and activities to create a new programme that reflects the world that girls live in today.

50,000 girls helped develop the programme, which helps girls and young women build essential skills for their future.

Badges like Hostess and Home skills have been retired. Girls can now choose from badges such as Digital design, Entrepreneur, Zero waste, Personal brand, Construction, Craftivism and Human rights. Girls in guiding of all ages choose which badges they want to complete, then work towards them at home.

Support from partners including Google, who co-created the Digital design badge, and easyJet, who sponsored the Aviation badge, have helped girls across the UK to learn new skills and have fun.

There are also over 600 new activities for girls to take part in during their weekly Girlguiding meetings. Girls have already spent almost one million hours learning new skills during the first year of the new programme. From ‘Find that tool’ (where Brownies learn DIY skills) to ‘Run the risk’ (in which Guides learn about investing money through games), there is something to inspire every girl.

Over the first year of the new programme:

• More than 2,000 Rainbows (age 5-7) have achieved the Healthy mind badge.
• More than 3,300 Brownies (age 7-10) have completed the Aviation badge.
• Over 1,000 Guides (age 10-14) have been awarded the Vlogging badge.
• The most popular skills builders – activities where girls learn more about skills linked to the 72 badges – centre on first aid, mental health and physical health.
• Self-care, Mixology, Animal lover and Baking are among the most popular badges.

The new programme has been phased in over the past twelve months. From September 2019, only the new badges and activities will be on offer.

Girlguiding Advocate Isla, 19, said:

I really love the new programme. The new badges are so relevant to modern girls’ lives, such as the Voting badge. It helps girls become more engaged with politics, which is so important for our futures.

I love seeing how the girls-only space empowers our members. It gives us a unique environment to grow in confidence and make friends that will stay with us for life.

Brownie Olivia, 8, said:

I like doing badges because I get to learn different skills and try new things. My favourite was the Inventing badge because I got to turn my drawing into a model. This inspired me to be more creative and has given me more confidence in my building skills.

I have learnt from doing the badges that I can have an impact on our environment by making petitions that everyone can sign. We can all make changes.

Brownie leader Giulietta said:

My unit jumped straight in with the new programme - it really gets them talking and working as teams. The girls always like having their opinions heard and there’s more space for that in this programme.

They loved doing Make Change activities and we had some great debates, like ‘Which is the better party food – cocktail sausages or crisps?’. I’ve seen girls do everything from Local history to Space and Charity badges. The wide variety is fantastic.

Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK. It opens up a world of exciting challenges to all girls aged 5 to 18, giving them the opportunity to explore new interests and build their confidence.

There are 100,000 Girlguiding volunteers across the UK. Anyone can get involved in Girlguiding and flexible volunteering means people can give as much or as little time as they wish.