#iwill

Activism is part of Girlguiding's DNA, so we played a key role in the #iwill campaign by getting girls involved in youth social action in the UK.

As a girl in Girlguiding, it's likely that you’ll already be doing social action through community action, peer education, fundraising or by using your voice to influence change.

About the #iwill campaign

#iwill is a UK-wide campaign helping more young people make a difference in their communities through social action, including activities like campaigning, fundraising and volunteering.

Youth social action has a double benefit – it helps build communities and develops character strengths and life skills in young people. Many business, education, voluntary and public sector organisations have pledged to spread the word about the benefits of youth social action and create more opportunities for young people to get involved.

Find out more about #iwill.

Our commitments to the Power Of Youth Charter

Girlguiding believes that all children and young people should be empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their lives, their communities and broader society.

So we adopted this Charter and committed to growing the power of youth in the following areas:

Prioritise supporting young people to take social action

We create opportunities that empower more young people, particularly those from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds, to be positive changemakers.

• Our programme and operations: we’ve released activities under 1 of our core programme themes, take action. They’ve enabled and empowered girls to have a say in the world around them, have the confidence to raise their voice and be inclusive advocates for change. We‘ve supported girls to take part in additional activities that involve volunteering and community action, including Duke of Edinburgh awards and our Queen’s Guide award.
• In communities and society: we’ve been delivering programmes that empower girls to be positive changemakers and influence decision makers, including our UK youth panels. We’ve continued to build partnerships and create opportunities for girls and young women to fundraise for causes they care about, at UK, national, regional and unit level. We’re also continued to support girls to make positive change on the issues they tell us they care about most, including as part of our Future Girl manifesto.

Open up our decision-making structures

We offer opportunities for young people to participate in decision-making, leading and shaping both the activities they’re involved in and wider organisational decisions. This is particularly for those from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds.

• Co-production: since 2021, we’ve worked with our girl insight pool, girl steering group and specialist volunteers to ensure that our offer to girls is co-created and collaborative. We’ve continued to work with our youth panels to guide us in our research and external affairs work.
• Voice and leadership: since 2021, we’ve developed unit level activities that promote and support giving girls voice and decision-making responsibility week on week as they meet in guiding. We’ve continued to build on our young leader qualification, which is designed to help young people take an active, positive role in running a Rainbow, Brownie or Guide unit and give them leadership skills for life.
• Best practice: since 2021, we’ve developed our best practice and co-produced new guidance for staff on how to deepen girls’ meaningful engagement in the range of our work in an inclusive way.
• Governance: girls continue to have an opportunity to join the decision-making groups and forums that govern projects and programmes. Also, we’re committed to keeping young people engaged in the overall governance of our charity, including at trustee board level. We’ve recruited young women as trustees and will continue to do this in future.

Work collaboratively with other organisations

We continue to work with other organisations to create more high-quality opportunities and reach young people from low income and ethnic minority backgrounds. Together, we share learning and achieve shared goals.

• Corporate partnerships: we work with corporate partners, funders and expert partners to increase our ability to reach more girls and young women with a focus on reaching girls in areas of deprivation.
• Sector partnerships: we’ve been working with our British Youth Council delegation, supporting young people to have a say and be heard in the UK. We continue to work with partners, such as the Back Youth Alliance, to raise the profile of the youth sector and its invaluable offer in supporting young people to take action. We continue to work collaboratively with expert partners in areas we feel are underrepresented within guiding, to ensure we are supporting the needs of all members and to deliver our promise on diversity and inclusion.
• Parliamentary partnerships: we continue to work with and influence decision makers. We do this at Westminster and in the devolved parliaments to ensure girls’ voices are heard on the issues that affect them, including in response to Covid-19.
• Global partnerships: we continue to work with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to support girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world.

Evidence the benefits of youth social action

We capture and share insights, stories and data on how we’re working with young people, and the positive impact this has on them, their communities and our organisation. We also continue to:

• Track and record social action activity by young members and the impact it has on communities across the UK. And, show the power of this youth social action through our communications.
• Seek insight into girls’ and young women’s views on social action and the issues affecting them through our annual Girls’ Attitudes Survey.
  
  

Recognise and celebrate young people’s impact

We use our communication channels to advocate for and celebrate young people as positive and powerful changemakers. We continue to:

• Provide on- and offline platforms for young people to make their voice heard and tell their stories of social action and change.
• Strive to ensure our content is diverse and representative of girls and young women across the UK.
• Always celebrate our young members who are doing great work in their communities through recognition in guiding and publicly in the media and online.

Why diverse voices matter

As part of our Space To Grow Together project with the Scouts, we sat down with Guiding Advocate Francoise and Scouts youth commissioner Mathew to talk about the importance of diverse voices. This project was funded by the Pears #iwill fund.