Ways of volunteering
All the different ways you can make a difference by volunteering for Girlguiding
There are lots of fun and flexible ways to get involved in guiding.
Help give girls the space to discover their potential. Girlguiding can mean something different for everyone. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from. Because together, we can make a big difference and help inspire girls.
Whatever your skills and interests, whether it’s volunteering with girls directly or supporting behind the scenes, there’s a role to suit you and what you’d like to give. There's no set formula for how you volunteer in any of our roles, they’re designed to be flexible according to the time and commitment you want to give.
Take a look at the ways you can get involved below and then find and register for a volunteer opportunity near you. One of our local volunteers will get in touch. They can tell you more about guiding in your local area and you can tell them what you’d like to do and how much time you’ve got to spare. They’ll then help you find the right volunteer role for you.
If you can't find an opportunity that looks right, you can still get involved by expressing your interest to volunteer here.
Volunteer with girls locally
Helping out with girls at regular meetings
At the heart of guiding are the unit meetings that girls go along to regularly in their community. Units are local Girlguiding groups. Volunteering at unit meetings means getting stuck in, meeting new people and being part of your unit volunteer team to run fun and inspiring activities that help girls know they can do anything. In a unit-based role with girls, you’ll volunteer directly with young people and can choose to join groups of girls of different age groups between 4 and 18 years in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides or Rangers. Unit meetings are usually once a week for around an hour.
Our main unit-based roles with girls include our unit leader, unit helper, young leader and young external volunteer roles. Together, they make up the unit team. They work together to run regular groups, building lasting friendships, learning new skills and giving girls a space to have fun and adventure.
Leaders run the unit, lead the team of volunteers, and plan and deliver a programme of awesome activities. Often a group of leaders share the responsibility. If you'd like to become a leader, you'll be supported to complete our leader development programme. You'll have training on everything from planning activities to child safety. Our leaders help girls uncover their potential; without them our units wouldn’t exist!
As a helper there's no responsibility for planning, but you'll be the extra pair of hands needed to make unit meetings happen; from grabbing the perfect biscuits to cheering the loudest when a girl smashes that long-term goal.
Helping out with girls for under 18s
Our unit-based volunteer roles with girls aren’t just for adults. Our young volunteer roles play a vital part in the unit team, inspiring younger girls while levelling up their skills. We’ve got roles to suit all ages and interests. You can get involved as a Rainbow or Brownie helper from age 10 upwards, help as part of your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award from 13 or become a young leader or peer educator from 14. Find a volunteer opportunity for under 18s near you.
Helping out with girls at one-off events or activities
Being that flag-waving, cake-baking, den-building volunteer takes a special kind of person. We have roles that are completely ad-hoc, and having an extra pair of hands putting on events for girls or trips – near or far - can make a real difference. Register to volunteer for us and one of our wonderful local volunteers can give you more information about one-off opportunities in your area.
Support girls from behind the scenes
There are plenty of ways you can make an impact in a supporting role that don’t involve working directly with girls, whether that’s digitally or on an ad-hoc basis. No commitment is too small – every role is vital to running guiding locally and inspiring girls.
These roles are perfect for you if you can’t give time every week, want to help casually or are keen to share a specific skill or passion.
You might support other volunteers in your area, help us attract new members, take charge of the shopping list or secure supplies for local group meetings. You could deliver training sessions to volunteers or take on the accounts or admin for a unit. Or maybe you’ll plan a camping trip, share the trips action shots on your unit's social media or cut grass and help maintain your local guiding building!
Whatever your skills, lifestyle and interests, there’s no set remedy to making guiding happen. Search for volunteer opportunities behind the scenes, and have a chat with one of our wonderful local volunteers to find the right role for you.
Volunteer for us
Want to get involved? Find a volunteer opportunity and join our fantastic network of volunteers.