Young external volunteer

You can become a young external volunteer at Girlguiding and do your volunteering section of your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award with us.  

Volunteering with us is a fantastic way to build confidence and grow skills whilst working on your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (or other similar award). You can make a difference in the lives of girls however long you volunteer with us. 

This role is open to all genders.  

Take the first steps to becoming a young external volunteer and sign up here. 

What’s it all about? 

You’ll get involved to help run fun weekly meetings with our adult leaders, where girls explore things that really matter in their lives. You could be building dens with 6-year-olds, discovering the wonders of space with 9-year-olds, or helping 12-year-olds create their own campaign. Find out more about our programme.   

You can set your own goals for your time with us – anything is possible!  

How can I get involved?

You can choose where you want to make a difference. 

• Enjoy the wonderful excitement of Rainbows aged 4-7 who are full of curiosity and energy  
• Help to develop a love for adventure and new challenges with Brownies aged 7-10. 
• Foster independence and broaden horizons with Guides aged 10-14  

What will I do?

Not sure what you want to do? No problem, you can visit a couple of groups and see which you enjoy most!  

Just some of the great things you can do as a young external volunteer are: 

• Going to weekly group (unit) meetings and supporting girls to do activities from the Girlguiding programme
• Working with the leadership team to plan and run activities and games, adapting them for the needs of the whole group
• Supporting less confident girls to take part in activities  
• Sharing your own skills, experiences and ideas to inspire and be a role model for younger girls

Who can do this role? 

Anyone aged 13-17 who is working towards an externally recognised award can become a young external volunteer. You don’t have to be female. You can volunteer for the time you need to complete the volunteering section of the award.  

You may be completely new to Girlguiding or have been involved when you were younger. If you used to be a Rainbow, Brownie or Guide you could return to your previous unit or try somewhere new.  

You'll need to enjoy working with kids or young people and commit to going to meetings regularly.  We understand people get busy, so if you need to take a break just have a chat with the unit leaders about how much time you can give.

Growing your skills 

No matter how long you volunteer for, you’ll get to develop your skills in loads of areas: 

• Planning 
• Organisation 
• Delivering activities 
• Behaviour management 
• Including everyone 
• Teamwork 
• Taking responsibility for yourself and others 

You’ll get to spend time with some amazing young people who will make you laugh, boost your confidence and change the way you look at the world. It’s also just great fun! 

Make sure you talk to the leaders of the unit about the goals you want to set for your volunteering time, and work together to plan how you'll achieve these. Keep track of what you do if you need it for your award. And at the end of your volunteering period you can ask the leader to complete the assessors report and sign anything that's needed to show what you've achieved.    

How you’ll be supported 

You can use our welcome leaflet to help guide you through your first term. It contains a handy checklist about the key things you should find out when you join a unit, as well as explaining how to keep yourself and others safe.

There’s tasks to help you get involved with your new unit, and some reflection questions to think about when you come to the end of your volunteering period.

Download the welcome leaflet for young external volunteers.

If you’re 13, you won’t be able to log onto GO yet – so don’t worry about this! Speak to your unit leader about the safe space training you should do. 

Sign up and what happens next 

Sign up online and you’ll be put in touch with a volunteer in your local area who’ll help you get started. If you already know the group you want to help with, let them know and they’ll help get you volunteering.