Girls influencing policy

We help girls make change by giving them a platform to influence decision makers

Our young members have helped influence government to make some amazing changes that are improving the lives of young people across the UK.

As part of Future Girl, our vision for a better world, we're campaigning for:

Girls making change

Downing street

In 2019, members of our Advocate panel visited Downing Street to talk to Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, about the changes girls want to see – including why the government must take action on plastic pollution.

Downing street

Party conferences

Every year, young members from our Advocate panel attend the political party conferences to talk to politicians about the things that matter to them most. They tell them about key issues for young people and what change they want to see to make girls' and young women's lives better. 

Party conferences 2019

How your unit can get involved

Did you know you can invite your local MP to visit your unit? Lots of units have invited their MPs so far and you can do this too with these easy steps:

  1. Find out who your MP is and how to contact them
    Visit the UK Parliament website and enter your unit’s postcode to find your MP. Click on their name for their contact information.
  2. Send them an invitation
    Check out our template invite letter for ideas on what to say.
  3. Let us know if they accept
    If your MP accepts your invitation, contact Leah Widdicombe, External Affairs Lead on [email protected]. She can provide you with guidelines to send to your MP on what they can expect.
  4. Learn more
    Check out our guidelines on hosting an MP at your unit. For Parliament Week 2018, girls did everything from holding their own referendums to meeting local MPs to visiting Parliament.

Parliament week 2019

Parliament Week 2019 gave girls the chance to explore politics and democracy to empower them to get involved. This year over 4,300 units took part involving nearly 113,000 girls! They ran mock elections, learned about what goes on in Parliament and debated pertinent political issues including Girlguiding’s Plastic Promise campaign. Some units even had their local MP attend!

Girls making a difference

Young leader qualification

Develop your leadership skills while supporting a local unit with the young leader qualification

Girls Matter

Girls in guiding spoke out at the 2015 General Election and your voices have made real change happen

#iwill

Girls are leaders in promoting social action through the #iwill campaign

Peer education

We train young members to lead fun, interactive sessions on important topics, like mental wellbeing and body confidence

Campaigning at Girlguiding

Girls like you are a powerful force for change. You can lead campaigns to improve the lives of all young people