How we keep your child safe

We take safeguarding seriously.

We have a dedicated national safeguarding team who work with our volunteers managing all allegations, concerns and disclosures following our safeguarding policy and procedures. If you need support with anything to do with safeguarding, or you have a concern, get in touch.

We check our volunteers 

We carry out compulsory recruitment checks for any adult volunteers who work directly with girls. This includes: 

• A criminal record check  
• Two personal references 
• A discussion between the potential volunteer and a senior volunteer who is responsible for the management of adult volunteers 

Volunteers are only accepted into Girlguiding if they pass our checks. 

We follow a code of conduct 

We expect all adults in Girlguiding to follow our code of conduct. This is a promise that all volunteers make to keep our membership safe and to act as a role model for girls and young women. 

We carefully train our volunteers 

All our volunteers have training on safety and safeguarding, including how to carry out risk assessments, respond in emergencies and handle child protection concerns. Everyone in guiding follows our safeguarding and digital safeguarding policies and procedures. 

We keep girls safe in, and outside of, the meeting place 

We make sure there are enough volunteers to look after girls, and that they're insured to cover all our activities. We carry out risk assessments in the meeting place, and on trips and residentials, to make sure we're as safe as possible. 

All adventurous activities - such as climbing, abseiling or kayaking - are run by qualified instructors. And volunteers also have to do a qualification before they take girls away for a residential trip. 

We keep girls safe online 

We provide opportunities for girls to learn digital skills in a fun and safe environment. And our digital discovery unit meeting activities help girls of all ages understand how to be safer online.

We welcome all girls

We’re here for people from all backgrounds, including disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, people of colour and those of all religions or philosophical beliefs and none.

If you have concerns 

If you're unhappy with anything about your daughter’s experience in guiding, please talk it through with her leader so that the situation can be resolved as quickly as possible. 

If you feel unable to raise your concerns with her leader, you can contact the local commissioner in your area, or get in touch with us.