Holiday guiding

Make guiding more accessible in your area by running a unit in the school holidays.

In many counties, waiting lists sometimes mean that potential members may not be placed in a unit until they are nearly old enough to join the next section.

One way to ensure more girls are given the opportunity to be a part of guiding is by opening a holiday unit. Instead of running a weekly unit, a term’s worth of programme is condensed and run during one week of the school holidays. This could be in the summer, Christmas, Easter or even half term holidays.

Take a look at our guide to starting a new unit for advice on registering your unit.

How do I run holiday guiding?

Recruit volunteers - liaise with other volunteers in your area to see if they would like to be involved with the holiday unit. You could also reach out to students who are looking for a new responsibility during the holidays.

Plan your programme - make sure the programme you offer covers all elements of a standard programme and the Five Essentials. It's important that all participants experience the best that guiding can offer.

Invite girls - work with your local commissioner to invite girls from waiting lists. Don’t forget to make sure that there are enough adults to meet the correct ratios if the group is leaving the meeting place.

As you will be running a term's worth of activities, explain to parents what you have included in the programme and don't be afraid to charge subs to reflect this. Make sure you are able to cover the running costs of the programme.

Run your holiday unit - the programme structure is up to you, but below is an example of what a week of holiday guiding might look like. You may want to include an activity related to the Promise on each day, if girls will be making their Promises at the end of the week.