Going away with scheme
Learn how to plan trips and ensure the safety of your girls away from home
Residential events are one of the highlights of guiding for many girls.
The going away with scheme is for any active leader who’d like to run overnight residentials for their girls. By completing the going away with scheme, you'll learn all about the practical elements of planning a residential - from health and safety to maintaining camping equipment.
The new going away with scheme is now online!
We’re excited to launch the new going away with scheme so that more leaders can take girls away on amazing residentials. It’s now available as a digital learning programme on the learning platform. Our aim is to make it accessible with a blend of elearning courses, offline tasks, mentor check-ins, FAQs, and a resource bank so that you have the knowledge to take girls away safely.
Who can complete the new scheme?
Volunteers who hold a leadership qualification (LQ) or leadership development programme (LDP) and are active leaders, advisers or commissioners. If you’re a leader in training, you’ll be able to access the scheme as soon as you’ve completed your LDP.
What if I already have the previous going away with scheme?
Volunteers who hold the previous going away with scheme (or historic equivalent) can view and complete the new content too. So, whether you’re a supporting role (mentor, adviser, trainer, or commissioner) or a going away with scheme holder and would like to see the elearnings, you can do so on the learning platform.
We tried out the new GAW scheme with a group of leaders from February – August 2025 and received great feedback. Check out what 2 of the leaders had to say.
How can I get started?
- Contact your local commissioner and let them know you’d like to do your going away with scheme so they can assign a mentor to you. You cannot complete the scheme without this. If you’re not sure who your local commissioner is, you can check on GO or ask a local leader.
- Log in to the learning platform and complete the going away with scheme sign up form. The scheme will then be automatically added to your GO record as ‘in progress’ within 24 hours.
- Start working through the elearning activities and make notes in your learners’ journal along the way. It’s available to download from the going away with scheme resource bank in the planning and admin section and will come in handy for conversations with your mentor and leadership team.
Have the courses changed?
New GAW scheme
Core courses
- Planning and admin
- Health and safety
- Programme
- Teamwork
- Venue management
Additional courses
- Camping
- Catering
- Outdoor cooking (launching 2026)
- Travelling abroad (launching 2027/8)
Top-up courses
- Programme
- Teamwork
- Venue management
For core and additional courses, a mentor, residential, visitor and verifier is required and will be assigned by the county.
Top-up courses are elearning activities only and suitable for those with the old GAW.
Old GAW scheme
Core modules
- Module 1: Planning
- Module 2: Admin
- Module 3: Safety and security
- Module 4: Health and first aid
Additional modules
- Module 5: Catering
- Module 6: Programme
- Module 7: Facilities
- Module 8: Camping
- Module 9: Travelling abroad
Other questions you might have
- If you’re a new learner, you’ll still need to speak with your local commissioner to do the scheme. You can self-enrol on the platform, but your county needs to know you’re doing it. This is so they can assign a mentor to you, someone to visit your residential, and verifier to sign off your submission. If you’re not sure who your local commissioner is, you can ask a local leader or check on GO.
- The topics and areas of focus remain the same. The process of running residentials hasn't changed either. The fundamental skills and knowledge that you need have been shaped into a digital format for effective learning and development. Trainers and advisers can still host support sessions to complement the online content. This can especially focus on local knowledge and practical advice such as, venue recommendations, dynamic risk assessments, pitching tents, and more.
- The minimum and maximum numbers remain the same. You’ll need a minimum of 8 girls for Rainbows, Brownies or Guides and a minimum of 4 girls for Rangers. The maximum for all sections is 24 girls. This is the same for the core scheme and additional courses and is to gain the qualification only. Once qualified, there isn’t a minimum or maximum involved.
- If you hold the old GAW, you won't need to take the qualification again. You can continue to run 1-night indoor residentials with modules 1-4. However, we encourage going through the elearning content to refresh your knowledge. You can also complete any of our additional or top-up courses. For example, if you have modules 1-4 and would now like to run a 2-night residential, you’ll need to complete our programme, teamwork and venue management courses.
- There are no more numbered modules. Instead, each area is referred to as a course. And the overall qualification is now known as the scheme, not license.
- Completing the new core scheme will allow you to take girls away for 1, 2, 3 or more nights, instead of just 1 night. The exception is Rainbows, which can be no longer than 1 night and 2 days from drop off time to pick up time.
- GAW is no longer section-specific. Once you gain the qualification, you can take any section away. This is as long as you complete the programme top-up course and ensure that at least 1 person on your leadership team has experience with that section. This applies to those who have completed the old GAW too. So, if you have a Brownie qualification and want to take Rangers away, for example, you’ll just need to complete the programme top-up course and ensure that at least 1 person on your leadership team has experience with Rangers.
- Our additional courses are great for leaders who either have the old or new GAW scheme but plan to run a camp and/or be responsible for catering. If you don’t have your module 5 (catering) or module 8 (camping) from the old scheme, you can complete these additional courses. If you’re completing the new scheme, you can do the additional courses at the same time or later down the line. In both cases, they’ll require speaking with your local commissioner first, getting a mentor assigned to you, having someone visit your residential, and then a verifier will sign off your submission.
- Our top-up courses are great for leaders who hold modules 1-4 from the old GAW scheme and want to be skilled in programme, teamwork (a new course), or venue management (previously facilities). You won’t need to speak with your commissioner, have a mentor or run a residential for these. But you’ll need to work through the elearning activities thoroughly.
- Outdoor cooking will be a brand-new additional course and will launch in 2026.
- Travelling abroad will launch in 2027/28. In the meantime, you can continue using the offline workbook to plan, run and qualify in taking girls on international residentials. This can be found at the back of the old GAW scheme.
- New learners will have their GAW core scheme automatically added onto GO once they complete the sign-up course. This will take up to 24 hours and will show as ‘in progress’. This is the same for additional courses. Once verified and signed off at the end, the status will update to ‘completed’ on GO.
- Top-up courses will show on GO only as ‘completed’ once the elearnings have been finished. As these don’t require a mentor, they won’t be added as ‘in progress’. This applies to new learners and anyone who has their GAW already.
- REN forms and the sign off process remain the same. If you’re visiting the residential, you can still authorise the RENs. But if you’re attending the residential as a participant, you won't be able to authorise the RENs. This will need to sit with the commissioner at the next level up instead.
- If you’ve already started the old GAW using the workbook, you can choose to continue or switch over to the new online scheme. Anyone using the workbook must have run their residential and have their qualification showing as ‘completed’ on GO by 30 November 2026. At this point, all material from the old scheme will be retired (except module 9 travelling abroad). And if your GAW (old scheme) doesn’t show as completed by 30 November 2026, it will be marked as abandoned and you’ll need to start on the new scheme.
You’ll find our full list of GAW FAQs on the learning platform. If you’re a new learner, head to the Help & FAQs page. If you’re a mentor, trainer, adviser or commissioner, head to the Supporting roles page.
