Code of conduct

Page last updated 2 April 2025.
See change log for recent updates to this webpage.

Girlguiding volunteers and adult members have a responsibility to help girls and young women reach their full potential through great guiding experiences.  

Everyone plays a part - whether you’re working directly with young members or supporting adults in Girlguiding. 

This policy applies to all volunteers and adult members in Girlguiding. It explains what’s expected of you at all times. It sets out expectations for how you interact with others in your Girlguiding role, including volunteers, staff, girls, and their parents or carers. You must also follow it when interacting with members of the public, other organisations and the media.

Our glossary lays out a few definitions of key terms that are used across our policies - take a look. 

Your Girlguiding code of conduct

The code of conduct supports you by making your responsibilities clear. Following it will help you check that you're doing the right thing, in the right way. It’s a reminder of your commitment to Girlguiding’s mission, promise and values: to be caring, challenging, empowering, fun, inclusive and inspiring. 

You must always:

• Follow the policies and procedures relevant to your role and stay up to date on any changes. 
• Be a good role model by behaving in line with our values and the promise.
• Be responsible and accountable in the way you perform your role.
• Make Girlguiding a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. Be fair and treat everyone with respect and dignity in line with the equality and diversity policy.
• Communicate in an open and respectful way, whether face-to-face, by phone, in writing or online.
• Work together with young members, their parents or carers and members of the public to promote Girlguiding's mission and values.

You must not:

• Act fraudulently or dishonestly.
• Do anything which brings, or is likely to bring, guiding into disrepute, or have a negative impact on guiding or its reputation. 

What happens if I don't follow the code?

Where someone doesn’t follow the code, it's known as a breach. If someone believes you've acted in a way that breaches the code of conduct, they’re entitled to let us know. If you think you might have breached the code of conduct, please get in touch with your local commissioner or the relevant HQ team for support. 
 
We manage breaches of this policy by adult volunteers and adult members under our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy and procedure.

Change log

• April 2025 – updated version published. It’s been refreshed and updated in line with our tone of voice guidelines. Expectations around complying with UK laws and guidance and delivering the Girlguiding programme have been moved to the adult volunteers and adult members policy. In line with the processes for low-level concerns, we’ve added that if you think you’ve breached the code of conduct, you should get in touch with your local commissioner or the relevant HQ team.