April's chief guide team update

The sun is shining whilst I write this, and it's made me reflect on my own wellbeing and how my volunteering life is a busy one.

I asked myself the question: how do I look after my wellbeing? So, it's my question to you all too.

Do we take time to pause and just be? Personally, I just love to be outdoors, whether that’s a stroll around the block, a walk (with walking boots!), or just to sit and take in the moment. 

Recently I had an adventure with my own Guide unit, taking them away to beautiful Hautbois House in Norfolk, owned by Girlguiding Anglia. We all had a great time, myself included. We were outdoors for most of it, and lucky to experience good weather. As part of a small group I had the opportunity to participate in some of the activities too. In particular, I loved the zip wire, archery, bushcraft and canoeing. I hadn’t had the opportunity to do canoeing for a while and realised how much I missed it. Being out on the water and close to nature just made me smile and feel good.

Taking our girls away is just one way to develop their confidence, sense of adventure and try something new! It’s also a way we can support their wellbeing - by exploring nature. Our research shows that girls in Girlguiding are up to 23% more confident than girls in the UK on average. Building resilience through getting outdoors is just one of the factors contributing to this.

Throughout our programme we have many resources to explore this topic, encouraging our young members to take care, and take a moment to pause. Our be well theme explores this, as do interest badges like healthy mind for Rainbows, mindfulness for Brownies, meditation and personal brand for Guides, self-care for Rangers, and looking after you for our young leaders.

For us adult volunteers and members of our staff teams, we also need to take care and look after ourselves too. So, whatever you’re doing at the moment, whatever role you have, take time for you to look after yourself. And where possible just take a pause, and enjoy a moment for yourself.

Take care and keep smiling,

Tracy