Assistant chief guide Mhairi Mackay's May update
Mhairi writes about recent guiding highlights and our ambition for 2030 and beyond
These past few weeks have really highlighted our motto of 'Girls can do anything.'
I was lucky enough to attend the Downing Street tea party hosted right on the steps of Number 10 with 2 members of Amplify and one of our amazing advocates. We had a brilliant day alongside veterans, community groups, and other members of uniformed organisations. We were all very excited and the girls even got to sit opposite Keir Starmer – a very special afternoon indeed!
A group of Brownies were also visited by Jacqueline Wilson, and you might have also spotted our very own deputy chief guide Sally Kettle on BBC Breakfast! We’ve also had members interviewed as part of the VE Day parades, volunteers helping at the Buckingham Palace garden party, and attendees at the VE Day concert – phew! How fantastic is it that Girlguiding offers such once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to members?
But we know that we can always do more, and provide even more girls with amazing opportunities. Opportunities like the ones above, but also like the camps, trips, and activities we provide week on week to Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers. We know that this is where girls truly build confidence, friendships, and skills that stay with them for life – all thanks to you, our fantastic volunteers.
We want more girls to get those skills, and that’s why we’re launching our new strategy which will help us do just that.
Our ambition is that by 2030 we'll reach more girls, building their confidence when they need it the most, so more girls will know they can do anything. We will double in size by 2035, meaning 1 in 10 girls in the UK will be getting a Girlguiding experience.
So what will this look like? We’ll be looking at evolving our 11+ offer as we know and have heard from you that this is when girls need us the most! We’ll be working alongside partners and collaborators to reach more girls across the UK, especially in communities where there perhaps aren’t existing units already. And of course, we’ll be looking at your experience as volunteers and working alongside you to make it easy, flexible, and fit-for-the-future.
We’re not starting from scratch though. We’re already doing lots to ensure ‘girls can do anything' - from our brilliant programme (with newly updated badges!) to our work including girls in decision-making (like our fantastic youth steering group Amplify), to everything you deliver each week. I hope you’re as excited as I am about our new ambitions and keen to find out more.
We’re holding a strategy volunteer call on 21 May where we’ll go into more detail about our plans so far. Hope to see you there!
Register to join the call
Join our call for volunteers to learn about our ambition for 2030 and beyond, 'Girls can do anything'.
