A new way to tell our story

Girlguiding has grown over 110 years of rich history to all corners of the UK, and around the world. We’re all proud to give girls a space to be themselves and help them know they can do anything.  

But we’ve been struggling. Our membership numbers have been going down and we’ve stopped growing. We have an exciting programme, unforgettable adventures in our different sections, and incredible volunteers who make it all possible. But we don’t always look or sound united, like a family. In short, we’re surviving. But we’re not thriving. We need to do something now to protect Girlguiding and make sure we’re here for girls now, and in the future.  

So we’re doing something about it. 

Volunteers and staff have been working together on a project and looking at what’s getting in the way of Girlguiding growing. They found out two key things: 

Public awareness of guiding is low

We all know the positivity guiding brings to girls and the incredible work that volunteers do. But the public doesn’t. Around a third of people know our biggest two sections, Brownies (38% of people) and Guides (31% of people). For Rainbows it’s 16% of people. And the awareness is much lower for Rangers and Girlguiding (around 0%). 

We’re not attracting new people at the levels we normally would, and so we need to evolve and find a way to clearly explain who we are and what we do.  

The Girlguiding we all know and love looks a bit outdated

We’re sometimes thought of as outdated by the public. The way we look and talk isn’t joined up around the country, you’ll hear and see different versions of guiding depending on where you are, so we can come across a bit muddled. This makes it harder to tell people who we are and attract new people. We need to be a family. We need a united way of saying and showing who we are and why we exist.  

We carried out research with girls, parents and volunteers for two years. We looked at how Girlguiding talks and looks, and asked current and potential members what they think.  

In other words, we’ve looked at how we can refresh our brand – how Girlguiding talks and looks. And the impact that will have on guiding. 

A refreshed brand will make it easier to explain the magic of guiding – what we do and why – so it’s easy for the public to understand. 

It’ll make it easier for Girlguiding to appeal to new people, so we can recruit new volunteers and girls, and promote guiding. We’ll be seen more as a family – from Rainbows to Rangers – and we’ll tell our story in new ways. This should help us keep girls in guiding longer and there’ll be new tools for volunteers to use to talk about what we do clearly and easily. And it all answers one of the goals set out in Girlguiding’s 2020 strategy – ‘Let’s be more inclusive and make a bigger impact’. 

What’s changing and when? 

Guiding must evolve with the lives of girls, as we’ve always done.  

So our trustees, chief guide and directors decided to make some exciting updates: 

• In early 2023 Girlguiding will refresh its brand, like how we talk and look. 
• There’ll be new brand templates, guidelines, and logos for you to use. There will be fresh new colours, and every section will have its own way of telling people what they do for the first time.  
• Change will happen gradually over two years from early 2023, starting with some new giftware and updated marketing materials for volunteers to use. There’ll be no changes to uniform until autumn 2026. 

What’s not changing? 

The bones of guiding is what makes it so special, so lots won’t change.  

• The programme will remain the same and our mission, vision and values.  
• Our Promise will be the same, along with the songs you sing in meetings. 
• Uniform isn’t changing right now. That’ll happen in 2026, and there’ll be a changeover period for uniform too. 
• Our names aren’t changing. We’re still Girlguiding and our sections are Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers. We’ll still have a Girlguiding logo and a trefoil, but there’ll be updates to how these look. 

What do I need to do now? 

You don’t need to do anything just yet.  

More information will be released over the next six months until launch. We now have six months where we can all work together to make this a big, brilliant moment for Girlguiding. There’ll be plenty of advice and help along the way so you can work out what this means for you.  

And early 2023 is just the beginning. This will be when we start, and then there’s two years to change over to the refreshed brand. But if you’re excited to use it as soon as you can, there’ll be lots of materials for you to get your hands on when we launch too. 

This is a new journey for Girlguiding, and it’s one we’re all on together. Girlguiding has done so much for so many girls, and the aim of this project is to help it reach so many more. It’ll help recruitment, engaging with parents, speaking to the public, and there’ll be lots of exciting new products for members too.  

If you have any questions please check back on the website, more information will be released over the next six months. We're excited to be on this journey with you, so we continue to help all girls know they can do anything at Girlguiding.