Subscriptions
Money that supports local and national guiding
At Girlguiding, the terms ‘subs’ and ‘annual subscription’ usually refer to 2 different things.
Every year, Girlguiding collects an annual subscription – historically referred to as ‘census’ – to run our charity at a national level. Countries and regions, counties, districts and divisions will add an additional fee to this – called a ‘levy’ – to support guiding in their local area. This annual subscription is paid by both volunteers and girls.
Alongside this, local units collect ‘subs’ from young members – often on a weekly, monthly or termly basis. Unit subs pay for running costs - including buying resources - or for events and activities. The unit might choose to collect funds to cover the annual subscriptions in these regular subs too, or they might just ask parents for a one-off payment each year.
On these pages, you’ll find information about how our annual subscription process runs – and how you can make the most out of your unit subs.
Changes to subscriptions
From the 2027 annual subscriptions process, there will no longer be a subscription cost for adult volunteers.
Read more about the changes.
