Celebrating 15 years of our advocate panel

In celebration of International Youth Day, we're launching a special video to celebrate 15 years of giving girls a voice through our advocate panel.

Watch this video to hear from Girlguiding members past and present who've been advocates over the years. From Leah who was on the first ever advocate panel in 2009, all the way to present day advocates. Find out what we've achieved together.

Thank you to advocates past and present who took part in this video – in order of appearance: Abiee (joined panel in 2015), Aishah (2024), Hannah B (2024), Juliet (2017), Amanda (2019), Ellan (2022), Sophie (2016), Grace (2023), Alice (2019), Maria (2014), Staci (2024), Maddie (2019), Larissa (2014), Leah (2009), Hannah (2022), Lucy F (2023), Hannah-Ruth (2024), Charlotte C (2023), Charlotte F (2015), Hilary (2024), Emma D (2018), and Millie (2023).

These are just a selection of over 200 advocates and British Youth Council delegates over the years – thank you to everyone who's been a part of the panel to raise your voice on behalf of girls across the UK.

Why was the advocate panel first set up?

The advocate panel was set up in 2009 to empower more Girlguiding members to help shape our research into girls’ opinions on issues that affect them. Back then, our research was called ‘Girls Shout Out!’, and it only surveyed Girlguiding members. Now, our annual Girls’ Attitudes Survey polls girls outside of guiding too, so we have a better idea of how different issues affect girls across the UK. This helps us encourage politicians to make changes that will make all girls’ lives better.

The panel was also an opportunity for girls to learn skills to speak directly to politicians and the media about issues affecting them - because girls are the experts in speaking out for girls.

What are some of the key achievements of the advocate panel over the years?

2009

The panel had its first meeting in September 2009. Together, they decided on the name ‘Advocate!’, agreed how they should work together as a group, and contributed to that year’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey. They also attended their first ever party conferences this year!

2010

After the launch of our airbrushing campaign at a camp celebrating our centenary, our advocates delivered a 25,000-signature strong petition to 10 Downing Street urging then prime minister David Cameron to make it compulsory for airbrushed images to be labelled in magazines and on billboards.

2011

Advocates Gemma and Jess interviewed then equalities minister Lynne Featherstone on things like airbrushing, being heard as a woman in Parliament, and body confidence.

2012

Advocates spoke out in the media, at party conferences, and to MPs on a variety of issues – including votes at 16, body confidence, and children’s mental health.

2013

Advocates were behind our decision to back the No More Page Three campaign, which called for the Sun newspaper to stop the use of topless models. Advocates asked Girlguiding members aged 16 to 25 to vote on whether they thought Girlguiding should support the campaign, and 88% agreed. They later released a powerful statement calling for the “disrespectful and embarrassing” convention to be ended, because “women are not for sale”.

The No More Page Three campaign said they were “thrilled” that Girlguiding's young members supported the campaign, which got support from people across the UK and politicians from different parties. In January 2015, The Sun's UK print editions finally stopped running Page 3 topless models after more than 44 years.

2014

Advocates spoke out on our #BeBodyConfident campaign that aimed to unite young people in a body confident revolution. Running alongside the launch of our ‘Free being me’ peer education programme, the campaign empowered girls to be body confident and boost their self-esteem.

2015

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, advocates put together 8 calls for change for our Girls Matter campaign. Their campaigning meant that sexual harassment in schools became a headline issue and age-verification for online pornography sites later became law. The Girls Matter campaign was backed by over 10% of cross-party MPs and over 5,000 members of the public.

2016

Girlguiding advocates launched an online petition calling on the government to take action to end sexual harassment in schools, and asked for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to be made compulsory in all schools.

2017

Following campaigning from Girlguiding advocates and others, a new law called the Children and Social Work Act 2017 made it compulsory for all primary schools in England to teach relationships education, and all secondary schools to teach relationships and sex education.

In another campaign win for Girlguiding, another new law – the Digital Economy Act 2017 – made it a requirement for online pornography sites to require age verification.

2018

In 2018, Girlguiding celebrated with other women’s charities and organisations the 100-year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918. Advocates spoke about the significance of the centenary and set out our Vote 100 asks, calling for a gender equal parliament and an improved political education system so girls and young women feel informed. We also launched a special commemorative badge to mark the occasion.

2019

Members of the panel visited Downing Street to talk to then prime minister, Boris Johnson, about Future Girl; which was the biggest ever manifesto for change led by girls, and was shaped by 76,000 Girlguiding members outlining the changes girls wanted to see in the world.

As part of Future Girl, we launched our #PlasticPromise campaign, the biggest ever girl-led campaign to tackle plastic pollution. The campaign invited Girlguiding members along with their friends, family, politicians and the public to make a #PlasticPromise to commit to a simple but meaningful lifestyle change to help reduce single-use plastic.

2020

Girlguiding advocates wrote an open letter to the prime minister, asking for him to hold a dedicated press conference to answer children and young people’s questions about Covid-19.

2021

Advocates spoke out in the media about Girlguiding’s research revealing the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns on girls and young women’s wellbeing. And following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, advocates spoke out in the media about catcalling, and women and girls feeling unsafe in public.

2022

To mark Safer Internet Day, advocates staged a stunt outside Parliament – standing outside the iconic building with a giant badge saying ‘Online harm is real harm. End it now’. They then spoke alongside MPs and experts at a Girlguiding event inside Parliament, to share our research about girls’ experiences online. Advocates were also interviewed by the media following the death of our Patron, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

2023

Advocates helped launch Girlguiding’s new brand on International Women’s Day, taking part in a media stunt about gender stereotypes. They also met with the minister for women to discuss issues facing girls and young women in the UK today. Advocates spoke at an event in London to launch our partnership with Dove, calling for social media to be made safer for young people, and spoke at an event in Parliament with Maria Miller MP about making RSE more inclusive. They were also lucky enough to attend a private screening of the King’s Coronation, and the WAGGGS World Conference in Cyprus!

After years of advocates’ campaigning to make girls safer online and in public, at the end of 2023 we celebrated 2 new laws - the Online Safety Act 2023, which introduced more protections for children online, and the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023, which made sexual harassment in public places illegal.

2024

So far in 2024, advocates were involved in developing our manifesto ahead of the general election, which called for the next government to take action on 4 key areas; girls’ safety, cost-of-living, mental health and the environment. They also spoke at our manifesto launch event in Parliament, which was attended by MPs from different parties and chaired by Kim Leadbeater MP.

Since the election, advocates have met Lisa Nandy MP, the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport, and spoke at an event with our partners ODEON about women in the film industry. They’re currently gearing up to attend party conferences in Autumn and to launch this year’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey!

What it’s like to be a member of the advocate panel

Former NUS president Larissa Kennedy speaking about her time as a Girlguiding advocate, said:

“I absolutely loved that as the advocate panel we worked together from across the four nations of the UK, and came together with our different perspectives and our different lived experiences.

“Being an advocate teaches you how to go out into the world as a campaigner, knowing that you can collaborate with people to make something happen and make a difference.”

Current Girlguiding advocate Charlotte, 17, said:

“I think one of the biggest benefits of being on the advocate panel is the confidence you get. I tell myself ‘you’re an advocate, you can do this! You walk into that room and tell those MPs what you think’. That confidence comes from the training and the experiences we receive.”

How you can get involved

Let us know if you’d like to be a member of the advocate panel, and we can send you updates so that you’ll be the first to know when we start recruiting new advocates!

You can also email [email protected] to find out more about what the advocates do, and how you can work with them in your local area to help more Girlguiding members to speak out and make change.