Girlguiding in the news 2024
Newsworthy moments from 2024
From seeing Girlguiding’s name lighting up Leicester Square to celebrating members on-the-ground in local press, here's a snapshot of our newsworthy moments in 2024.
We love seeing people spread the word about guiding. Here’s a snapshot of a few times we saw our brand name make the headlines. There's a lot more stories you might come across that aren't on this list too!
February 2024
Our new uniform
We started the year with exciting news about our new uniform! We teamed up with HemingwayDesign to kick off our new uniform project.
Check out what Dia and Khushi, a Brownie and a Guide, wanted to know when they met the Hemingway team.
See the uniform hub for the latest updates.
April 2024
Autism Acceptance Week
To mark Autism Acceptance Week, members shared what Girlguiding means to them and some of their stories were featured in the news.
- Brownie Skye and her mum shared the impact Girlguiding has had on her confidence as a girl with autism in The Star.
- In the same news article, unit helper Kacey who was diagnosed with autism at 10 years old spoke about what being a young leader means to her.
- Unit leader Bronwyn Powell featured in Southern Daily Echo talking about how guiding was a place she could relax and unmask.
London Marathon 2024
April was the London 2024 marathon and lots of members grabbed their running shoes in support of Girlguiding.
- Becky Stroud-King was a guest on the David Smith show for BBC Radio Gloucestershire talking about her London Marathon training on behalf of Girlguiding.
- Brownie leader Aileen Rice-Jones was interviewed on ITV News on behalf of her team trying to break the world record for running the marathon in a 10-person costume. She ran dressed as a Brownie!
- Guide leader Hannah featured in London News Online with her target of raising at least £4,000 for Girlguiding during her marathon training.
View this post on Instagram
Interested in learning more about running for Girlguiding? Check out our fundraising challenges.
Launch of our environmental plan
We made headlines in Charity Today when we launched our environmental commitment to halve carbon emissions by 2040.
Read more about our environmental plan.
May 2024
Our manifesto
Ahead of the UK general election, we published our manifesto called ‘For all girls: Girlguiding’s asks of the next government.’ It called on the government to meet the needs of girls in 4 key areas:
- Girls’ safety.
- Cost of living.
- Mental health.
- The environment.
Girls were joined in parliament by high-profile MPs and were supported on the day by celebrity broadcaster Ashley James.
View this post on Instagram
News of the manifesto launch reached over 247 news outlets including First News, the i newspaper, Daily Star, Sky News, Daily Mirror, and across charity titles such as Children & Young People Now.
We welcomed a new chair of the board of trustees
Passionate about empowering girls and young women, Denise Wilson OBE, a former Brownie and Guide, joined the board of trustees as chair, bringing a wealth of experience in promoting and advocating for women in leadership.
This announcement was picked up widely across national news including ITV News, The Independent, Evening Standard, and Charity Times.
June
Members made headlines for Volunteers’ Week
We were delighted to see so many members make headlines to celebrate Volunteers’ Week (3-9 June 2024) and the amazing work they do for their local communities.
- Dr Jodie Sabin featured in BBC News for her flexible volunteering work as a unit leader.
- Student volunteer, Holly, talks about volunteering flexibly alongside her studies in the Bath Echo.
- 2 young members were featured in print issues of First News and The Week Junior talking about the impact guiding and being a young leader means to them.
- Ellen Buttrick MBE, Gold paralympic rower and Brownie leader, was announced as a Girlguiding ambassador. Read about it in Henley Standard.
Check out everything else we did for Volunteers’ Week 2024.
July
A sneak peek of our Girls' Attitudes Survey
We launched a snapshot of our annual research in July which looked at our appearance pressures impact girls across the UK. We reached an estimated 94 million people with our coverage in:
- The Independent.
- Grazia.
- Daily Star.
- First News.
- Yorkshire Post.
The full research report was launched in October.
August 2024
Women in film roundtable in partnership with ODEON
Girlguiding and ODEON brought girls together with a panel of expert voices from across the film industry to discuss barriers facing women in the industry and to share inspiring stories and experiences at an exclusive roundtable event at ODEON Luxe West End.
Read more about our ODEON roundtable in the Metro.
Advice from ambassador Anna McNuff
Our favourite adventurer, Anna McNuff, and assistant chief guide Mhairi Mackay contributed their expert advice to help inspire potential new campers to give experiencing a night under the stars a go in The Guardian.
15 years of the advocate panel
We celebrated an important milestone of our advocate panel. Our advocates are a group of Girlguiding members aged 14-25 who take the lead in our politics and public affairs work. They do everything from meeting with MPs to speaking with the media and in Parliament.
Read about our 15 year celebration of advocates in Charity Today.
September 2024
Girlguiding Celebrates
Our red carpet event to celebrate volunteers and inspirational members secured 53 pieces of news coverage this year. That's a potential reach to over 24 million people! Here’s some of the highlights:
- Queen’s Guide Danielle made BBC News talking about being in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) career and how Girlguiding positively impacts her life.
- Laurel and Silver Fish award holders Hilary, Solange and Helen also featured in BBC News for their exceptional contributions to guiding.
- Guide leader Denice was nominated by mum Natasha to attend Girlguiding Celebrates for the impact she’s made on her daughter. Read about it in Sussex World.
View this post on Instagram
October 2024
Girls' Attitudes Survey
Our annual research shares a snapshot of girls’ lives today – what they care about, what they’re worried about and how they’re feeling. With our 16th issue of Girls’ Attitudes Survey, we reached a potential 94 million people through our press and media coverage in:
- ITV News throughout 11 regional channels across England.
- Good Morning Britain.
- The Guardian.
- Evening Standard.
- The Telegraph.
Thank you to all the girls across the UK who took part.
Girls' Attitudes Survey
Dig into the findings of our latest Girls' Attitudes Survey 2024
HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh announced as patron
In October, we announced that HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh is our new patron. The Duchess has been a passionate supporter of Girlguiding for many years since taking over the role of president from Princess Margaret in 2003.
You might’ve seen this news in:
In her first official engagement as patron of Girlguiding, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh joined 100 Brownies, Guides and Rangers in making live contact with the International Space Station in collaboration with ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), Brooklands Museum, RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) the UK Space Agency.
View this post on Instagram
Read more about the space-tacular event online via The Independent, London Evening Standard, and Surrey Live.
AI (artificial intelligence) versus Girlguiding reality
This month was an exciting time for us to shout about what we do, the impact our volunteers make and encourage more people to join us.
In a campaign to get more people talking about what Girlguiding is and the impact we have on girls’ lives, we asked AI (artificial intelligence) to show us images of people doing things like taking the lead, fixing things or building a campfire. AI generated pictures of men highlighting the continued gender bias society has of these skills. Because AI doesn’t always show what girls are capable of. So we decided to give things a bit of a Girlguiding twist to show what girls can really do...
You might’ve seen our campaign talked about in Campaign Live. Or even spotted our advertisements on YouTube, Netflix, social media or billboards across London and Manchester!
November 2024
Our money confidence toppers with HSBC
Our 2023 Girls’ Attitudes Survey revealed that over half of girls (57%) aged 7-21 would like to develop skills and learn more about managing money. It’s a topic that’s particularly on older girls’ minds, with 71% aged 11-16 and 59% aged 17-21 all agreeing that they want to learn more.
With HSBC UK’s support, we’ve created 4 fun toppers to help girls of ages feel more money confident. A topper is a stand-alone activity girls can do with their units. Launched during Talk Money Week (4-8 November 2024), these activities are here the whole year round for volunteers to plan into their terms.
You can read about this work in Birmingham Live, ITN Business and Charity Today.
New interest badges
Did you see we shared 4 out of 72 new interest badges in our autumn-winter issue of Girlguiding magazine? They were bee rescuer for Rainbows, celebrations for Brownies, thrift for Guides and nostalgia for Rangers.
The press were just as excited as we are with 88 articles to date, including this piece in Design Week where programme and girl voice lead (Christina) and design lead (David) spoke in depth about the design process and collaborating with members. Read Scotsman, Yorkshire Post or Express and Star for more!
Read about new interest badges in Girlguiding magazine
For the full scoop, read our autumn-winter 2024 issue of Girlguiding magazine
Artificial intelligence activities in partnership with Google
Girls and young women want to gain skills for the future. Nearly 30%, aged 7-21, said they would like to develop skills and learn more about tech.
Together with Google, we’ve created activities that help girls learn the skills needed to navigate a digital world. Our newest set of unit meeting activities are about AI (artificial intelligence.) We’ve secured over 132 pieces of news coverage so far! Including The Independent, BBC Newsround, Evening Standard, and The National.
December
Thousands of girls gathered for a sea-sensational journey to watch Moana 2 in ODEON cinemas across the UK. Brownies Amy and Luna even had the chance to interview the real-life voice of Moana! Take a look at the memories girls made and read about our new wayfinding interest badge.
That's it for 2024! We can't wait to shout about all the places we see Girlguiding in the news in 2025.
