Being Our Best
I grew up being in the brownies, guides, rangers and ventures and thought it was great. I loved the camping, working towards the badges and learning new skills along the way, writes Tracy Hargreaves
But is being a girl guide the same as it was when I was a member? I spoke with Julie Bell, Region Chief Commissioner of Girlguiding North West England about how guiding is moving with the times and how these young girls are becoming inspirational young leaders.
Julie has been involved in guiding for most of her life and says it has given her a wealth of riches in so many ways. She began as a member of 1st Garstang brownies and remembers her meeting place was above the stables belonging to the local church. They sat on logs and had a real fire, health and safety would have had a field day today, but they thought it was fabulous!
She progressed through guiding as a guide, ranger and young leader. She had a brief gap then came back into guiding as part of what is now Lancashire West County. There she gained her leadership qualification and Going Away With Licence. She came back to Garstang and over the last 20 years has held various district, division and region roles before becoming region chief commissioner for Girlguiding Lancashire North West, a role she has held since 2014 which covers the whole of the north west, from the top of Cumbria, over to the Pennines, down to the bottom of Cheshire and across the water to the Isle of Man.
Girlguiding North West England has a comprehensive team of volunteers who ensure the work of the charity is undertaken, led by the Julie and her two assistants. The volunteers are supported by a friendly and approachable staff team of 11. But as well as being a volunteer, Julie also has a full time job as head of libraries, museums, culture and registrars at Lancashire County Council.
“I think we have a great deal to thank my predecessor, Sue Lomas for,” says Julie. “In particular, her vision for the region headquarters. Preston is the base for the Girlguiding North West region headquarters and moved to its new premises on Guiding Road about four years ago. The award-winning building was purpose built and is suitable for office staff as well as a place for regional meetings and trainings. It is now the perfect base to develop the region as girlguiding moves forward as a whole.”
“Whilst we have seen a slight dip in numbers for girlguiding, rainbows, the youngest group from five to seven year olds, is growing, it’s the first step into guiding,” said Julie. “In fact, we have a waiting list of thousands, but we don’t have enough volunteers. However, growth and retention is always on our radar.”
“We are altering our programme and it will be one of the biggest changes in guiding over the coming year. Girlguiding North West England is continually evolving to ensure we stay relevant to today’s girls. We give girls and young women a voice in the modern world, providing fun and friendship along the way, whilst preserving the values of girlguiding that have made it the largest organisation for girls and young women in the UK.”
Girlguiding North West England has more than 68,000 members in the region, across 17 guiding counties and Lancashire North West has around 5500 members. It enables its members to discover and fulfil their potential through an exciting range of enjoyable activities and events, so they can make a positive contribution to their community and make a difference to the world.
Back in May of this year, the organisation received a new region president. As one of the most prominent and respected women in sport, Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE and Everton Football Club deputy CEO, was chosen to take on the role, after her name was put forward by a panel of girls and young women aged between 14 – 25 as an inspirational role model.
Denise works closely with the region chief commissioners, to support girls and young women across the north west in offering fantastic opportunities to young women to stretch and challenge themselves to become empowered women, whilst developing the skills and confidence they need to reach their full potential.
“We train our young women to be spokespeople for the organisation, we have a team of photographers who go out when we have events and, we also have a volunteer team who get involved in producing merchandise for our region shop. We also have peer educators and have recently trained 20 14-25 year olds on different themes to go out into units to talk about bullying, resilience, body image and safe guarding. We got involved in the comfort bag scheme on a regional level to provide handmade bags containing small toiletries and care items for people in their times of need. We produced more than 6000 bags and delivered to hospitals, hospices, Women’s Refuges, homeless shelters and other organisations. We’ve also supported some of the victims of the Manchester attack and Grenfell Tower Tragedy through this scheme.”
“The girls also get involved in campaigns on something they are passionate about, from sports education, to LGBT rights, saving bees to mental health. We give girls and young women life-changing experiences by supporting them to go on international trips. This year over 40 girls took part in community action projects in Armenia, Finland, India, and Zambia as part of our region international trips, and next year our projects are based in Nepal, Romania, Belize and Prague.”
Girlguiding North West England is currently piloting an innovative new partnership with Curious Minds, offering its young members another new guiding opportunity, Arts Award. Arts Award inspires young people to grow their arts and leadership talents and can be achieved at five levels, four qualifications and an introductory award – discover, explore, bronze, silver and gold. Girlguiding North West England is currently piloting the bronze award for its young members aged 11 plus and the other award levels will be available soon.
There’s also a huge emphasis on having fun, whether it’s going out climbing, paddle boarding, ice skating, first aid or taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, the organisation’s strategy is ‘Being our Best’ and this is carried through in whatever we do in life.
I certainly think guiding has changed since I was 15, but for the better. Instead of staying static it has moved with the times and adapted its programme so that it is relevant to the girls of today. Where young women can gain a multitude of skills and experience and go on to use these not only in everyday life, but in choosing their career of choice as well as making new friendships and connections for life.
