Keeping girls motivated, inspired and thriving

Girlguiding is the UK’s leading charity for girls and young women. Thanks to the amazing support of almost 100,000 volunteers, Girlguiding gives nearly 400,000 girls a space to be themselves, have fun, build lasting friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference. Being a member of this movement enables girls to join a global community, dedicated to making the world a better place.

Activities include:

• Weekly unit meetings for Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers and the chance to learn skills such as vlogging, mixology, human rights, and survival skills.
• Campaigning so girls can take action on things they care about, whether that is tackling issues around period poverty or protecting the environment.
• The charity has a wide programme of events which enable girls to try new things, have adventures and make friendships and memories that last a lifetime.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Girlguiding suspended its face-to-face unit meetings. But it knew, faced with so much uncertainty, girls needed it now more than ever. Thanks to players’ funds, within 10 days it launched Adventures at Home – an online offer for girls, packed full of exciting activities, challenges and games to keep girls in guiding, and to keep all children and their families motivated, inspired and thriving while at home. This was a great success, with 150,000 activity downloads in the first three months.

Through Adventures at Home Girlguiding continue to provide a huge range of activities and games for girls and young women to do at home or in weekly virtual meetings, as well as sharing resources focused on wellbeing and resilience. The charity also supports volunteers to deliver meetings online.

Creating an online offer has enabled Girlguiding to continue providing girls with access to the experiences guiding offers and helps overcome the barriers some girls face to meeting face-to-face.

Girls and their parents shared how they are finding meeting online:

"I love remaining in contact and having a ‘normal’ point in my week."

"I am staying positive because I can look forward to our virtual brownie session every week."

"I will never forget seeing my daughter’s face when she joined her virtual Rainbows for the first time during the first lockdown. It was the first time I had seen her properly smiling and having fun for weeks. I can't thank Rainbows enough for giving our girls something to look forward to in these incredibly difficult times."

In 2021, thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Girlguiding will continue supporting volunteers to bring these experiences to girls in whatever ways possible, whether virtually, in-person where restrictions allow, or a combination of the two. And ultimately, Girlguiding looks forward with hope to the return of its regular, weekly meetings for Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers.

Over £7.1 million has been raised for Girlguiding thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery.

Girlguiding is always keen to hear from potential new volunteers, so if you’re interested in joining and making a difference to girls’ lives, you can register your interest.