| Girlguiding Scotland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Official Girlguiding Scotland logo (2010) | |||
| Headquarters | Girlguiding Scotland Headquarters | ||
| Location | Edinburgh | ||
| Country | Scotland | ||
| Founder | Allison Greenlees, Robert Baden-Powell, Agnes Baden-Powell | ||
| Membership | 61,375 | ||
| Scottish Chief Commissioner | Elaine Rough | ||
| Website www | |||
Girlguiding Scotland is part of the worldwide Guiding movement. It is the country's largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women with 61,375 members in 3,500 units throughout Scotland. [1]
The origins of the Guiding and Scouting movement date back to Allison Greenlees (then Allison Cargill) at Laurel Bank School. [2] [3] She started the Cuckoo Patrol, after reading an edition of Scouting for Boys and wanted something like the Boy Scouts to be available to girls. [4] In 1907 Robert Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts as a training organisation for boys. The Cuckoo Patrol was the first Patrol of Girl Scouts in Scotland, and was formed in Glasgow in 1908 [3] with links to the 1st Glasgow Scout Patrol; similar patrols were being set up all over the UK. This led to a more specific demand for "something for the girls" at the Crystal Palace Rally in 1910.
The first registered Girl Guides in Scotland were the 1st Peebles Patrol, formed in 1910, and founded by Lady Erskine. The first meeting was held on 26 February 1910 at Venlaw Castle, Tweeddale. [5] The Girl Guides were officially launched in the same year by Baden-Powell's sister Agnes Baden-Powell, and Imperial Headquarters established. A Scottish Headquarters Committee was formed in 1912 and the Girl Guide movement established in Scotland. The Girl Guides Association for Scotland was established in 1933 with its own constitution. [6]
Girlguiding Scotland has active units in six regions that cover all of Scotland:
The six regions are further subdivided into a total of 38 geographical counties plus a 39th non-geographical county for Lone members.[ clarification needed ] These in turn are divided into divisions; divisions may then be split into districts. Each district comprises a number of individual units covering all sections. How districts and divisions work together varies, depending on a number of factors: location, number of units and members, historic tradition and events and current leadership teams; and may change over time. Each area works towards delivering the best Guiding experience for their particular circumstances under overall guidance from Girlguiding Scotland and Girlguiding UK. [7]
| Region | Counties |
|---|---|
| Lothian and Borders | Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian, Roxburghshire, Tweed Valley, Berwickshire |
| Central | Fife, Forth Valley, Clackmannanshire, Angus, Perth & Kinross, Dundee |
| Strathclyde | City of Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Dumbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, West Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire |
| Highlands & Islands | Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Argyll |
| Grampian | Aberdeen, Kincardine & Deeside, Gordon, Banff & Buchan, Moray |
| Ayrshire & South West | Ayrshire North, Ayrshire South, Dumfries-shire, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Wigtownshire |
The 39th County of Lones is not geographically located, as it provides support Scotland-wide and therefore sits separate from the regional structure. In all other ways it is identical to the other counties.
In 2016[ Needs updating ] the membership was over 60,000 members and registered volunteers, making up the largest voluntary organisation for girls and women in Scotland.
There were approximately 10,000 Rainbows, 22,000 Brownies, 14,000 Guides, 2000 Senior Section young women, and over 9,000 Adult members. About one in three eight-year-old girls in Scotland is a Brownie, and half the women born in Scotland have belonged to Girlguiding Scotland at some point in their lives. [8]
The adult members give over 1 million hours in voluntary service each year, ranging from face to face time with young members through to attending and delivering training, accounts, record-keeping, membership support and planning. This is the equivalent of 550 full-time jobs. [9]
Girlguiding Scotland is a charity and is funded by fundraising, grants, membership subscriptions and a trading arm. [10] [11]
Girlguiding Scotland became independent in 1933 and in 1939 moved its headquarters to Coates Crescent, Edinburgh, where it remains today. [12]
The figurehead[ clarification needed ] in Scotland is the Scottish Chief Commissioner, who serves for a term of five years. Dinah Faulds became Scottish Chief Commissioner on 1 September 2007. She was succeeded by Sue Walker in 2012. The current[ Out of date? ] Scottish Chief Commissioner is Dr Moira Mckenna who took over in 2017. [13] [14]
Netherurd was Girlguiding Scotland's home from home[ clarification needed ] in the Scottish Borders; however it was sold in 2021. It was a Georgian mansion in grounds of 30 acres amid the Border Hills of Peeblesshire, and was given to the Girl Guides in the 1940s by Major Thomson. The centre included accommodation in the main house, the Garden House, a small number of new wigwam style cabins and five campsites. The centre offered a number of outdoor activity options including high and low ropes courses, water activities and archery; there were facilities to deliver training and indoor activities across the site.
Brownies are the section in the Girl Guides organization for girls aged seven years old to ten years old. Exact age limits are slightly different in each organization.
A Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. Robert Baden-Powell chose to name his organization for girls "the Girl Guides". In the United States and several East Asian countries the term "Girl Scout" is used instead. Female scouts go under the name of "girl scouts" in many more languages. The two terms are used synonymously within this article.
The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was formed in 1910 and incorporated in 1912 by a royal charter under its previous name of The Boy Scouts Association.
Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association. It is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a charitable organisation.
Scouting and Guiding in Queensland is represented by Scouts Australia, Girl Guides Australia, Plast Ukrainian Scouts, and the Australian Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
The Irish Girl Guides is a Girl Guides organisation in the Republic of Ireland. Together with the Catholic Guides of Ireland, it forms the Council of Irish Guiding Associations. Whereas the Catholic Guides are an all-Ireland body, the Irish Girl Guides are not organised in Northern Ireland, where Girlguiding Ulster, the branch of Girlguiding UK, operates instead.
Scouting and Guiding in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is administered by the United Kingdom Scout Association and Girlguiding UK, due to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha's affiliations as a British Overseas Territory.
Lone Guides or Lones are Girl Guides and Girl Scouts who do not attend group meetings for a variety of reasons. They are organised into groups that keep in touch, for example, by letter or email. Members carry out their organisation's normal programme on their own as much as they are able. The first official Lone Guides started in 1912 in the UK. Many countries have Lone Guides.
Girlguiding Bermuda is a Guiding organisation in Bermuda. It is one of the nine branch associations of Girlguiding UK. It is represented by Girlguiding UK at World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) level and Girlguiding UK's Chief Guide is also Chief Guide for Girlguiding Bermuda. Girlguiding Bermuda is part of the Caribbean Link for Guiding.
GirlGuiding New Zealand is the national Guiding organisation in New Zealand. GirlGuiding New Zealand currently splits New Zealand into 8 regions around the country with approximately 10,000 members.
A Ranger or Ranger Guide is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 14 and 18. It is the female-centred equivalent of the Rover Scouts.
The Scout and Guide movement in Australia consists of:
Scouting and Guiding in the United Kingdom is served by several different organisations:
The Baden-Powell Award, also known as the B-P Award or Baden-Powell Scout Award (BPSA), is the highest award achievable to Rover (adult) Scouts.
Girlguiding North West England is one of the nine Countries and Regions of Girlguiding UK. It is further subdivided into 17 Girlguiding Counties. These are not the same as the counties defined by the British government. The region was introduced in 1960 covering the Counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, Cheshire, Lancashire, plus the Isle of Man, with the headquarters in Preston. It is also known, for example to the Charity Commissioners, as the Guide Association North West England.
Girlguiding South West England is one of the nine Countries and Regions of Girlguiding UK. It is further subdivided into 16 Girlguiding Counties and Islands. These are generally not the same as the counties defined by the British government, and in this Region, two of the Islands, Guernsey and Jersey, are not even part of the United Kingdom.
The Crystal Palace Rally was a gathering of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at the Crystal Palace in London on Saturday, 4 September 1909. The rally demonstrated the rapid popularisation of Scouting with an estimated 11,000 boys attending with the prominent presence of Girl Scouts also being significant for the start of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. The rally was held a year and a half after the publication of Scouting for Boys and The Scout magazine, and two years after Robert Baden-Powell's demonstration Brownsea Island Scout Camp.
Girl Guides is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909, when girls requested to join the then-grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
There are many national organisations in the United Kingdom that have been established to provide services to people under the age of 18.
Allison Greenlees formed a group of girl scouts before it was possible for her to become Scotland's first ever Girl Guide and a founder member of Girlguiding Scotland.
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