Brownie or Guide Unit Helpers for Leigh East District

If you volunteer with us, you can choose to work with girls in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides or Rangers. However, in Leigh East district right now we especially need volunteers for our Brownie unit (group) which meets on Tuesday at 6pm and our Guide units which meet on Thursday at 7pm and Friday at 6:30pm. Brownies are aged 7 to 10 and Guides are 10 to 14 years. If you would prefer to work with one of our other age groups, please do get in touch anyway!

If you would like to know more, read on or you can register on our national website or contact the local commissioner .  There are similar roles available throughout Essex South East, so if you like the sound of this and don’t live in Leigh, you can still use the same contact information.

Why this is a great role:

As a unit helper you’ll give girls opportunities for fun, friendship, challenge and adventure! You’ll work with other volunteers to help run fantastic activities, whilst keeping our members safe.

Unit helpers assist the unit leadership team in running units. You’ll be part of a leadership team that includes other adult volunteers and possibly also young leaders and other unit helpers.

No two units are the same which means that all unit helpers do slightly different things. There is a lot of space to make this role your own.  If you want to you can become a leader and take our leadership qualification or remain a unit helper for as long as you volunteer with us – the choice is yours!

Some of what you’ll do:

Each unit leadership team divides responsibilities a little differently. Here are some of the activities that can be part of being a unit helper:

• Help plan activities which are based on the Girlguiding programme and are accessible and inclusive. Often these activities are planned by the whole volunteer team at the beginning of each term
• Go to your unit meeting each week, and run the activities with the girls and other volunteers
• Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at Girlguiding, so you’ll help provide a safe girl-only space, where every girl and young woman can take part
• You’ll complete training for the role and follow Girlguiding policies
• If your unit goes on a camp or days out you’ll have the option to go along
• You might go to district events and talk with volunteers outside your unit if you wish

Unit helpers usually spend very little, if any, time on the role outside the unit meeting time, but you may spend more depending on whether you decide to take on additional responsibilities and activities. Again, the choice is yours!

What training and support do you get?

• We’ll give you a thorough induction to your role and to Girlguiding
• You’ll have lots of optional training opportunities – including e-learning, face to face training and live online classrooms that you can do from home
• You’ll have a great support network from your fellow volunteers, including a local commissioner and Girlguiding advisers and the option to attend regular meetings and events to share information
• We reimburse pre-agreed expenses
• Girlguiding has a clear complaints procedure and support to help sort out problems or disagreements

Our Girlguiding website is full of information to help you in your role.

What qualifications do you need?

You don’t need any pre-existing qualifications, but you’ll need to become a member and complete our safeguarding training as well as doing a disclosure check.

What skills and attributes do you need?   

Good listening and communication.   To help your unit leaders and other volunteers deliver great guiding for girls.

Reliability. You choose how much you would like to do, but we ask volunteers to give us as much notice as possible if they are unable to come to an event where girls are in attendance.  Last minute no-shows mean we can’t keep our young members safe.

Knowing when to ask for help.  There is a network of other volunteers and commissioners to help you with any questions.

 And an enthusiasm for what we do!

As unit helper I support the leader of my unit by helping to bounce ideas around and come up with new activities and games. The main leader normally directs us with the aims for the term, but I help in the discussions and planning. We often plan the sessions the week before or a few weeks before depending on what we need to prepare, and I’ll help with preparation by bringing in materials or learning the activities so I can show them to the girls. It’s very flexible though so I can take on as much or as little as I have time for.

A lot of the time, as a unit helper I get the sessions started by playing a game with the girls while others get the main activities prepared. And as we only have a few leaders, I often take on the role of leader when needed and run sessions. The roles are very similar and everyone helps.

The main difference between me and the leaders is that I have much less admin work and training (except the main safe space training) to do. The amount I get involved has been very flexible, which has really suited me. I thoroughly enjoy this role!

We’re keen to hear from volunteers of all backgrounds, abilities, races, sexual orientations, socio-economic backgrounds, and of all faiths and none. We welcome male and female volunteers of all ages 13+, although for these specific roles you will need to be 18+. We’re flexible, and volunteering can be arranged to fit around a busy lifestyle, but roles mentioned here do require attendance at weekly meetings (lasting 1.5 hours) during term time. Girlguiding is committed to making reasonable adjustments to support disabled volunteers so they have access to the same opportunities and experiences as non-disabled volunteers.