Sabotage!

A major drama ensued yesterday when I was informed that someone had tried to hack into our ChislehurstDivisionGrowGuiding@gmail.com email address! I can only assume that they were out to sabotage the growth of Guiding in Chislehurst Division, for reasons as yet inexplicable.

Fear not. The growth of Guiding will not be sabotaged! If anything, the attempted hack has encouraged me to move to the next phase of the campaign - the follow-up phone calls.

A personalised (beautifully mailmerged) letter was sent to everyone with a daughter age 4 - 7 waiting to join Girlguiding within Chislehurst Division.  This was followed up with the same text, set up in mailchimp and emailed to everyone who had given an email address. This yielded around 10 replies as respondents could click straight through to the Google reply form to indicate which potential units would be convenient to them.

Whilst Mailchimp assures me of a healthy 'open rate', if I'm honest, most people haven't replied. So, the next phase is this: phone them all!

Life these days is busier than ever, with everyone saturated by information from every direction. Every email one receives requires some sort of action, such as a reply, or to be forwarded on to someone. Most people are managing multiple online identities via a series of email addresses. It is hardly surprising that most people haven't replied.  Plus I didn't give a reply deadline, which perhaps wasn't very clever.

I'm going to Mailchimp the newsletter out once more, then I shall be making a lot of calls! If you'd rather I didn't call, you can access the reply form here, or e-mail us at the now overly-secure ChislehurstDivisionGrowGuiding@gmail.com e-mail address.

Speak soon.

"We need Rainbow Leaders!"

Six-point guide to our #MakeARainbow campaign

3 of the many articles in local publications

Greetings! 

Methinks perhaps you have landed here on this lovely blog because of the hyperlink placed in the e-mail sent this evening.  You probably haven't got much time, so in a rare moment of clarity, I'm going to get straight to the point, in just 6 bullet points (and a picture)

Situation
- we have more than 100 girls eligible to join Rainbows (Girlguiding's section for 5-7 year-olds) in Petts Wood and Chislehurst
- we don't have enough units
- we have 6 venues standing by to host new units at particular times and dates:

- we need to know which of these potential units would suit your daughter 
- we need more adult volunteers to help to run these units; look here for more details about the Rainbow programme
- Please use the reply form here to indicate which units would suit you, or e-mail us ChislehurstDivisionGrowGuiding@gmail.com

Do read the previous blogposts about our Growing Guiding mission in Chislehurst Division.

There will be another progress report soon. 

What is the principle of Growing Guiding?

Everyday as I hurry along Moorgate, I am accosted by a clipboard-wielding, fixed-faced grinning 20-something, clad in a suitably-coloured vest - green for Oxfam, red for the Red Cross - asking me 'for a few seconds of my time'. Society calls them 'chuggers'. I am usually dashing between the bank - where I've been on Guiding business - and my full-time voluntary sector job, genuinely lacking in time to chat about (however they dress it up) regular giving to whichever charity they are working on behalf of, that day.

I know what you're thinking - where are you going with this, Helen?

What is the principle of chugging? In case you're wondering, the (perhaps unjust) term, coined within the last decade or so by society, combines 'charity' with 'muggers'. It is also much easier to say than 'you know, those people with clipboards who lurk in the high street', or more correctly, 'Fundraising Operatives', which is far less catchy.  The principle is this: persuasion. Persuading people to part with their money, on a regular basis. 

What is the principle of growing Guiding? It is much more challenging than persuading people to part with their money; it is about persuading people to take time to realise how their time contribution could make a positive difference in the lives of others. It is about opening peoples' eyes to the opportunities which await them. The positive influence they could have; the opportunities they could create; the lives they could change for the better.

Every week in the meetings I run, I witness wonderful things: the Brownie who wouldn't leave her grandmother's side for the first two weeks running straight into the room on the third week to see her new Brownie friends; watching a Guide Patrol Leader organise her young patrol and support them with their chosen challenges; supervising Senior Section members making plans for their Centenary Spectacular experience.

It's the same with adults. One minute, a timid parent is making the drinks at Brownies; two years later, after helping regularly, she turns to me on the way to a planning meeting and says, 'I've realised what Guiding is all about and I want to become a Leader'. She has now very nearly finished the Leadership Qualification.

So what's my point? Growing Guiding is about providing people with opportunities which suit them. Becoming a Girlguiding volunteer doesn't have to mean dedicating every Tuesday night for the rest of your life. It means joining in, at your own pace, in your own time. Any sort of volunteering requires a level of commitment, but on your terms. Interested? Email ChislehurstDivisionGrowGuiding@gmail.com and we'll be in touch.