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.