As we look ahead to the coming year, I am excited to share with you an innovative piece of work which Girlguiding Scotland is taking forward. In 2023 we began our strategic focus on volunteers and the Transformational Leadership Project is a new area of work as part of this. 

We regularly hear from commissioners about the pressures they feel and the need for extra support to help them enjoy their roles. So, as part of this project we’ll be working on how we provide a great experience for all our commissioners across Scotland. This is important whether they’ve recently started or have been in the role for many years.  

Unfortunately, we have gaps across Scotland and some areas do not have a commissioner. Last year’s member survey also showed that only a small minority of members are interested in taking on roles like commissioners in the future. We want to change this. As part of the project we’ll be shouting out more about commissioners and increasing opportunities to find out about the roles. We hope this will increase the pool of future commissioners. 

We also know how many amazing young women we have in the organisation, and some of them might not see themselves in a role like commissioner. This means we’ll be developing new pathways into leadership roles within the organisation, with a focus on our 14–30-year-old members.  

We’re using everything we’ve already heard from members through the survey and other engagement activities to inform new ideas. We’ll be trialling these with members in 2025 to help us work out which ideas to take forward in the future.   

We know that across the organisation we have lots of positives to build on. In recent member engagement activities, lots of commissioners told us how proud they feel of what they do and the impact they’re having. Last year’s survey found that 77% of our volunteers have increased their leadership skills through volunteering with us and 75% have increased their confidence. This is fantastic and we are excited to see this grow in the future.   

Thank you again for all you do for Girlguiding Scotland and we look forward to as many members as possible getting involved. By taking part in pilot projects and sharing your opinions over the coming year, you’ll be leading the future! 

Find out more about the Transformational Leadership Project and how you can get involved here.