Being yourself is the most important thing and you’ll find that through volunteering with us your confidence will grow! Volunteering with us isn’t just about empowering girls and young women. As an adult volunteer you’ll gain confidence, develop new skills, make new friends and have fun! And you’ll be supported every step of the way by other incredible volunteers.

Of course you can help! You don’t have to have been a member as a child to volunteer with us. Whatever your previous experience of Girlguiding, as a volunteer you’ll meet people, gain skills and do something good for you and your community.

Absolutely! There are lots of ways to support Girlguiding. Whether you have a little or lot of time to give and whether you want to work with girls directly or support behind the scenes, we value all contributions. We’ll help you to find a role that suits your interests and availability.

A local volunteer, usually your district or division commissioner, will be in touch shortly after you register. Commissioners are responsible for supporting volunteers and units within a particular area. They’ll be your main contact for this first part of your volunteer journey. Their role is to support you and help you find an opportunity that matches your skills and interest to local need. They’ll provide you with key contacts, information and resources to help you take the next step in your volunteering journey.

Reference and disclosure checks
To keep our members safe, anyone over 18 who wishes to volunteer for Girlguiding must complete the recruitment and vetting process relevant to the role they’re applying for. This includes reference checks and could include disclosure checks.

Disclosure checks look at your criminal record. You’ll be required to complete one if your role involves unsupervised access or staying overnight at a residential event with girls and young women.

Your local volunteer contact may be the person who carries out your reference and vetting checks. Otherwise they’ll put you in touch with the right person. Take a look at our recruitment and vetting procedures if you’d like to know more about the checks we make.

Visiting a unit
If you plan to volunteer with girls, ask your commissioner about going on a taster visit to a local group (either where you hope to volunteer, or somewhere else). It’s a great way to get an idea of how meetings are run, talk to other volunteers and pick up activity tips and ideas. And, if you are unsure, it’s a great way to decide whether you’d be best suited to supporting Rainbows, Brownies, Guides or Rangers.

You’ll be supported throughout your volunteering journey so there’ll always be someone to help you overcome challenges. If you find the role isn’t quite right for you, we’ll help you find an alternative unit or role that suits you better.

You don’t need any prior experience of guiding or volunteering to get involved. Bring your enthusiasm and we’ll help you find a role that suits the skills you already have or that will help you develop in the areas you’d like to gain experience.

We offer all our volunteers support and training tailored to their role. This might be face to face training or online training that you complete from the comfort of your own home. When you register interest with us, a local volunteer will explain what training is offered relative to the role you’re interested in.

Everyone who undertakes our Leadership qualification is assigned a mentor – a qualified leader who will guide you through the modules and support you by answering any questions you have. The Being a leader e-learnings are also designed to prepare you for leadership, and provide a great introduction to the role. As part of the qualification, you’ll also need to attend first aid training and Safe Space training on safeguarding.

Find out how you’ll be assessed and how to apply here.

We offer a wide range of volunteering roles so you will be able to pick one that matches the skills you’re keen to develop. Whether you’re looking for CV-boosting transferable skills like time management, teamwork or leadership or more specialist experience in areas such as finance, communications or first aid we’ll do our best to find a role to suit.

There are so many friendly people waiting to welcome and support you.

Your buddy
A buddy is a great person to be in touch with in the early days. They’re an existing volunteer who will help you to settle in. They are there to offer guidance and support as well as listen and share experiences. They may be volunteering in the same group as you, or might help with the same age group or in a similar role elsewhere. You can meet up for a coffee or just chat over the phone or email.

If you’d like a buddy and haven’t been appointed one yet, talk to your leader or commissioner.

Mentors for Leadership qualification
If you’ve chosen to undertake the Leadership qualification you will also be assigned a mentor. Your mentor is there to guide you through the qualification and make sure you get all the training you need.

Unit volunteers
Units are local Girlguiding groups. If your role is in a unit, then the other volunteers there will be able to provide you with help and support. They’ll be your main everyday contacts after the joining process has finished – but feel free to reach out to your local commissioner (or your county commissioner) any time you need advice or assistance.

Yes you can! Units across Scotland are starting to meet again after taking a break, some are back to face to face meetings and others are still running virtual meetings. If there isn’t a unit meeting near you at the moment please get in touch so we help find a place for you.