I learned about the community council small grants programme through a local volunteering event. My unit was awarded £2000 each year for 3 years.

This programme typically offered small grants for up to a year of support. It was important to make connections with those on the community council and warm them up before submitting an application. I spoke to community council members about Girlguiding, how we run and the challenges we’re facing. They suggested I send in a letter to their council meeting explaining this and ask if they would be open to an application asking for a larger amount of money to cover what we really needed. The council were willing to support us and had no idea how difficult it was for us to run guiding in the community. I applied for the core costs of running the unit, breaking down how much our hall rent is, annual subscriptions to Girlguiding, trips and resources.

This funding has been so important to the unit, our numbers are still slowly recovering post-Covid, so our income has been reduced. I’m also taking a step back from this unit and wanted to make sure it was in a solid financial position for the new volunteer to take over.

We’ve already been able to do a lot with this funding. To reduce costs, we had been meeting outside during the warmer months, but we can now afford the hall rent for the whole year. We can keep our costs to the girls low and continue to make sure that we’re accessible to the girls who need Guides the most.

As leaders, I don’t think we’re very good at being honest about how much guiding costs to run. There’s a perception that because we don’t charge a lot, that it doesn’t cost a lot to run. People can only help if they know how much it costs!

My biggest takeaway from this experience is to be bold! If I hadn’t warmed up the community council members and sent in a letter asking for what we really needed, we wouldn’t have got this funding.

If you have success applying to a fund and would like to share your story please let us know at funding@girlguiding-scot.org.uk.