Last month marked 1 year since the Friends of Girlguiding Scotland New Unit Grant opened.

Friends of Girlguiding Scotland (FoGGS) raise money to give girls great experiences and the New Unit Grant is available to help new and reopening units get started.

Since opening in 2024, the fund has supported 26 units across Scotland to open, meaning there is space for 429 more girls to experience the fun and adventure of Girlguiding Scotland. The fund has given out almost £6,000 helping units to cover costs such as uniform for leaders, promise badges and programme materials, stationery, craft materials and sports equipment.

As well as funding, the grant offers the new units support resources, helping them to recruit volunteers, and encourage more girls to join. So far, 16 have been requested, 10 units have asked for adult recruitment materials and 11 have asked for girl recruitment materials. One unit who received them said: “the recruitment materials were very useful as this has enabled us to advertise and get a surprising amount of interest to be able to have a full unit within weeks of opening.”

8 new Rainbow units have managed to open using funding from the grant, and unit leaders at 2nd Galashiels Rainbows said: “[The grant] really helped with the large set-up costs of a brand new unit. We started with no resources or supplies. Without the grant we would have struggled to cover the set-up costs. We are in an area of deprivation, so it wasn’t feasible to push these costs onto the families of the girls.”

2^nd Leven Brownie unit was 1 of the 7 Brownie units to open in the last year. They have 20 young members, with space for 4 more, and 3 volunteers supporting the unit. The grant helped the girls to say their promise and get their badge books, promise badge and certificate. Volunteers from the unit said their highlight was “seeing 19 girls make their promise for the first time and earn their first programme badge, the camp stage 2 skills builder.”

7 new Ranger units have opened across Scotland giving girls aged 14-18 a chance to take on new challenges, build leadership skills and focus on what’s important to them. At the end of July last year, 1^st Ferryhill Rangers visited their local Jump In trampoline and climbing park to mark the end of term and make their promise together. Their unit leaders described the evening as “very memorable for [the Rangers].”

The grant has also enabled some units to reopen after being closed for a number of years. 2^nd Portlethen Guide unit has reopened after 5 years. Thanks to the funding from FoGGS they were able to keep fees down, making the unit more accessible for girls. Since opening they have held their first camp where many of the Guides achieved their camp stage 4 skills builder and have plans in place for another camp in the next few months.

Apply for the Friends of Girlguiding Scotland New Unit Grant