Our structure
Girlguiding Scotland is a Scottish charity supporting almost 40,000 girls and young women and just under 9,000 amazing volunteers. We’re part of the UK-wide charity, Girlguiding, with members across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions. Through Girlguiding we belong to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), a huge movement of ten million girls and young women across the globe.
Local guiding
Girlguiding Scotland is divided into local areas known as counties. There is 27 in total. Download the map of our counties here.
Each county has its own lead volunteer known as a county commissioner who runs guiding in the area, supported by Girlguiding Scotland and a team of local volunteers.
Some counties are formed of several divisions, for example Stirling and Elphinstone.
Counties or divisions are broken down into districts, for example Firrhill and Powburn.
Last but not least, each local guiding area is made up of units – groups of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers – for example the 53rd City of Glasgow Guide unit and the 1st Dingwall Rainbow unit.
Get more info
Find out more about how Girlguiding Scotland is structured by looking at the map of our counties and have a look below at who’s part of our trustee board and our staff team.
If you’d like to contact a county commissioner or a Scottish adviser about a particular topic, for example accessibility, then please get in touch.
If you’d like to raise something at trustee level speak to your district or division commissioner, or your county commissioner. They can raise issues with your area’s regional representative on our trustee board, which meets four times a year.
Our Trustees
Girlguiding Scotland’s work is overseen by our trustee board, a group of trustees appointed for their skills, expertise and commitment to our vision. Led by the Scottish chief commissioner, our most senior volunteer, Girlguiding Scotland’s trustees make sure everything we do helps us achieve our mission to inspire and empower girls in every community in Scotland. The Scottish chief commissioner is supported by the chief executive and her team of staff.
Elaine Rough
Chair and Scottish chief commissioner
Elaine is our lead volunteer in Scotland with overall responsibility of making sure we continue to empower and inspire girls across the country. Elaine is also the chair of the trustee board.
Sarah MacNeil
Chair of the operational board and deputy Scottish chief commissioner
Sarah supports the Scottish chief commissioner, along with with the rest of the chief commissioner team. Sarah is also the chair of the operational board.
Alison Irving
Chair of the business management and finance committee
Emily Young
Honorary treasurer
Mike Winter
External trustee
Susan Hunter
External trustee
Evelyn McWhinnie
Member
Milly Mackinnon
Member
Erin McIntosh
Member
Jill Elborn
Member trustee with county commissioner experience
Eleanor Swift
Member (18-30)
Kate McGrath
Member (18-30)
Scottish chief commissioner team
Meet our new Scottish chief commissioner team and find out a little more about their roles…
Elaine Rough
Scottish Chief Commissioner
Elaine is our lead volunteer in Scotland with overall responsibility of making sure we continue to empower and inspire girls across the country. Elaine is also the chair of the trustee board.
Sarah MacNeil
Deputy Scottish chief commissioner
Sarah supports the Scottish chief commissioner, along with the rest of the chief commissioner team. Sarah is also the chair of the operational board.
Lyndsay Strang
Assistant Scottish chief commissioner
Lyndsay supports the chief commissioner, their team, as well as individual counties. Lyndsay is also the chair of the county support team.
Alison McLaughlin
Assistant Scottish chief commissioner
Alison supports the chief commissioner and will consider our environmental impact, as well as improving our appointments processes.
Our staff team
We also have a team of staff who work at our Scottish headquarters and shop in Edinburgh – they support the work of the trustee board. Find out who our chief executive is and who our senior management team are below.
Denise Spence CBE
Chief executive
Denise is responsible for delivering Girlguiding Scotland’s strategy and managing our staff and finances. She works closely with the Scottish chief commissioner to ensure Girlguiding Scotland provides the best possible support for our members.
Carolyn Fox McKay
Head of Operations
Carolyn oversees the operations team which includes communications, policy, press, volunteer and girl experience work.
Louise Henderson
Head of membership development and growth
Louise oversees the work of the membership development and growth team, including managing our internal grants and our funded programmes which support local development work. Louise also leads on ensuring we’re using membership data and evidence to plan our work.
Rachael Graham
Head of strategic innovation
Rachael oversees the development of innovative projects that support organisational strategy and that are recognised as having the potential to transform Girlguiding Scotland.
Fay MacDonald
Finance manager
Fay is responsible for delivering Girlguiding Scotland’s financial management and strategy.