Guiders' staff room - tea, wine, chat and optional dancing around the toadstool

I haven't seen a decent picture of all the pieces. But it looks a lot like the rainbow style. In a way I can't say that's a bad thing - united by a common style. But I wish they'd stop messing with it and stick to one thing.

What do we all think of the new Guide uniform then???

And thoughts turn to the new term, new girls and making my rainbow unit run the way I want it to :)

None of us use the badge books here. I keep a spreadsheet of what badges we have done and any the girls have done on their own. Because the girls can get the badge syllabus on line they tend to print it off and have it signed for swimming etc.

Rivierleidgje I used my best friend and another friend who was a guider. All they have to do is reply to an email saying you are an ok person to work with children.

Do any of you have suggestions for who to ask for the references? What are they looking for? I have no employer because I'm a student and it doesn't suggest that anyway. But who do you ask?

I've had a meeting with the local commissioner and it seems I can start with a guide unit from September. Very exciting and nervewracking

That reminds me ...

Comments at our end of term district meeting made me realise we probably don't make enough use of the Brownie badge books. When we do badges at meetings, I keep a spreadsheet of who's done what and then hand out the badges at the end. I get the impression that other units do much more record-keeping in the actual books. How do others use them?

Planning meeting next week... getting together with just the adult leaders to discuss the unit and how we feel things are going and where we need to improve.

It's one of the references which is holding one of my leaders up.

Once DC gets back from her holiday, I'll badger her to change the reference.

I logged into join us last week and have a new 7 year old starting in August. If I could get a few more girls who are 7, I would be delighted.

I'd would get the DC to suggest the 2 leaders become unit helpers if they won't do their training. It's not that hard.

The GO problem is probably nothing to do with the Leaders themselves - this is admin that needs to be done by the District/Division/County admin team - whoever does Leader admin in your area.

I would get your DC to suggest to the two women in question that they might prefer to be Unit Helpers, rather than Leaders in Training. That way they can continue to help you, but no pressure on them to do the ALQ, and would leave the door open to you to take the Brown Owl name. You'd still have the adult:child ratio you need to run your unit. But can do what you can to recruit some more suitable longer term Leaders who are prepared to do the ALQ.

It is possible that she has done her end of the paperwork, but that the references haven't come through - she won't be transferred on to GO until they have. Or, it has all been done but the reference to Join Us wasn't put in properly on the DBS application, so the computer system hasn't been able to match up the two systems. Again, something to flag to the DC, as it may just be an admin issue. And if it isn't, it needs to be followed up, so it is still a DC issue. I should start making a list ...

We have already finished for summer thankfully so I was hoping now to just get my head down, focus on completing my training and talk to my mentor and guiding contacts in the area ready to tackle it all from September however,
while sorting my records and completing notes for meeting with my mentor I was on GO this evening.
I discovered that my most problematic co leader (not brown owl) is still not on GO! That means she hasn't had her CRB done I think she has had since last September!! I knew she was dragging her feet over it so I had been acting as if she had no CRB until I was told otherwise but I am so shocked to not find her on GO given that I asked 'brown owl' about it a few weeks ago and was told it had been done.
It has jarred me as I am finding more and more evidence to indicate that these two jokers seem to think they can run Brownies like it was a play date or something! They are putting our girls at risk, us in a vulnerable position and playing fast and loose with the reputation of guiding.
They just don't care!
It can't go on. Brown owl does pull her weight and is managing the paperwork side but this is unbelievable and simply can't go on.
We had a planning meeting the other week and brown owl states she wants us to do a camp at the end of next summer term, we would need a camp licence was my first response and before I could finish my sentence about how unrealistic a plan it was she just brushed it aside, I think she believes we can take the girls away without it if we want!
I admit, these two intimidate me, they are alpha mummies who live in a different world to me but this has gone on too long and I can't in good conscience go back in September without this being sorted out, I mean, I think it might even be against the law for somebody to be working with children officially every single week for a whole academic year and have not had their CRB done!

Where in Hull birdboo? Am in Cottingham myself but have contacts throughout County from being a County GO person.

End of an era tonight though. Am taking a break from unit Guiding and had my last meeting with Guides after 4 years last week, and last meeting at Brownies after 7 years tonight. Expecting my first in November so seemed easiest to finish this term. Keeping on the County role though and will pop in when I can.

Ah damn, that is ages Roadkill, presumably you break up for summer soon though? so it won't be too many meetings til there's a new district commissioner and you have your leadership stuff signed off. you might actually be able to change who is brown owl on the strength of you being qualified and them not, which would be less awkward than bringing up all the rest of it.

Thank you for all your help the other day. I tried the District commissioner tonight but she was out, so I'll keep trying. I think moving into another district is the way forward; I checked the boundaries and it turns out to be about 100 yards up the road!! I'm in Hull for anyone that needs a warranted assistant. I've also decided to go for finishing my ALQ with the Senior Section, I founded a unit set them up for Octagons but then didn't get it signed off. So I think that might be a good way forward?

Oh goodness, that sounds difficult roadkill

I've a meeting with the commisioner next week, to see where I could be useful. Slightly nervous :)

Sorry, my dd will age out Easter 2016, I am losing a year there!

Thank you for the advice and opinions, very helpful as I am trying to sort out my plan of action.
I do have a mentor, the old brown owl (who has stayed in guiding but registered as occasional helper although after seeing us through our first term as leaders she has had some well deserved time off!) and I will be meeting with her soon to go over my training stuff. I also have lots of local guiding contacts, small communities have this effect. Due to having to be careful about the fact we are all from the same little community I have been careful about what I have said to people. I am able to talk freely to my mentor on the issue and also I am friends with the rainbow (also beaver) leader and had a chat with her while dropping ds off tonight and told her about the others coming clean about having no intention to do training. We weren't able to have a long chat but reminded me that the fact they have not done anything for their training will give the game away!
Unfortunately our district commissioner stood down recently as as yet hasn't been replaced. There will be a meeting around October time and by then my training should be ready for sign off, I will have talked more with my rainbows friend and in depth with my mentor. I guess my way forward will become more clear by then, I hope!

My dd is 9 and won't age out until Easter 2015, the other two have girls who will age out a year after that (one has a 4 year old also, unfortunately this is the one I would like rid of most!).
I wouldn't be worried if we went to me as unit leader and the other two as pack helpers as we could run as we are now really and if one or both lost interest I wouldn't be too worried about parent rota as our parents are willing, just not to take on every week, planning and paperwork! I could also most likely get a young leader (might even get back the one that the other two basically hounded out because she isn't the perfectly finished privately educated article like their own dd's, god I had to fight them so hard but with having issues at school with bullying I really didn't blame the girl when she dropped out of senior section/young leader. The other two weren't subtle how ever hard I fought, I do however still talk to the girl and support her all I can, without the other two having so much influence she might come back).
Gone on long enough, it feels a bit of a mess right now but our girls don't see that thankfully, they all enjoy brownies and I want to keep it that way. Talking it over, writing it out, reading it back I realise I was wrong about the brown owl rage, I really don't care what I am called, what matters is the girls we have and the ones that will come in the future.

How long til their girls are too old RoadKill? if its not long I'd just swallow it for now but if it's going to be a while have a private chat with your district commissioner, the trouble is that rotas with parents only work if parents can be bothered, which if a year ago you had to step in to save the pack sounds unlikely.

Hmm. I think that - much like with Birdboo's situation - you need to have a chat with your district commissioner. Your colleagues won't be able to hide the fact that they have no intention of training for much longer; it'll become obvious when they have a blank book to show their mentor ( and they must presumably have been allocated a mentor by now).

The name thing is tricky. The girls are presumably used to calling Brown Owl, Brown Owl. But if you're going to be the only leader with an LQ, you should have first dibs on the name and I'm sure the girls would understand if you explained to them that you were going to be Brown Owl and Brown Owl's name is cantankerous old bat Fluffy Bunny. I'd definitely throw it into the discussion with your DC, to gauge what she thinks.

Hi all!
I have just completed my first year as a Brownie leader and have really loved it!
Mine and DHs family have a long guiding history, my Grandmother was among the first Brownie leaders.
I was a Brownie myself and then guide, I ended up moving over to Sea Rangers due to the guide leader I had unfortunately not being very good, looking back I think she had just burned out and was simply going through to motions, I was asked to leave guides after I refused to drop Sea Rangers when she asked me to, even though Sea Rangers had never interfered with me also being a guide, I think she worried that the activities I was doing as a Sea Ranger would breed disatisfaction among the guides as we really did nothing at guides at that point. A sad tale of what can happen when a leader is unsupported and overworked for too long, she hadn't always been that way she just had too many obsticules and no help.

So that is the short version of my guiding story and here I am now.
Myself and two other parents took on the pack last year when our exerlent and long serving Brown Owl stood down and the pack was threatened with closure.
My biggest problem is this, while we wouldn't have been able to continue without the two other parents I am in the situation where I am the only one who cares about guiding as an organisation, the other two are only there to keep it open for their girls. Due to long standing and chronic health issues I was worried about taking too much on so one of the others agreed to be the one who would take on the admin and finance responsibilities and therefore was default Brown Owl, at the time she had not come clean about her complete disinterest in guiding. That has only just happened I realised this some time ago but was still shocked when she and the other leader stated to me directly that they have no intention to start let alone complete leader training.
I have started mine and just have to get all my documentation in order over the summer and I will get my assistant leader. I realised in January that looking long term once our daughters have moved through Brownies I was going to be the last leader standing (but the first to not have a child in the pack, go figure!) and decided that I was going to complete all modules to get unit leader qualification. Thankfully I have found I am able to manage with my health and pain levels better then I feared so I would I think be up to the unit leader role in the future. As it is we run as all having equal status in planning etc.
Right now I just don't know what to do with the fact the others have no intention to do the training. This maybe (well is) petulant but I resent the other parent having the brown owl name under these circumstances, it's very petty of me I know but it is giving me a mild case of the rage.
I don't know what to do, do I 'tell on them' to the district? Do I let them sink themselves with the training issue?
Honestly right now I wish they would stand down as leaders and I ran the pack with one of both of them as unit helpers and a rota for parents! I think I might just be being self righteous and petty though, I think my biggest anger comes from their complete disregard for what guiding is and what it is ment to offer the girls as a wider organisation.
Any advice would be so very welcome, even if it's to tell me to stop sulking and count the blessings of having three people to run a 3 six rural pack!

That sounds lovely, Adikia.

We had a Big Brownie Birthday party, with traditional party games and cake. It went very well and several
Parents took the trouble to thank the team. It doesn't often happen but it's great when it does.

I organised a campfire for my Rainbows tonight, we made s'mores had chocolate milk as it was too hot for hot chocolate and sat round the campfire singing.

I stink and the roasting marshmallows part wasn't great for my poor nerves, the girls were very anxious at the start but listening to them at home time excitedly telling their parents what they'd been doing was fantastic.

Best of all though was the lovely Guide who helps, she asked me to help her teach the girls a new song she is so much more confident now than when I first met her.

Just though I'd share because it was probably the most rewarding meeting I've had

Hi Birdboo. I've just posted on your other thread - I hope we can help you find a better fit for you. Would you mind saying roughly where you live? between us we could probably find a friendly Guider in the area who knows of a great unit that would love to have you.

I think it would be great if everyone who posts who is interested in joining Guiding, just volunteering on a casual basis, or moving units, could say where they are. That way Guiders running units and in need of help could pm anyone near them with a list of "vacancies".

I'll start... we need Guiders and or casual volunteers in North Wilts, at all levels - anyone available?