brownies, guides, scouts - or alternatives?

[piglips]

am thinking of sending my daughter to one of these organisations. what do they do there and what are the differences? we are not religous people and although we don't have an issue sending her to a christian group etc, were wondering if there were non-religous alternatives.

IME those groups are no more religious than state school, obviously some are more so than others, ask around see what the groups are like in your area perhaps.

There very possibly are non-religious alternatives, but my experience of them as organisations has been fantastic. My daughter was in Brownies and my son is currently in Beavers.

We are also non-religious but have not found this to be a problem, and the benefits of all the different types of activities the children are exposed to far outweighs any of that for me. And I think it is very low cost for what you get.

It is all very dependent on the leaders though - so ask around and go and visit some of the groups during a meeting so you can pick the one you feel most comfortable with.

There might be a Woodcraft Folk group in your area which is an alternative. You can find out on their website here: www.woodcraft.org.uk/directory/4.

They are non-religious and tend to be much less structured than most scout / guide / etc. groups, and have a focus on outdoors and the environment, as well as your traditional leftie stuff like fair trade, the peace movement and so on.

From what I gather each group is very different so you'd probably want to see what your local one is like yourself. Personally I think the movement in general is fab and I've liked the groups I've seen I realise it's not for everyone. I should add that DD is too young for this sort of thing so I have no recent direct experience at all, I'm going by what things were like when I was little and when I've been along to events with friends who have kids involved.

Girlguiding UK (of which Brownies and Guides are age-specific groups) is not a religious organisation. Members should be encouraged in their spiritual development as part of a balanced and varied programme and do make a promise to "love my God" however there is no stipulation as to what or whom that God should be.

Will climb down from soap-box now.

They're not religious at all (I'm a Beaver leader, dd1 is a Guide, ds a Cub, dd2 a Beaver).

I can't recommend them highly enough.

I run a woodcraft folk group, it is explicitly not religious, it is quite distinctive from scouts and guides etc in its ethos but similar in what they do day-to-day. I used to be in and then help with guides and brownies when I was younger and I did like those but as an atheist the scouts and guides is certainly exclusive in that I couldn't be a leader. My dc could go if they were prepared to make promises they didn't really believe, but that's not ideal. So for us woodcraft folk is the obvious answer.

I like woodcraft folk very much, it tends to encourage outdoor adventurous activities at a younger age than in the cubs and brownies, and it has a strong emphasis on cooperation and mutual decision-making (in other word, a load of woffly hippies).

But it doesn't have groups in all areas.

cheers for the replies,
i think i will speak to some of the groups and see what appeals to dd and us!
woodland folk looks interesting too.

As a guider, I can tell you that we are not religious.
The promise states 'to love MY god', not what that god is. God is something that is personal to us, and can be interpreted in many ways.

Scouting is the same - you do not have to be religious to join because we are not a religious organisation

What sort of a child is she, what does she enjoy and what are you hoping to achieve by 'sending her' to one of the groups?
How old is she, do any of her friends already attend?

Woodcraft folk is very political and lost its funding because of it, they have also been criticized because of their lack of inclusiveness.

I am a scout leader and my husband a beaver leader, to gain your warrant you do have to have a 'faith', it is a faith organisation. As other's have said in the promise it mentions 'loving my god' however it doesn't matter whi your god is.
Our group is attached to the local church (c of E) We are 1st Lydiate (St' Thomas) and all our members are encouraged to attend church parade which is once a month, however if they didn't it wouldn't make an ounce of difference everyone is welcome. On one of our summer camps a few year's a go we came across three muslim scout groups, we had alot in common as were all scouts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the record I was a rainbow, brownie, guide, young leader, venture, scout network member and now scout leader and I can't imagine my life without it. I have travelled the world as a scout, gained lots of awards which helped me gain uni place etc... I am away every few months for weekends with my scout group and have been all over the country. I have made the greatest life long friends. I have many amazing experiences.

I am a walking advert for the scout and guide movement!!

Sorry for typo's, lack of sleep, baby with a cold!!