Girlguiding

[WitheringHeights8]

I'm a Brownie leader and feeling quite burnt out to be honest.

The girls are amazing but I feel I'm not offering enough to them. I'd be interested to know if other volunteers feel this way too.

I'm tired of managing waiting lists, organising visits and chasing parents up.

Just popping on to say thank you for everything you do. Guides is an amazing organisation and makes a huge difference to the girls who go.

Just a suggestion but our guides has a rota for parents to help. Maybe that would give you a bit more space to do more fun stuff?

Are you on any of the leader Facebook groups? There are regularly posts like this to be honest, and you'll get lots of supportive comments and advice from other leaders. I'm currently on "mat leave" from weekly volunteering and I won't be going back to the same level of involvement as I did before.

Yes I feel you. Our numbers are dwindling and our leadership team is not the most functional. Would like to do more/ better guiding but just struggle to find the energy to think about it...

Scouting has a much better organisational structure.

I really feel this way too.

Currently deciding if I want to leave or move to a different unit that offers a better experience to the girls

I think you should be asking HQ why they aren’t operating a structure like Scouting. It spreads the load far better than Guiding.

I'm a Scout leader. When I feel down about it, I plan something I really want to do. Last night it was building giant catapults. I love Parliament Week. I love camping (though it's really hard work). What do you really love? Can you swap it in for one of the things that's making you bored?

Don't be afraid to "throw an elbow". If parents don't respond, their Brownie doesn't get to go on the trip. No payment, sorry but we won't be expecting to see your daughter next week. They don't mind being rude by ignoring your comms - you shouldn't mind being a bit forthright.

Thank you so much for all you do for girls. The whole Guiding experience has helped my daughter become the adventurous, practical, confident young woman she is today, and I have nothing but gratitude and admiration for the leaders who give up their time to make that possible.

I don’t blame anyone for feeling tired or burnt out. Please know that despite the moaning and griping some parents do, there are others who value and appreciate you.

In what way? I thought it was pretty similar just different jargon?

No. There are many roles. It is organised under one heading so the local Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers are ‘managed’ by one group of Trustees. That means leaders do not deal with money - that’s the Treasurer - so no chasing parents. Leaders do not order and sort badges - that’s the Badge Secretary. Etc, etc. The section leaders only have to plan and deliver the face-to-face programme.

I sometimes feel I can’t offer my brownies as much as I would like as there is only me as leader. I run a weekly meeting and no other trips. The parents are supportive in that they do their turn on the rota and don’t need too much chasing up for subs but if I ask for helpers for anything … tumbleweed. Other units may seem to be out and about more but that may be skewed because they’re the ones posting on social media, so I ignore that now.

The days I remember as a child of there being many brownie activities all summer are gone. Nowadays, brownies is one of several clubs the girls attend and there seems little desire to stretch beyond that one evening a week so don’t feel bad for not offering what is probably not wanted or valued.

Find out from the girls what they want to do in brownie meetings and do that for the rest of this term, along with activities you’ve done before that you have enjoyed. No other trips. If anyone notices and says they want more, ask them to volunteer so they can organise them.

Is there anyone else who can help with the admin - waiting lists and subs? There may be someone who can’t attend meetings who has the patience to deal with the online system. If not, only admit new brownies at a few fixed points in the year when you can blitz the waiting list and have standard holding emails to send out to any new enquiries that come in-between. You may find numbers dip between intakes so make sure subs are high enough to carry this and give real value to the activity. It’s cheap in comparison to most commercial activity clubs and other entertainment that parents might buy for their children so easily seen as less important.

Having a waiting list may focus the minds of the poor payers. If unpaid places are in jeopardy, either they will be bothered and pay or they will leave. I’d be saying now that anyone with outstanding subs at the end of this school year loses their place for September, unless they come to an individual arrangement with you. It sounds tough on the girls but it’s down to their parents not you.

Make sure the parents know you are a volunteer!

If you’re not enjoying it, walk away or change roles. You won’t have failed, you're just ready to hand on the baton.

I'd agree that Scouts are much better organised and resourced - but fundamentally both organisations cannot function without lots of volunteering.
Girlguiding have just announced a plan to grow their engagement significantly over the next 10 years - I would like to see that but unsure where the extra people to do it are going to come from.
My DD has been part of a really good Guides/Rangers group but for various reasons Leaders have left (jobs, study, life) and the future for the group has become much more uncertain. They're going to need more leaders and soon.

another one saying thank you! My DD loves guides and her leaders are great and do so much for the girls.

But I do agree that guiding isn’t what it used to be. I loved Guides as a girl and had the most amazing leader who took us on very intrepid adventures. Proper camping in army tents, making trivets, digging latrines, night hikes and orienteering where she’d dump us in a field miles from camp with a compass and an OS map and a bag of sandwiches. Those were the days! I guess you wouldn’t be allowed to do that now…

We can dump in a field with a compass.... would have to risk assess it and make sure girls could use said compass...

We still camp, cook on wood fires, do night hikes, go climbing but kat pits are an environmental no go.

We're at the end of what seems like a long year and I'm feeling jaded and in need of a holiday but have also had a few why we do it moments recently....the girl who has gone from being a bit self centred to being an amazing patrol leader coaching the younger girls in fire lighting or the mum in tears because we nominated her daughter for an award

We're testing the new meeting tool which makes it so much easier and very much quicker to upload stuff to go And on line permission forms have made it quicker. I've also learnt to say no money no go.

It's easy to feel this way, especially if you haven't got a team to run the unit with. My top advice for when your mojo is running out is just do what you enjoy.
There's now no requirement for local consent forms, so you can go out and about on your meeting nights.
What are your favourite activities to do? What do you enjoy leading? What comes easily to you?

You don't NEED to do everything else every week - sure, financial stuff, comms to parents, risk assessments, paperwork and training need to happen, but they don't need done every week, and they don't need to be done by you. Ask for help at district/ county, and ask for more volunteers (even if it's a parents rota).

Some of our Brownies favourite activities are things the leaders enjoy! We've had a Taylor Swift Night, two around the world nights, a mocktail 18th Birthday, a games night, a chippy survey, painting in the park, and a sports day without much extra effort or paperwork this year. Happy to share plans for any of them, but they all came out of the 'what do we want to do' questions to leaders, not a 'what should we be doing/ what do the girls want/ what are other units doing'.