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

[MadBadandDangerousToKnow]

Thought it might be nice to have a place to swap ideas and experiences. Shall we do introductions first?

My name's MadBad and I've been a Brownie guider for about 5 years.

thanks for the link Groovee, I've got most of the badges I was missing now and found a new one for my Rainbows to earn.

i'm helping at my first Rainbow sleepover soon, has anyone got advice? I was a leader for 5 years before having children but we weren't allowed sleepovers in those days and have only just come back to it, so have no idea what to expect.

Have the afternoon off to snooze and don't book anything for the following day. I recently did a BBB stay away and got about 2.5 hours sleep.

Maybe take some story books incase someone can't sleep and needs a story.

Was anyone else on a Big Brownie Birthday stay away this weekend?
We had a blast! I am so definitely starting camping with my girls: they loved it!

We had Starquest this weekend. I think I've just about recovered

Was Colchester zoo for us this weekend. Was a blast. Peed off with the thread about scrapping guiding and going over to scouts instead 'to solve the waiting list crisis'. Such short minded views. Thankfully most people seem to be sensibly suggesting op might volunteer themselves...

Am thinking next term I really need to get advertising for more help. One of our yl will have gone to uni and I'll be losing an assistant when her dd goes up to brownies. We're running at 23 so need to make sure we can still run the group.

I hadn't seen that thread. I'm going to look for it now ...

I've just filled in the join in form on the site for volunteers. Really hoping it works out, you all make it sound such fun and hard work sometimes

Welcome to the dark side rivier

But seriously, great to see someone keen to volunteer I get so much out of it as an adult leader.

Hello rivier I hope it works out for you, what section/age group are you thinking about?

I don't really mind, as I have no experience, but presumably not the senior section as I'm still young enough to be part of them.
i'm just worried about my unpredictable schedule messing it up. (still a student)

Good for you for putting yourself forward!

senior section is the only one I haven't done meetings with because I'm 25 and would find it too weird.

Don't worry too much about the unpredictable schedule, I'm a student too and just make sure when we have planning meetings that i don't sign myself up to organise anything during the exam period so then if I suddenly can't make it it's not the end of the world.

Ooh, a fellow student!
Mine's unpredictable in that classes aren't on a set schedule week to week and the timetable doesn't come online till the end of August. Plus the uni is really bad at admin

I do hope it works though, haven't done volunteer work for years and I miss it.

Rivier whoever gets you will be grateful for any help you can offer, even if it's not every week. We mostly help for sleepovers, because the ratio is tighter than it is for running a meeting.

Everyone please spare a thought for Brownies in North Wilts this weekend who will be camping in the rain.

Rivier, I've 4 student aged helpers in my unit. It's been a bit tight this last month with exam season. But we make it work. And our little rainbows look upon them fondly as big sisters.

Hello there! I'm Birdboo and I'm also a Assistant Guide Guider at the moment. I'm also a Senior Section Guider but I'm not wearing that hat at the moment.

My current unit is interesting. I really like the Guides, all 8 of them, but I feel very excluded from the other leaders and I'm not sure if I really want to stay there in September. I really feel out of place and have some serious issues which I have raised at District and Division level but not much has happened.

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?

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 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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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