irlguiding South West England visited one of its counties, Devon, on Friday 8 March as part of its region roadshow programme, inviting members from Girlguiding Devon along with stakeholders and organisations from across the county to celebrate International Women’s Day and to help launch their new resource, ‘Empower in a Box’.
Notable guests included the Lord Mayor of Exeter and his Consort, the Deputy Lieutenant of Devon, and President of Exeter Lions Club. Organisations such as the Salvation Army, Devon and Cornwall Police, and the National Trust also attended.
The evening put a spotlight on Girlguiding, showcasing the opportunities that Girlguiding South West England offers its 47,000 young members and 11,500 volunteers across its 16 diverse counties and islands, to help all girls know they can do anything.
There was a panel discussion exploring the themes of this year’s International Women’s Day theme of inspiring inclusion, hosted by members of the new South West England Youth Voice network – a group of 14-25 year old advocates.
South West England region ambassadors, Anjana Khatwa, an Earth Scientist and writer, and Eleanor Wills, a former local councillor who works in the transport sector, joined the panel discussion, talking about how having positive role models is important to show girls what is possible and what they can achieve.
Anjana’s words ‘stand in your own power’ resonated with the crowd, with Eleanor echoing this with her advice to ‘find your allies’. Anjana also talked a little about how the region’s ambassadors are here to help inspire and empower its members, with their roles helping to give girls a spark and vision about what is possible to achieve.
The evening was also an opportunity for the region’s new Youth Voice and Participation team to launch their new resource, Empower in a box, a toolkit designed to help local level guiding run more events for our 14–30-year-old members.
Girlguiding is the UK’s largest youth organisation dedicated completely to girls. Our volunteers help local girls and young women enjoy a wide range of exciting activities, as well as acquire new skills and experiences – and have fun at the same time. F
lexible volunteering is highly encouraged, with lots of different roles on offer for those who want to take a more adaptable approach to Guiding. Being a Girlguiding volunteer could see you going around the world accompanying girls on trips of a lifetime, spending a weekday evening helping girls learn a new skill or enjoying an action-packed outdoors adventure weekend as you make your own lifelong friendships. There are lots of different roles to choose from to fit in with your lifestyle and we will provide all the training and support you need.
We welcome volunteers of all backgrounds, ages, cultures, faiths and abilities. For more information about volunteering with Girlguiding, visit girlguidingsouthwest.org.uk/join-us or contact join-us@ggswe.org.uk