County Team

I have recently taken over as Girlguiding Glasgow’s County Commissioner which is an enormous privilege to lead the organisation that I am so passionate about.

I do think the title sounds very official and is probably better described to anyone outside of Guiding as the lead volunteer! My role within our organisation is to ensure that all of our 3,000 members have the best possible opportunities and experiences. The great news is I don’t have to do that all on my own. Girlguiding Glasgow is exceptionally lucky to have a very dedicated and talented team of Division Commissioners and Advisers to ensure that I am on track!

My role does involve a lot of admin and meetings, however, on the upside, I get to visit lots of Guiding events and units – which is the best part. I love visiting unit meetings, learning new games and activities and meeting the volunteers that make it all happen!  As your County Commissioner I am here to help and support you so please never hesitate to contact me with any questions, queries or suggestions. If I cannot help directly I will know someone that will!

I have been a Brownie Leader with 224th Brownies West Division for 26 years. I thoroughly enjoy watching the girls grow and mature during their time in Brownies before they move on to Guides and beyond.  I was also the West Division Commissioner for a challenging (but enjoyable and fun) four years.

Jill (The County Commissioner) then appointed me as one of her Assistant Commissioners within the County. I am responsible for business finance and management (covering property at our HQ and all things finance related), membership services – looking at our databases such as Join Us and GO, adult leadership and growing Guiding across four Divisions: North, West, North West and North East.

I have been involved in Guiding since becoming a Brownie aged 7 – which was a very long time ago. Over the years, I have been a Brownie, Guide and Ranger Guider, and now run the 278th Senior Section Unit in Carntyne as well as being Division Commissioner for North East Glasgow.

Outside Guiding I am Executive Director of YDance (Scottish Youth Dance), the national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland, a member of Carntyne parish Church Kirk Session, and Chair of the physical theatre company Conflux.

I joined Guiding as a 7 year old Brownie in Dalkeith Midlothian, I then became a Guide, a Young Leader and then started on my Adult Leadership. At age 18, University took me to Galashiels for 3 years where I became a Brownie Guider and continued to work with Brownies before coming to Glasgow.

Over the next few years I took over a Brownie unit and started a Rainbow unit, both of which I continue to work with today – the reason why I still do Guiding. Over the years I have had many additional roles, including – Assistant Division Commissioner, District Commissioner, and Indoor Adviser.

My aim is to support all volunteers who are helping to deliver Guiding, support our existing units and to grow the number of adults and girls involved. I am looking forward to working with my Division Team to achieve this.

I have been a Guider for over 30 years, initially with Brownies but mainly Guides and Senior section although I currently run all three. I’ve never been a Rainbow Guider – Rainbows scare me!

I have held many guiding positions over the years- District Commissioner, Camp Adviser and Baden Powell Adviser.  I have always loved camps and my units have fund raised for and travelled abroad on many occasions. I am looking forward to the challenges my Division Commissioner role will bring!

Karen Fraser and Lynn MacDonald have been involved in Guiding in various forms for over 60 years between them, with experience in Rainbows, Brownies, and Guides. As well as being the Commissioners for the South West of Glasgow, they both also run units within the Division and have a passion for helping girls grow into strong, confident, community-minded women.

The South West Division comprises of 5 Rainbow units, 7 Brownie units, 5 Guide units and 2 Senior Section units and stretches from Pollokshields to Penilee. It contains some wonderful parks which come in very useful for outdoor meetings, and is also home to the Science Centre, the Climbing Centre and the Burrell Collection.

I have been a Guide Leader in West Division for over twenty-six years. Alongside the Rainbow Unit, I run the Guide Unit which I attended as Guide. What I really enjoy about Guiding is giving the girls a variety of opportunities: whether they run the unit for a night doing a Go for It, to giving them opportunities to camp, travel abroad, or sail on a Tall Ship!

Whilst being a Leader for a couple of Units, a Division Commissioner, the Assistant Co-ordinator for the girls on Join Us at County Level, I am also an ID Verifier for my Division and County.

As the International Adviser I have the responsibility of giving Guides and adults the opportunities to experience Girlguiding abroad.

In the last few years, we have sent girls on the Tall Ship voyage to Ireland, international camps in Norway and had a group of 6 women go to Ghana to help build the Girlguiding movement there.

There are lots of international opportunities out there and I love the idea of making people aware of the endless possibilities.

I am very keen to ensure that all safety measures are adhered to when travelling abroad, so I do like to hear of all the trips that are going away to be able to make sure we are all safe and happy on our trips.

As Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Coordinator for Girlguiding Glasgow I am responsible for the DofE program across the County. Along with a team of volunteers, I plan and run trainings, expeditions and eDofE jam sessions (we go through eDofE and eat cake…what is there not to love!).

This year we are running walking expeditions for Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. As a special, we have teamed up with SportScotland to offer a Gold sailing expedition in 2018.

We aim to keep the costs of our expeditions to an absolute minimum which allows for more girls across Glasgow to achieve their DofE award.