Commissioner’s Chat – March 2017

Since I last wrote my blog we have celebrated World Thinking Day and this year the WAGGGS theme was growing! We celebrated with our County Thinking Day with Rainbows, Brownies and Guides participating in garden and cooking workshops, visit to the Gurdwara and then a dance session learning the Sangam dance ‘We Shine’. Girlguiding Scotland encouraged members to share their promise selfie and it was wonderful to see so many Girlguiding Glasgow members sharing their pictures on twitter. I hope all your celebrations in your units went well.

The Outdoor and Indoor Teams have been exceptionally busy down at Achachairdeis (Girlguiding Glasgow’s outdoor and indoor properties) undertaking various tasks keeping on top of the ongoing maintenance. It is not an easy job managing our fantastic site when we are all busy women. A #TeamGlasgow effort is certainly required to share the workload. Thank you to all our members who gave feedback and suggestions to the recent draft paper regarding the pricing structure of our facilities. I think we all recognise that to ensure our facilities remain compliant and fit for purpose we must ensure we invest in the site to ensure it meets the needs of our members today and in the future. Investing in our property is one aspect of the team’s remit but also training and developing our volunteers. Adult members working towards their ‘Going Away With’ qualification participated in an overnight training at the campsite last weekend learning various skills and picking up hints and tips for taking youth members away on residentials. Adventure is a key element to the Girlguiding programme, therefore, it is wonderful that Girlguiding Glasgow is gaining more people within the County who can offer youth members this opportunity.

There is a real theme of training this term as we look forward to our Regional training event at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday 18th March for those new volunteers working on their adult leadership and Commissioners. Volunteering with Girlguiding offers many opportunities for girls and adults alike but it is vital that volunteers take time out to keep up to date with current Guiding best practice and programme to ensure we are striving to #BeOurBest and offer our members a high-quality balanced Guiding programme at all times. For those more experienced leaders training will be held on Saturday 22nd April, a fabulous programme is being developed with our Glasgow Training team and we are privileged that ex-chief Guide Liz Burnley will be the key speaker at the event. More information about the event and bookings can be made on our website.