Girlguiding Celebrates 2024
Learn more about our awards and hear amazing stories from our volunteers
Girlguiding Celebrates 2024
Learn more about our awards and hear amazing stories from our volunteers
Look back on our red-carpet variety show that celebrates the amazing things our girls and volunteers do.
Faces smiling. Outfits sparkling. Hands clapping. Glasses cheers-ing.
Those are just a few things that sum up this year’s Girlguiding Celebrates which is our red-carpet inspired variety show that celebrates girls and volunteers in Girlguiding.
What is it and why does it take place?
Girlguiding Celebrates is an afternoon of glitz and glamour where Girlguiding members can relax and let their hair down. It's a chance to receive well-deserved recognition for the hours you’ve dedicated to volunteering, the adventures you’ve had, the awards you’ve won, and the nominations you’ve received. From fellow girls and volunteers to the chief guide team and staff, it's a collective thank you from everyone at Girlguiding.
'Girlguiding Celebrates is a moment of appreciation for our volunteers who run Girlguiding day in, day out and work tirelessly to keep guiding going. The impact you have on Girlguiding as an organisation is huge. We simply couldn’t give girls incredible experiences without you, and now more than ever they need safe spaces like us to thrive, grow and just have fun.'
Tracy Foster, chief guide
Hear from Amy and Lottie about their awards
Amy's story
Amy is based between the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border and has a Ranger unit in each county. She is joint Inspire co-ordination lead volunteer for Girlguiding Hertfordshire. She completed her Queen’s Guide award within 18 months whilst juggling work, part time study and regular volunteering with 1st Adeyfield and later, 1st Chesham Bois Ranger units. For her skill component, she started ballet. She’d never danced before, starting in 2021 for the award, and has continued dancing ever since!
‘Working towards my Queen’s Guide award allowed me to gain more self-knowledge, try out new things, and adventure to unfamiliar places. Every time I see the award brooch, it makes me smile.’
Amy, Queen's Guide
During the pandemic, Amy was made redundant twice as a garment technologist in the fashion industry. Alongside starting her Queen’s Guide award, she chose to retrain as a counsellor In this time of change. Amy reminisced about her fond memories of being in Rangers (then known as Senior Section) and chose to reconnect with her leader Karen who was a great role model for her.
Now alongside her unit leader roles, Amy is a soon-to-be trainer with the Anglia region, specialising in safer guiding training which launches on 4 December. She’s also now in her qualifying year of counselling training, with placements in a secondary school and an agency specialising in addiction.
‘Girlguiding was a safe haven for me when times were tough in my teens, and it gave me a break from what was going on at the time. Girlguiding has the power to show girls that they can do anything and be anything. The opportunities are endless and there is always a way to grow and develop yourself within the organisation. It means a lot to be able to offer Rangers a safe space to have fun, try new things and to be themselves’
Amy, Queen's Guide
Amy styled her hair in the shape of a trefoil for Girlguiding Celebrates!
Lottie's story
Lottie, a Hersham based volunteer, also completed her Queen’s Guide award and celebrated in style at our red-carpet inspired event. Completing her Queen’s Guide award took Lottie 3 years, achieved while at university, juggling work commitments, studies, and her volunteer role at her Brownie unit. In the process of completing her award, she even received a handwritten letter from Sir David Attenborough!
For her chosen project, Lottie researched generational differences in opinions on climate change. She found that across the age groups, everyone surveyed said they watched documentaries on the subject by Sir David Attenborough.
Not expecting to receive a reply, Lottie wrote to Sir David to ask if he thinks the younger generations are more interested in climate issues than previous ones. To her surprise he wrote back, sending a handwritten note acknowledging her research and agreeing that people now seem more invested in helping the environment.
Lottie's letter from Sir David Attenborough
‘The letter was such a wonderful addition to my Queen’s Guide award and was made even better by the fact he had scribbled some words out and rewritten them… it somehow made it feel more special. I will treasure it forever!’
Lottie, Queen's Guide
Lottie has been a member of Girlguiding since the age of 4 when she first joined Rainbows. She went on to Brownies and then Guides before becoming a young leader at her Guide unit. She completed her young leader qualification whilst also doing her bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh awards.
‘Girlguiding has definitely shaped who I am today. Working closely with a group of leaders has been a great experience and we all work well together to make sure our Brownies have the best time and earn lots of badges! Completing my Queens Guide Award made me more committed and organised, as well as building my confidence with having to go to new places and meet new people!’
Lottie, Queen's Guide
A deep dive into guiding awards
Girlguiding Celebrates is a chance for us to shine a spotlight on our special guiding awards. This year, we celebrated 73 Queen’s Guides, 2 Silver Fish and 13 Laurel award achievers at Girlguiding Celebrates.
Take a look at each of our special awards and what they mean.
Queen's Guide
The Queen’s Guide award is the highest award you can work towards as a 16-30 year old in Girlguiding. Created in 1945, the original badge featured the crown of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It was updated to Queen Elizabeth II’s crown in 1953.
It gives you the chance to develop your skills, give back to guiding and support your local community. It’s been tweaked over the years so that there’s more choice and support for everyone involved. Our recent refresh in 2023 opened up the award so that everyone aged between 16-30 could do it, and made some changes to the challenges.
Silver Fish
The Silver Fish is the highest honour award given to adult members of Girlguiding. It's for adult volunteers who have had an exceptional impact through lots of different roles across guiding.
Did you know?
The fish emblem was chosen for the Silver Fish badge because it signifies the ability to swim successfully against the stream of life’s challenges.
Fancy learning more about Silver Fish? Maybe you have someone in mind you’d like to submit an application for?
Laurel
This is the second highest award in Girlguiding and it goes to members who have gone above and beyond and given an outstanding contribution to Girlguiding with their service. The original badges had a laurel wreath, as these have long been a symbol of achievement. It was renamed to match the badge later on.
Did you know?
The Laurel is also one of our oldest awards and began its life as the Medal of Merit all way back in 1912.
Do you know someone who deserves to be celebrated for their exceptional service to Girlguiding?
Guiding star
Our Guiding Star award is a very special award given to girls who’ve demonstrated exceptional resilience, acted as a role model or shown initiative in response to an emergency. It’s for girls up to the age of 19 and any Girlguiding member can make a nomination.
Thank you to those who were also nominated to attend
Girlguiding Celebrates isn’t just for the few people who receive prestigious guiding awards. It’s a celebration for all our volunteers who work tirelessly day in and day out to give girls amazing experiences.
Whether that’s a leader who plans amazing trips, someone who stepped forward when a unit was closing or someone who simply shows up every week no-questions-asked, Girlguiding Celebrates is about celebrating the small guiding moments as much as the big ones. We open up seats every year for those people to come along and join the party! This year, we had 229 volunteers who were nominated by their peers to join our celebration of thanks.
‘Thank you for the days when you’re doing the jobs that make guiding happen. Supporting leaders when they’re struggling, filling in gaps where a unit needs it, taking responsibility when things go wrong, and making difficult choices.'
Tracy Foster, chief guide
Karen's story
Karen was nominated to attend Girlguiding Celebrates by a fellow leader. She leads 2 Rainbow units based in Essex and has helped grow another Brownie unit in her local area from 8 girls to 30. Not only was she nominated for her amazing recruitment efforts, but she’s also taken on additional responsibility as a mentor for another leader.
She helps her with things like parent and carer letters, sharing unit resources, and carves out time to answer any questions related to volunteering with Girlguiding. She does all this on top of her full-time job and working for the local Girlguiding Depot!
'Thank you for making sure hundreds of girls are in the right place at the right time, with the right uniform, and doing the right activities for them. Thank you for putting in the hours, the mental and emotional effort, and the strength.'
Tracy Foster, chief guide
Look out for nominations in the next year
Next year, we’ll be celebrating people who’ve achieved a special guiding award between January 2021 to December 2024 and those who haven't yet celebrated their awards. You'll also be able to nominate someone to win a seat at the event in early 2025.
In the meantime, you can nominate someone for a special guiding award so they’re celebrated in the future:
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