Golden girls

A Gold award is a massive achievement for any young Girlguiding member. But what does it involve, and how can you support your girls to get it? Leaders and girls who have gone for gold, give their top tips.

One of the top awards in Girlguiding, a Gold award, is something girls can be truly proud of. Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers can achieve it for completing all six Theme awards in their section, plus doing a final challenge. We also offer Silver awards for girls who complete four Theme awards from their section, and Bronze awards for girls who complete two.

Working towards a Gold award is a big commitment. It’s something girls can choose to do, if they want to, and gives them the chance to push their limits, discover new skills, and have a lot of fun along the way. It’s also a valuable addition to things like university applications.

'When I first read about it, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it as it seemed like a lot of work,' says Nina Kennedy, a Ranger from Garstang in Lancashire. 'However, I knew how good it would be for me and my future as it’s an amazing award to gain. It will all be worth it once you have your certificate badge. You’ll feel great, just like I did once I got mine.'

Below, young members who have achieved Gold recently – and their leaders – share their experiences, tips and advice.

Girlguiding website: there for you

Susan Mulligan, a leader in Inverness who supported her Ranger Eva to complete her Gold award during lockdown, recommends relying on our website for resources, guidance and support with Theme awards.

She says: 'Eva was determined to get her Gold award. She wanted to feel like she had achieved something during lockdown. Girlguiding has so many resources online Eva was able to use to complete her Theme awards. I just had to point her in the right direction, and she went away and researched and did a lot of the work herself.

'The speed she worked through things was amazing. We’re very proud of her – she’s the first Ranger ever to get a Gold award in our county.'

Working around Covid-19

Covid-19 restrictions don’t have to be a barrier to girls doing their Theme awards or their final Gold award challenge. Doing the challenge virtually or socially distanced is allowed.

For the challenge, Rainbows have to tell their unit about all the special things they’ve tried and learned at Rainbows, while Brownies organise a meeting activity or create something special for their unit. Guides need to take part in a new outdoor activity or adventure, and Rangers do an activity to support their local community.

Elizabeth Franks, a Rainbow leader from Manchester, recently helped her Rainbows Eliza and Jessica to achieve their Gold awards. She says: 'They are two very creative young ladies. Eliza composed a song on the piano about her time at Rainbows, and Jessica composed a poem. They performed them on video for their final challenge.'

Ranger Nina made comfort bags for women’s refuges, with essential items like shampoo and deodorant. 'It made me realise how important it is to help those less fortunate than me, especially during the pandemic,' she says.

Motivating your girls

Doing your gold award takes a lot of time and effort. So how do you keep your young members motivated to keep going?

Vicki Fletcher, a Brownie leader in King’s Lynn, says a unit Facebook page has helped inspire Brownies doing their Gold award and their parents. 'During lockdown we celebrated every achievement on Facebook. Parents posted work and videos; everyone was supporting everybody else.

'We’re now back face-to-face, and we actually miss the total support and achievements of our Facebook page. Our page continues at a slower pace and it’s lovely to see the girls every week.'

Three girls from 1st Bebington Rainbows have completed their Gold award during the past year. Their leader Linda Smallthwaite says keeping up momentum while working through the interest badges, skills builders and unit meeting activities needed to achieve gold was important.

'We worked through an activity a week to help girls gain a skills builder badge. We felt it was important to reward girls quickly with badges for their efforts to ensure they saw something for their hard work,' she explains. 'Parents supported girls to focus on an interest badge in the same colour. That was followed up with unit meeting activities. Before long Rainbows were completing Theme awards, then Bronzes and then Silvers, then Gold!'

Ranger Alex Walmsley from Lancashire, who has just received her Gold award, adds: 'I would say make sure you enjoy the badges and skills builders you pick. It’s going to be hard to complete them if you aren’t really interested in them.

'Also, try to keep working towards it any time you can. If you have a free hour, you could get a good chunk of an interest badge done. It’s one less to work towards the award then.'

Being organised

Alex’s leader Julie Bell says it’s vital to plan out meetings carefully to make sure girls are doing everything they need to for the gold award. 'Make sure you plan effectively to maximise the meetings that take place so that all the unit activities are in place and the badges are the only element that girls have to do for themselves,' she says.

'Also, if your Rangers are doing other awards, see how you can use elements across all the awards. It makes them more achievable.'

Celebrate!

When a young member achieves her Gold award, it’s a big deal – and time to celebrate. Not only is a celebration a fitting reward for such a huge effort, it could help other girls find out more about the Gold award and think about whether it’s something they’d like to do, now or in the future.

Rainbow leader Elizabeth says: 'We made sure we had a celebration that reflected the fabulous effort that the girls had put in. They got a trophy, and we had cupcakes made. We invited someone special to do the presentation – the region chief came for Eliza and Jessica and we invited the county commissioner for the first three girls that did theirs.'

A Gold award involves lots of work, but is it worth it in the end? 'Of course,' says Rainbow leader Linda. 'Just remember the magical memories we can help make as volunteers with Girlguiding. If we can provide opportunities for girls to do their best and achieve and receive recognition for their efforts, it empowers them to know their actions can bring about something positive and exciting.'

Find out more about Gold awards – and the other amazing awards girls can work towards at Girlguiding.

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