Celebrating commissioners
Commissioners keep Girlguiding moving. They’re the ones we turn to for support and encouragement when we most need it. And who bring us together so we can achieve more than we would as individual units.
Recently they’ve been going the extra mile to keep guiding going through these challenging times and we want to say a great big thank you. To celebrate everything they do, we spoke to two commissioners about what they love most about their roles.
Laura Harrison
District Commissioner Hersham district, Leader 1st Hersham Rainbows
Empowering others
‘It’s not just about your success. It’s about what your volunteers have achieved. My role is to oversee a collection of units in my area and support volunteers. I make sure everything’s running the way it should be and help leaders with their training and qualifications. You really do take joy in the achievement of all your leaders and units. The other part of the role is looking at the bigger picture and thinking longer term. Seeing it all come together as one district is incredible.
Our district works very closely together. We’ve got a district wide Christmas crafternoon - we always do! We’re running it virtually this year – leaders will film their craft and put it on YouTube and get it to girls that way. It’s headed up by three parents, so we do the guiding stuff - the forms and everything – but parents do all the kits.
"You really do take joy in the achievement of all your leaders and units."
There’s no point commissioners doing everything, it’s about delegating and knowing what your strengths are and what other people’s strengths are. The more you can do together, the more positivity you get for your leaders and for your girls. We usually have huge district camps where we have units from all sections. Girls transition up but they come back to the same events year after year. It gives them such a valuable experience and seeing them over a period of years is incredible. It's ok not to know the answer
People look to you for guidance and direction, so there is pressure to stay up to date but it is ok for us to say – ‘I don’t know, I’ll find out and come back to you’. We have other people on our level and our commissioners above us who we can find out from. Guidance is changing so quickly now it’s harder than ever to stay up to date. People look to you to judge ‘what’s our collective attitude?’. Being an optimistic and proactive person is really important as your attitude will filter down to others. Remember that you’re not just there to tick boxes or check up on people. It’s about empowering others, which is what Girlguiding is all about. You’re the person who enabled someone to run an international camp. The girls who go on it don’t care about the paperwork; they just remember they had an amazing time. Commissioners will never know the true value of what they do as it’s inside these girls who grow up and talk about this amazing camp for years to come. You made that happen.’
Hannah Roberts
County Commissioner Surrey West, Leader Shalford Brownies
It's teamwork
‘It is a challenging role but in a great way. I really love what guiding gives me in terms of a skills that I just wouldn’t get with work. As county commissioner I am responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the county and for complaints and safeguarding. I’ve learnt more about leading and managing people, compliance, risk and writing a strategic plan. It’s business skills.
My key aim at the moment is supporting volunteers, taking pressure off district and division commissioners, pinning down the business side of our campsites and recruiting new volunteers with specific expertise. I really love developing adults, I find it satisfying. The most important thing about this role is building your team and not trying to take it all on yourself. That’s when the role becomes easier - when you share it out and there's always other people to ask questions.
Getting to know everyone
Meeting lots of leaders across my county is a real privilege – you get invited to all sorts of events as county commissioner. We hadn’t had any Laurel awards in our county for over ten years and we had two within a year! Going to the celebrations, of women who have done amazing things, was brilliant. You can get really insular in your own unit or district and it’s nice to see wthe great things other units are doing and to celebrate girls and volunteers. As a commissioner, by going to these events, people get to know you as a person, and I like to join in as a normal leader. I’ll just muck in!
Big county events are amazing too. We’re planning a virtual sleepover with Brooklands museum in Weybridge. We’ll have a badge and a challenge pack around the idea of girls and women as pioneers. It’s for everyone in the county. Those are real highs when you achieve something together and have lots of members join in.
If you’re interested in developing guiding for the future and making your bit of the charity secure in terms of risk - and everything else - then have a go! It’s busy, there’s lots to juggle but it gets easier and there’s always people to turn to. It’s a serious role but we try to keep things light. We deal with the serious stuff when we need to but try to keep things sociable. Humour is important!’.
“Meeting lots of leaders is a real privilege – you get invited to all sorts of events as county commissioner. ”
Inspired? Find out more about being a commissioner
Becoming a commissioner is a great opportunity to influence guiding in your area. You’ll support and empower girls and women to get as much out of their guiding experience as possible. Find out more about becoming a commissioner.
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