Accessible Guiding grant

Read more about the Accessible Guiding grant and hear from people who have used it to take part in everything guiding offers

Our grant for members with disabilities has a new name and is now called the Accessible Guiding grant. The new name reflects the broad range of additional needs the fund provides support for.

This grant has recently been supported by Girlguiding donors, enabling many more members – like those below – to experience the best of guiding.

Grants have helped support inclusive camping

‘We’ve always been an outdoorsy unit, offering an overnight each term and a week’s camp every summer. A couple of years ago an absolutely brilliant leader joined us. Linda has severe obstructive sleep apnoea and uses a C-PAP machine at night, meaning residentials had to be indoors or at sites with an electric hook-up to power her machine overnight,’ says Jenny Fanstone, Leader with 2nd Wallingford Guides.

‘We applied for a grant to purchase a battery pack for Linda’s machine. The process was easy, and we heard very quickly that we had been successful. We’ve since camped in a field on the Isle of Wight, slept in cardboard boxes to raise funds for a local homelessness charity and had a Swallows and Amazons adventure camping trip on an island in the Thames.

‘But it’s not only Linda who has benefited. A grant to support one person has opened up opportunities for the whole unit – we are incredibly grateful for the support.’

Anya and her mum

‘We were planning a Brownie residential, but knew that Anya, who has autism, would need one-to-one support. My county suggested applying for a grant – and we were successful!’ says Bronwen Smyth, Leader with 2nd West Calder Brownies.

‘The grant funded a place for Anya’s mum. Anya finds unfamiliar environments very disorientating so she wouldn’t have been able to come without this one-to-one support.

‘On her first-ever camp, Anya was able to take part in activities such as zip-lining and climbing. When something didn’t go as Anya expected, her mum was able to help her calm down and settle back into the activities.

‘I think this shows how important it is for the grant to cater for different needs – physical disabilities, invisible illnesses such as diabetes or asthma, and conditions such as autism.’

The Accessible Guiding Grant is just one form of support we have for including members with additional needs. To make sure all members feel supported and included in guiding, we’ve expanded the guidance in our Including All webpages.

We’ve added new information on supporting members with mental health problems, young carers, those living in poverty and refugees and asylum seekers. We’ve also added guidance on supporting members and volunteers who are pregnant, have a child or are starting an adoption process.