Girlguiding Anglia is proud to be part of the Girlguiding family and we want to ensure we offer the best programme and opportunities to our girls, young women and volunteers. In order for us to deliver all of the fun we have to comply with numerous legal, financial and guiding regulations. We have a number of committees that ensure we remain compliant and oversee the various parts of our organisation, the committee structure includes Finance, Human Resources, Operations, Hautbois, Awards and our Executive. This governance structure and the members who sit within it help us to deliver the very best for all our members, staff and wider communities.
At the moment we are looking for members who could give up some of their valuable time to support our charity in a number of different roles. In return for your time, knowledge and support the region will offer you an induction at the start of your role, you will gain valuable experiences and learn new skills. Plus you will have the opportunity to guide the delivery of the region strategy and help shape the future of our fabulous organisation.
Current Region Committee Vacancies
We’re looking for two people to join our Executive Committee:
The first vacancy would be for a member with a region appointment.
The second vacancy is for a leader from within the Anglia region. Our ideal candidate would be from our 18 – 30 members to advocate for this important age group.
These vacancies are hugely important and will help to shape and influence our region’s direction going forward. The formal application packs for the Executive Committee roles will be available shortly, for any questions in the meantime please contact vacancies@girlguiding-anglia.org.uk
Our Finance Committee currently has two vacancies:
The first position is for the committee chair. The recruitment pack for the finance committee chair will be available shortly. Please contact vacancies@girlguiding-anglia.org.uk with any questions you have or to express an interest.
The second vacancy is for a member with a region appointment. To view the application pack please click here.
The Finance Committee is vital to the smooth running of our organisation, it is supported by the region treasurer and the region finance manager.
The Human Resources Committee also has two vacancies:
The first is for a member with a region appointment. To view the application pack please click here.
The second vacancy is for a leader from within the Anglia region to act as members representative. To view the application pack please click here.
The HR committee discusses many issues concerning the staff that work within the region office, the retail shop and Hautbois Activity Centre including job descriptions, recruitment and wellbeing.
As well as joining a committee our members can also become involved in region projects by taking on a specialist lead volunteer role.
We are currently looking for a lead volunteer plus two deputy roles for our communications team. This role is vital to the running of our organisation, engaging with our members, supporting leaders and liaising with our region counties, Girlguiding and region partners.
To view the application pack please click here
Member Testimonials
Hear what some of our current members have to say about their region roles:
Maxine Jones
Lead Volunteer for Marketing, Retail and Communication
“Being a lead volunteer is brilliant! I can honestly say that I have loved pretty much every part of my role as lead volunteer for marketing, retail and communication. It has given me the opportunity to use my skills and experience from both guiding and non-guiding life plus I’ve acquired a whole new set of skills too.
It’s great to be part of the region team and work with both staff and other volunteers to keep the region moving forward and support our members. It is so rewarding to start a project and take it through to launch and see the impact it has. It feels good to know you are making informed decisions that will benefit our region members.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with new and interesting people and have been involved in an exciting variety of partnerships from Essex County Cricket to The Houses of Parliament. My work as lead volunteer even resulted in me being recognised for a national award from Parliament! Not only has my role been satisfying, it has certainly enhance my CV and given me the chance to make a lasting difference to the charity I care about.”
Debbie Docherty
Region Trustee
“Round about the time I was taking early retirement from work I noticed in the Girlguiding Anglia newsletter that there was an opportunity for new trustees. I thought it might be just the challenge I was looking for so I made some enquiries. It seemed my business and managerial skills coupled with my guiding experience would be useful so I applied. I have been in the role for two years now, it has been very interesting and worthwhile.
The role fit flexibly with other activities, meetings are scheduled well in advance to help plan your life and there is an induction programme to help you settle in. There have been challenges and things we could never have planned, not least tough decisions we have had to make recently because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However I feel that my ideas, opinions and skills have been valued and I have found it great working in a team with like minded individuals all focused on trying to do our best for guiding in the Anglia region.”
Hello,
‘When I came to write this, I thought about all the events and activities that had been planned this last month but are now postponed with some sadness, but with hope that everyone is safe and well. I’m still busy with guiding and getting used to new ways of holding meetings but I’m sure like many of you, I am missing unit meetings with my guides. I haven’t run a virtual meeting yet, I’m in the “I would like to give this a go” group, but to be honest I haven’t had the time to plan. I keep in touch with my guides by sending them activities and linking to ” Adventures At Home.”
I want to tell you about the additional information that we have put together to assist all leaders, but I would like to emphasise that there is absolutely no pressure for anyone to deliver any guiding at this time. I appreciate many of you are facing challenges and the priority for now must be to look after yourself and your family. The information that has been prepared came from Ann Crome, Growth and Retention Lead Volunteer and was then discussed at the Region Operational group, and now here we are with a great newsletter which was sent to all of you last week. I hope these resources will be of great benefit for all of you (and me) at this time and thank you to everyone who was involved in putting this together.
Remote and virtual guiding support resources
Earlier this month we hosted an interactive Q&A on our Facebook page, it was a successful session and the team of staff and volunteers were able to answer many questions, queries and worries from our members. I want to say a massive thank you to Diane Card, our Learning and Development Lead Volunteer who came up with the idea, and the group of volunteers and region office staff members who delivered the session. Lots of you participated and thank you for your time and questions that helped lots of leaders across the region.
Take a look at our question and answer video playlist here
Virtual guiding FAQ’s on our website can be found here
We are always looking for new ideas for what we can create and deliver to you to keep our guiding going at this time, so do keep a eye out for these. It certainly reminds me that guiding is all about team work, working together to achieve our aims.
“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.” – Mother Teresa
Take care Tracy
Welcome to our remote & virtual guiding support blog, it includes support and resources for all leaders to assist with guiding at this time. Full ideas on how to keep in touch with your unit, delivering online meetings, if you wish to and information for you to download and send to parents in a ‘newsletter’ format.
There will be additional resources introduced over the coming weeks which will be shared in our monthly region newsletter, ‘Signpost’. If you don’t already receive this please review your marketing preferences on GO.
It’s okay to just be
At Anglia region we are aware that many of you are taking a break from guiding during the coronavirus lock down. If you are feeling under pressure to achieve while you are in lock down, remember that the most important thing you can do right now is look after yourself and your family. It’s okay just to be.
Remote guiding support
If, however, you are wanting to send something to your girls, but are struggling for time and ideas, then we have put together a series of section support newsletters for unit leaders to pick up and use.
These simple support newsletters can be sent to your girls’ parents, using the normal guidance for communicating with parents. These can be used standalone or you can add your own unit specific activities and/or ask the girls to send you evidence for the badges, changing them as you wish.
These are the first in a series of four, each set containing newsletters tailored to each specific section, prepared especially for you. The following info sheets will be sent to you approximately every 3 weeks, two per half term. These will be numbered, rather than dated, so please feel free to just send them out in number order within your own timescale.
Section support newsletters – set 1
Section support newsletters – set 2
Section support newsletters – set 3
Section support newsletters – set 4
If you have any ideas or suggestions for future content, then please contact us using the link below.
Online guiding & virtual unit meetings
Online guiding is something that some leaders have embraced, however this is not a requirement or expectation. It is completely optional.
If you do want to give online guiding a go, but need help getting started, we have put together a range of ‘how to’ guides to get our members going with conferencing and streaming platforms. The how to guides feature Zoom, Facebook Live and Microsoft Teams, with the authors having used them for their own unit meetings over the past few weeks. You can have a look and try the one that best suits you, they are not section specific.
Whilst we don’t endorse any specific platform we have included on each guide how to use the platform as securely as possible. Please read the terms and conditions of your chosen platform and risk assess as you would for any non-virtual meeting. It is essential to be safe and secure and parents will also make their own decisions on their child’s participation as they do for any guiding activity.
You can find more general information on access to permission forms, policies and getting started with online guiding and virtual unit meetings with the link below.
Helpful resources
Some of our region volunteers have shared some of their virtual session plans with us which you can also access from the Girlguiding Anglia website.
An update from Girlguiding about coronavirus can be found online alongside answers to FAQ’s about guiding during the lock down.
Please remember that you are not expected to move your guiding online – we understand if you would rather take a break until things return to something more normal. It’s important that you all take care of yourselves and your families at the moment.
Anglia region is here to help you, so please get in touch if you need us