The Cost of Volunteering

[Daisy]

My GD1 is working towards her first (Bronze) Duke of Edinburgh award. Park of the award involves volunteering for a charity, and my GD asked if she could volunteer to help with the local Rainbow (young Brownies) Group. She is thoroughly enjoying doing this, and has been a reliable and enthusiastic helper. She's now finished the DoE requirements, but would love to continue helping.

However, the Rainbow leader says she would like GD to continue, but as she isn't a Guide they would have to pay a fee (presumably to the Guiding Association) for her to remain as a helper, and they can't afford to do this. I don't know whether this is to do with insurance, whether she would have to be DBS checked, or what. The ironic thing is she would have loved to have been a Brownie and a Guide, but they were always full.

Has anyone else heard of this - I'm hoping perhaps Plant can spread some light on it.

[Oma]

Can’t help Daisy I know nothing about Guides / Brownies etc ,
Plant may be the expert 😁

[Daisy]

I can't find anything on their website about this, and I'm wondering if it is because she isn't yet 14. She's so disappointed she can't continue, and it would help her to know why.

Oma, I've got my fingers crossed that Plant can help explain it.

[Plantaholic]

Daisy, things have changed a lot in the Guiding movement rules and regulations, I used to welcome extra hands. I imagine it might be to do with insurance. I will ask my Guiding friends. Would your Dil be able to pay the annual fee and so get her covered to help. I pay an amount annually to the Guiding Ass. To belong to my Trefoil Group. Shame she wasn’t able to be a Guide, problem is they can’t get enough leaders.

[Gemini]

Oh dear Daisy, how discouraging.

[Daisy]

Daisy, things have changed a lot in the Guiding movement rules and regulations, I used to welcome extra hands. I imagine it might be to do with insurance. I will ask my Guiding friends. Would your Dil be able to pay the annual fee and so get her covered to help. I pay an amount annually to the Guiding Ass. To belong to my Trefoil Group. Shame she wasn’t able to be a Guide, problem is they can’t get enough leaders.

Plant, thank you for offering to ask your Guiding friends. I'd be very grateful. I did wonder about the insurance situation. After reading about it on the website, I'm wondering if it's because she is only 13. She was eligible to do the volunteering for her DofE because she will be 14 in this school year - but her 14th birthday is 5 months away. What has upset GD is that she has turned up every week, has prepared activities, contributed ideas and worked closely with the Rainbow members, while other volunteers have been unreliable, just not turning up without even the courtesy of a text message or phone call.

I don't know if it would even be allowed for her parents or us to contribute whatever money may be required, or how much money is involved. It does rather beg the question, why is it so hard to get leaders.

[Sum1Ls]

So frustrating. Perhaps contacting national HQ might yield an answer. Suspect as you say it’s the age that is the deal breaker.

[Plantaholic]

I suspect that too. I don’t like to bother my Guiding friends over the Easter weekend but I will enquire.

[Plantaholic]

I have just looked on the Girl Guiding website and it explains it clearly. The main thing is to help at Rainbows you have to be a Guide and aged 10 or over. Have a look, I think that is why the Rainbow leader isn’t able to allow your GD to help. I don’t know why she didn’t explain that to you GD.

[Daisy]

Plant, thank you for that. GD1 has been able to volunteer with them because they have arrangements with the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme to accept volunteers who are doing DofE. (That's how GD was accepted in the first place), but she was specifically told that it would cost Rainbow to continue to let her volunteer now she's completed the minimum requirement for her Bronze award.

It seems strange that they are turning away a very willing volunteer because they didn't have room for her in Brownies/Guides years ago.

[Gemini]

I feel very sorry for your GD Daisy .

[Daisy]

Thank you, Gem. She's rather taken it to heart, and is puzzled by it.

[Nanto2girls]

Daisy, how disappointed your GD must be. I bet it's not every day they would get someone who would be so willing to volunteer.

[Daisy]

I know, Nanto. Sometimes red tape strangles good things.

[Plantaholic]

Locally, Brownie packs, and Guide un its have closed because of lack of leaders, this is mainly because of red tape and rules. They can’t even take the girls out of the meeting place without an assessment. On a fine evening we would go to our lovely common and make notes of wild flowers etc. We had 3 Brownie Packs in the village and two Guide units, now we only have one Brownie Pack and one Guide Unit. People are very quick to blame these days.