The Big Help Out
The Big Help Out is a great opportunity to showcase the power of volunteering with Girlguiding and the amazing work we do supporting girls and young women.
Volunteer at a Unit Meeting Events
Register your division, district or unit on The Big Help Out app where you can offer potential volunteer taster sessions during your unit meetings. You can offer multiple events and they don’t need to be on Monday 8 May. Offer dates that suit you.
There are real benefits to taking part, including the potential to discover a new volunteer, the opportunity to connect with your local community, and ensure Girlguiding is being seen.
Before you begin
- Do not give out your meeting place address or precise location. Just add the area name.
- You do need to provide the exact time and date. You might prefer your potential volunteer to arrive a few minutes ahead of your meeting.
- Make sure you limit the number of available places to one or, at most, two. You (or another formal Girlguiding volunteer) will need to supervise any adult visitors at all times.
- Do ensure you are familiar with current Girlguiding policy regarding visitors to your meetings, share the unit safeguarding guidelines with them, and complete an external visitor form.
- Let them know that not all girls can have their photograph taken and that only formal volunteers familiar with each member’s photo-permission can take photographs.
Getting Started
On this page we have the information you need to help you get your volunteering opportunities on to the app. Use the text and visual assets below to create your event.
Registering with Big Help Out
Visit the Big Help Out website registration page. Follow the steps below to help you through the process of creating an event for the Big Help Out app.
Step 1
Create an organisation
Enter your name, telephone number, email address, and choose a password. Read the terms of service and the privacy policy, ‘tick’ the relevant box, and select ‘Continue’.
A verification code will be sent to your email address so you can verify your details. Enter this as requested.
Step 2
Register
Once your account has been created, you can register an organisation. Select ‘Register an Organisation’ and enter your unit name (e.g. 1st Anywhere Brownies, Home Town), select the cause ‘Young People and Children’ from the drop-down list, and then add the purpose of your unit.
Purpose
Through fun, friendship, challenge and adventure we empower girls to find their voice, inspiring them to discover the best in themselves and to make a positive difference in their community.
Select ‘Yes’ to indicate you are part of a larger organisation and type ‘Girlguiding’ in the box that then appears.
Step 3
Personalise
Next you need to add a logo, website link and description.
Profile image
You will need to provide a square image as the profile picture for your unit. You can download the images below to your device to add a profile image. Use a section logo for units, or the Girlguiding logo for divisions, districts and units with two or more sections.
(To download, click on your chosen image, click the arrow in the top right corner and select download.)
Website
If you have a local website for your division, district or unit, make sure you include a link to it here. If not, use the link to our county’s website https://ggmw.org.uk/.
Description
We’re part of the UK’s largest youth organisation dedicated completely to girls.
Girls can do anything and we help them know that, whether they’re 4 or 18 or in between. Week in week out more than 300,000 girls meet as Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers. We fire their imaginations through challenges and adventures for all personalities and abilities. All girls have a home at Girlguiding – whoever they are, and wherever they are.
Step 4
Create an event
Once you have created an organisation account, you can start to add activities. These are individual event dates. We recommend that you create several options, one for each unit meeting. These do not need to be on 8 May. All dates and days are available from now and into the future.
Select ‘New Activity’ (in the top right-hand corner).
Choose ‘New Event’.
Enter a title such as ‘Volunteer Rainbows Unit Helper taster’.
Select ‘Young People and Children’ as the cause.
Choose the requirements that apply. Girls and young women, 14+, can become Young Leaders. Boys and young men, under 18, can volunteer provided that it is part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. All adults, 18+, can volunteer with Girlguiding (subject to the recruitment and vetting procedure including a DBS check).
Step 5
Personalise your event
Next you need to add a cover image, a description, additional information about volunteer and details of the day.
Cover Image
For each of your events, choose the appropriate cover image below. They have been created specifically to work with The Big Help Out app, download them to your device or computer so that you can add the desired image to your event.
(To download, click on your chosen image, click the arrow in the top right corner and select download.)
Description
Rainbows
She’ll laugh, sing and make a happy mess! We have plenty of magic moments at Rainbows, in regular unit meetings. Join us for a volunteer taster.
Rainbows welcomes all girls from 4 to 7 years old for play, learning and tons of fun in a colourful, safe space. It’s a wonderful world of adventure, week after week.
Guides
Guides is the place to have fun, learn and be yourself with good friends. It’s a relaxed and welcoming space for girls and young women from 10 to 14 years old.
Have you ever cooked over a campfire, or created your own perfume? Had a mocktail party, designed an advertising campaign, or raised money for a charity you believe in? Come and join us for a volunteer taster at Guides.
Brownies
Something for every girl and plenty of moments she’ll never forget. Brownies is full of firsts: growing her first plant, cooking her first cake, lighting her first fire, and going on her first camp. Join us for a volunteer taster and create a first of your own.
Brownies welcomes all girls from 7 to 10 years old and it’s nonstop fun, learning and adventure.
Rangers
We’re girls and young women from 14 to 18 years. We get together to have fun, learn more, give back, hang out, and just be ourselves.
At Rangers we have regular meetings, with trips at home and abroad, and make a difference to the things we care about. It’s an open and relaxed space to talk with good friends. Come and join us for a volunteer taster.
Volunteering
No matter how much time you have to give, there’s an opportunity for you in Girlguiding. Whether you see yourself being an extra pair of hands, as a unit helper, or becoming more involved as a unit leader, or in a supporting role outside of unit meetings: no commitment is too small!
Additional Information
You do not need any prior experience or qualifications. All we ask is that you bring yourself and offer us your time.
Volunteering for Girlguiding is about being you. Because we work with children, we do request that you read and follow our unit safeguarding guidelines beforehand.
If you would like to volunteer at further unit meetings, particularly on a more regular basis, we would love to welcome you. We can talk to you about how to make this happen, including our recruitment and vetting procedure.
There are many ways to share your skills to support Girlguiding. Whatever time you can spare, and the skills you have to offer, there is a suitable opportunity available.
On the day
During your taster meeting, you will be assured of a warm welcome from the existing volunteers and the girls.
You will have a nominated adult volunteer to support you during your visit, to explain anything you don’t understand and to help you to find out whether volunteering your time and skills with Girlguiding to help girls to achieve the best that they can is something you would like to do.
As Girlguiding volunteers we discover new experiences, build our own confidence, realise accomplishments, and most of all, have fun. From helping girls with crafts and small group activities, to large event planning and management, there are opportunities to use your skills, and even discover some you didn’t know you have, in rewarding and fulfilling ways.
Once you have completed your event description, select ‘Continue’.
You do not need to complete the ‘What do volunteers need to offer?’ and ‘What will volunteers receive?’ boxes. You can add individual points, or short sentences to these boxes.
Select ‘In local area’ for Type of attendance, and choose an appropriate optional for Space options. For Type of work select ‘In group’.
Select ‘Continue’.
To complete your event you need to provide the date, time and an approximate location.
Select ‘Local’ for Event type.
We do not recommend that you enter the full address of your meeting place. Instead enter the local area name, town or village.
Choose the start date and time, and the end date and time. This is for one event only, so both the start and end date should be the same. Allow for some time before and after your unit meeting, so that you have a chance to talk to your prospective volunteer before girls arrive.
Limit the number of volunteers to one per event, unless number of existing volunteers you have would safely allow you to manage two. You will need to supervise them for the entire meeting.
Select ‘Publish’ to add your event to the app. Don’t forget that you can repeat this process to add multiple dates.
If you need any support with your event please contact Jade and Marian, Assistant County Commissioners.