Guides in the UK

The Girl Guide movement began in 1910; founded by Lord Baden-Powell because girls had begun to form themselves into patrols of 'Boy Scouts'. He named the new movement after a famous Indian regiment called the Khyber Guides whom he admired because they were trained to do anything, worked hard, could look after themselves and had lots of common sense.

The Girl Guides were quickly joined by their younger sisters in the Rosebuds who was later renamed the Brownies. The Guide Association now has four sections, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and the Senior Section including Rangers and Young Leaders.

Guides are 10 to 14+ years old. We changed our name from Girl Guides to Guides and the promise and law recently changed to:

The Guide Promise: I promise that I will do my best to love my God
To serve my Queen and country
To help other people
And to keep the Guide law.

The Guide Law
1) A Guide is honest reliable and can be trusted.
2) A Guide is helpful and uses her time and abilities wisely.
3) A Guide faces challenges and learns from her experiences.
4) A Guide is a good friend and a sister to all Guides.
5) A Guide is polite and considerate.
6) A Guide respects all living things and takes care of the world around her.

Before you can become a Guide you are set a series of pre-promise challenges based on the 8 point programme all the Guide Association sections follow: 1) Enjoying the out of doors
2) Keeping fit
3) Thinking for yourself
4) Giving service
5) Exploring the arts
6) Becoming a homemaker
7) Keeping the Guide law
8) Getting to know people

Once these are completed you make or renew if you were a Brownie your Guide promise.

Once they have made their promise Guides begin to work for their Trefoil badges: Yellow
Green
Red
Blue
The syllabus sets challenges based on the 8 point programme. While they do their blue trefoil they can work for the Baden-Powell award. This award is hard and only the excellent Guides will get that far.

Unlike interest badges and patrol pennants the trefoils are not cloth but an enamelled metal badge.

Guides work together in Patrols. Patrols have their own names and emblems - most often flowers or birds. The patrols in a unit get together to plan this is called Patrol-in-Council. The Patrol leaders meet with the Guiders to decide what the unit will do. This is called thePatrol Leaders' Council. Guides work for interest badges on their own but also work for patrol pennants as a patrol. One of the most popular activities in Guides is camping. Guides put up their own ridge tents and sometimes cook for themselves while at camp. Living together as a community and depending on your team are two of the important lessons of Guiding.

Baden-Powell's last message to Guides:

"God has given us a world to live in that is full of beauties and wonders and he has not only given us eyes to see them but minds to understand them if only we have the sense to look at them in that light."