Whether during term time or during the holidays, students are a great resource for growing guiding!
Reaching out
Girlguiding has a range of roles to suit many schedules – including students, whose availability will be dependent on their studies and plans for the future. It’s important to be flexible and give them opportunities that are tailored to their free time. This can include giving time only occasionally. Some universities have a Student Scout and Guide Organisation group who can put you in touch with occasional leaders and other volunteers who can help with special events.
Recruiting students at the very beginning of the year makes the most sense, as it is when freshers are most keen to get involved and make commitments. You can go to a freshers' fair or volunteering fair with your sign-up sheet to meet students face-to-face, and register with college or university student volunteering services.
Students on teaching and childcare courses often need experience of working with children of all ages, so this could be a selling point. It’s also worth highlighting how great guiding looks on CVs! It can help improve their career prospects and make them stand out when applying for jobs and internships. Of course, it’s also a great way to make new friends and have fun!
Communication
It’s important to have good communication skills in order to keep students engaged. Contact them straight after events where they’ve signed up, and the day before welcome meetings to refresh their memories. You may find that they prefer to be contacted via text rather than email.
When it comes to members in your area who are going away to university, keeping in touch is equally as important. They will likely be returning to the area during their holidays, so you can invite them to meetings when they’re back. Arranging Skype calls can be perfect for staying in touch over distances – you could hold a Skype call with your unit and the volunteer who is away.
Stress relief
It’s important to remember that being a student can be very stressful. During exam time, it can help to run meetings that involve very little preparation - game evenings and painting sessions, for example, that let them unwind while also giving girls meaningful experiences. Don’t forget that guiding is also about having fun!
When students are less busy, they are likely to be more interested in doing activities that are more involved. There is also the opportunity for students to run a session based on the subject they are specialising in.
In the same way, encouraging international students to sign up gives girls the chance to learn about other cultures from around the world! It is lovely to build mutual respect between cultures.
Guiding is also an opportunity to get to know their local community, and you can encourage them to do so with the sessions you plan. It’s important to show them that there is a world outside the ‘student bubble’!
Leaders of the future
It’s a great idea to use local leaders as mentors for students. Students are leaders of the future, and even a volunteer who can only help now and again around their university workload could end up doing a lot more when they graduate.
We want to prove that girls can do anything that they set their minds to – like go to university. Students can act as positive role models for girls, showing them that hard work pays off!
Read Girlguiding's guide to involving students in guiding here.