Elizabeth Strachan is the leader of 16th Ayr Guides. For over 5 decades, she has paved the way for girls to grow in confidence and build lifelong friendships. Starting out as a Brownie at age 7, Elizabeth was inspired by her leaders’ kindness and their strive to be inclusive. She then progressed up to Guides and was struck by the fact her unit was non-camping. She was determined to offer this to her unit as a leader. 

Elizabeth said: “When I left Guides, I had a brief time outside guiding before I was invited back to assist in the leadership team at my old unit. As time went on, I became the leader of the unit and eventually it merged with a nearby unit that had diminishing numbers. This union was a success. As the unit was a non-camping unit, I felt that to give the girls a rounded guiding experience, I would need to gain firstly camping experience then camping qualifications. To enable this to happen I approached the leadership of a nearby camping unit who readily agreed to my request. Both units have been camping together ever since. I eventually became county camp adviser and enjoyed my time in this position. I also held the post of district commissioner for the central Ayr district for a term.” 

Elizabeth has overcome a number of challenges in her volunteer journey, including suffering a stroke back in 2007 which resulted in her having to learn how to walk, talk and write again.  This has not stopped Elizabeth from continuing to offer her unit incredible opportunities, such as international adventures to Switzerland and camping trips closer to home. 

“Through guiding I have had the privilege of attending international camps, going to Switzerland on several guide holidays and taking guides to visit Our Chalet,” Elizabeth continued. In 2007 I had a stroke that resulted in me having to learn to talk, write and walk again. I was very fortunate in that I was able to achieve this and eventually recovered and returned to guiding. The training I undertook through guiding and through my work complimented each other. The training by the guiding trainers has enabled me to progress through the various changes in the guiding programme that have taken place in my time in guiding and equipped me to transition with confidence and deliver the new programmes to the unit successfully. I particularly found that the training I received through my work (I latterly worked as a finance officer for a group of schools) regarding safeguarding was entirely transferable to my guiding life.”  

Another challenge that Elizabeth has been faced with, alongside the rest of the guiding community, is the pandemic. When the entire country was plunged into lockdown, units were forced to adapt with many moving unit meetings and sessions online. Elizabeth decided to offer Zoom meetings to her unit. She explained: “Over lockdown, after it became apparent that it was going to be an extended period of time, we began to have Zoom meetings with the Guides. This turned out to be a hit with both the girls and the parents and we ended up doing a variety of activities from crafts (we delivered the items required to each girl), quizzes and treasure hunts to making mug cakes. Necessity being the mother of invention, we became very inventive as to what we could deliver online. Once the restrictions eased, we moved our unit meetings to outdoor ones before resuming indoor meetings. “ 

Elizabeth also detailed how the unit had welcomed some Ukrainian girls who moved into to the area after fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. She said: “Over the years we have had several girls who have been refugees. The most recent have been Ukrainian girls. The girls are now established in the community and speak and understand English well. Their parents, however, are only learning English so we have had to devise lines of communication to keep them informed of what the unit is doing. Social media can be a source for good and as a unit we have a parents group (for consenting parents) and we keep them updated on what the unit is doing.” 

Elizabeth added: “It is challenging but satisfying to run a unit as it inevitably has girls of varying ages and abilities. I try to be inclusive and engage the girls in both things that they are interested in and also to try things that are out with their comfort zone. I have witnessed girls transform from being quiet little 10 year olds to self-assured and helpful 14 year olds and progress to be young leaders. I meet some of my ex-Guides from time to time and they invariably regale me with little golden nuggets of their memories of their time in guiding which is really gratifying. Being a volunteer in guiding has been very rewarding. I have been able to meet people from all walks of life and I have made many long-term friends along the way. I have enjoyed working with the various generations of Guides and hope that I have in some small way helped to shape their future and reach their potential and to try to achieve things outside their comfort zone and leave them with good memories of their time in Guides.”