Process for closing units, districts and divisions

In this guidance for ease of understanding we will say ‘unit’. What we actually mean is any guiding level that is closing (unit, district, or division). In the case of changes to a county, please contact the governance team (governance@girlguiding-scot.org.uk).

Before you start, you need to think about the following:

• Does the unit have an active bank account?
• Is the unit registered with OSCR as a charity? (If you are not sure you can search the register on the OSCR website)

The first thing to do is establish why the unit is closing. Is it because the leaders want to leave but there are still girls who would like to attend? If that’s the case then you could try to recruit new leaders. You can get support with this here. Alternatively, you can contact growth@girlguiding-scot.org.uk for advice around adult and/or girl recruitment.

If there are no girls in the unit or too few to make it viable then we would encourage for units to be closed, not left as open to be restarted in the future. This is because it is less work in the long run and is preferable from a compliance point of view. Please note that closing a unit doesn’t mean the unit name/ number is ‘lost’. It’s still possible to re-open a closed unit in future if required.

The following steps should be completed to fully close a unit:

1. Make sure that all of the girls’ roles are ended on GO, complete any transfers to other units for active girls.
2. Do not end all of the volunteer roles. This is so that you can still contact them in the process of closing the unit.
3. Mark the unit as closing on GO.
4. Establish what remaining funds there are in any bank accounts, and who has access to these. Funds should be transferred to the next level up (unit to district / division, district / division to county and so on) in line with the Girlguiding Finance Policy. You should try to save / gather evidence of any transfers (copies of bank statements for sending and receiving, or confirmation / receipts of transfers).
5. Any equipment / or other assets should also be transferred and evidence of this gathered.
6. Once the bank account balance has been cleared by transferring funds, the bank account should be closed. Ensure that you have a copy of the closing bank statement showing a zero balance.
7. Wherever possible you should get the year end accounts showing a final balance of zero.
8. Once all of the above is completed, the volunteer roles can be ended on GO and the unit marked as closed.
9. If the unit is also a charity then they will need to be removed from the charity register. To do this send to the governance team (governance@girlguiding-scot.org.uk) confirmation of the closure, including the charity number, where any remaining funds were transferred to and evidence of this, the final bank statement showing a zero balance, and the final set of accounts. If everything is in order governance staff will request removal of the unit from the charity register, and confirm this with you.

If you have any questions about closing units please get in touch with the governance team on governance@girlguiding-scot.org.uk.