Holiday guiding is any guiding that takes place during the school holidays

It can include units that meet throughout the holidays or just for a few days at a time. It can also involve offering tasters to introduce adults and girls to guiding before they make a more regular term-time commitment. It can happen indoors, outdoors, online or be a mixture of all three!

Holiday guiding is a great way to give girls the chance to join guiding

In many counties, waiting lists sometimes mean that potential members may not be placed in a unit until they are nearly old enough to join the next section. One way to ensure more girls are given the opportunity to be a part of guiding is by opening a holiday unit. Instead of running a weekly unit, a term’s worth of programme is condensed and run during one week of the school holidays. This could be in the summer, Christmas, Easter or even half term holidays.

Holiday guiding can help girls move sections

Moving sections can be a daunting prospect. Holding some joint activities during the holidays can be a way to bring units together and give girls who are due to move up after the break a chance to meet their new unit leaders as well as the girls they’ll be joining.

Holiday guiding is also a great way to re-introduce guiding to girls after a break

Girls and adults might feel nervous about coming back together if their unit has had an extended break during the coronavirus pandemic. A few sessions during the holidays might be a good way to break the ice. These could be outdoors or online.