We’re delighted to launch Girlguiding Nottinghamshire’s strategy for 2017 – 2020, which we officially launched at County Day on 18 March.
Thank you to those of you who attended the Strategy Weekend back in November 2016 and to those members and volunteers who responded to our Survey Monkey questionnaire, asking for feedback and comments about our proposed plans.
We are pleased to have received such a positive response, with 93% of people agreeing that the plans would help Girlguiding Nottinghamshire move forward over the next five years.
We’ve listened to your feedback, from the questionnaire and made some positive improvements to our plans. We’ve also addressed some of the queries raised:
You said: I’d like to see something about the County supporting Divisions and Districts with a top down approach and encouraging individuals and units to take part in national Girlguiding initiatives and opportunities.
Our response: We have included County support in our strategy document and we have already started to encourage our members to take part in wider initiatives, like the Macmillan Challenge, as well as the national recruitment campaign, starting in September 2017.
You said: Not all guiders use Facebook and social media. Also, not all Commissioners communicate well with their Divisions. Some guiders won’t read information, so please use as many methods as possible to distribute information, so that grass roots guiders have a chance to find out about events and opportunities in the county.
Our response: We use a variety channels to communicate with our members, including The Informer, a monthly eNewsletter that lands directly in the inboxes of members who have an email address on GO! We will be encouraging all leaders to ensure details are up to date on their GO! records.
You said: There are a lot of targets and objectives. I’m not sure how these will be achieved and delivered when you have such a volunteer shortage. What we need is specifics on how this can move forward. Many of our dedicated volunteers are already going above and beyond, and a lot of what you are proposing is heavily reliant on them when they are already under a lot of pressure.
Our response: We are developing an action delivery plan to help us take the strategy forward. We will establish key performance indicators for each action and monitor our progress through the Executive Committee and annual reviews, which will feed in to Division meetings. We will also be encouraging new volunteers to get involved in supporting organising committees.
You said: Would like to see more support, especially for new Leaders.
Our response: We are developing welcome packs for new Leaders and empowering our Division Commissioners to help give leaders in their areas more support.
You said: Not all Guiding groups are offering the best to the girls in their care.
We did: Girlguiding has introduced a new Quality Pilot to help ensure and encourage best Guiding practice. We’ll keep our members up to date with how this is developing.
You said: The checklists are a good idea, but the links are broken. Online resources are only useful and save time if they work!
Our response: We are conducting a full audit of the website and will be ensuring that all pages, links and resources are up to date and working.
You said: There needs to be more praise for the excellent work that goes on in units. This is not recognised, as units are essentially left to get on with things. Apart from a small well done at the end of the year from the District or Division, there is not greater recognition for the time and effort put in by individuals and unit teams.
Our response: Our County Awards scheme is one way to give recognition to volunteers in your area. There are opportunities for those nominated for a County Award to be put forward for awards at a region or even national level. We do note your concern and will work with Commissioners to develop ways to give more recognition to volunteers at a unit level.
You said: There is too much paperwork, especially regarding consent forms.
Our response: We agree and will feed this back to Girlguiding UK. We would also encourage you to contact Girlguiding UK directly – they are always asking for feedback and new ideas.
You said: We’re all volunteers and very often, lead very busy lives. Support – especially at local level – and information given in plenty of time is very important. Training could be offered more locally and at times to suit the volunteers. To attract and maintain volunteers, Girlguiding must be flexible and accepting that volunteers time is often very limited.
Our response: We are fully aware of the time and dedication shown by our leaders, and want to encourage and support flexible guiding. We are already looking at providing more cluster training at a local level and are continuing to ensure effective communication of opportunities and events to all areas of the county.
You said: We need to be aware that many members, young ones and adult, do not have access to private transport.
Our response: We will ensure access to sustainable transport where possible e.g. car sharing for County events and training’s.
You said: Not everyone has, or can use, computers; we need to continue to have information available on paper as well.
Our response: The office will always provide paper copies and support with printing where appropriate, if requested.
You said: We need to be cautious about bringing in optional County-branded casual wear. It needs to be carefully considered to ensure it meets a need not currently filled by the clothing options available from Girlguiding UK. It could also be a waste of resource and money to produce.
Our response: We won’t blankly order this; we will consult for the need, and if we feel there is a need, then it will be made to order and will very much be guide wear. We will ensure that a process is put in place that doesn’t involve a large stock order.
A downloadable version of Girlguiding Nottinghamshire’s Strategy booklet is available as a PDF Printed booklets will be made available to Division Commissioners at the next Executive Committee meeting in April, who will distribute one per unit. Booklets will also be available at HQ in Carlton and at all three of our properties.
Behind our strategy is a vast amount of detailed work and we are developing an action plan to help us take this forward. We will establish key performance indicators for each action and monitor our progress through the Executive Committee and annual reviews.
We will need the full support from each and every one of our volunteers to ensure our strategy comes to life and we realise the full potential of our abilities. If there are any areas that you’d like to be involved in, please contact:
Jackie Brocklehurst – countycommissioner@girlguidingnottinghamshire.org.uk
Kirstie Pogson – acckp@girlguidingnottinghamshire.org.uk
Kayleigh Hunt – acckh@girlguidingnottinghamshire.org.uk
Girlguiding Nottinghamshire’s plan has been developed from the themes of ‘Being our Best’, Girlguiding UK’s pledge to deliver a bright future to thousands of girls and young women. You can find out more about ‘Being our Best’ via Girlguiding’s website.
