Centenary

Our History

It's hard to believe, but Girlguiding has been on the go since 1910! The first Girlguiding unit in the Stewartry was registered in Gatehouse of Fleet on 18th February 1918. What have we been doing in the last 100 years?

We provide a unique, girl only space:

‘A girl is not allowed to run, or even to hurry, swim, ride a bike, or raise her arms above her head...’ according to a 1909 publication, but just a year later girls in guiding were heading off to camp, where in a girl-only space they could raise their arms as high as they liked.

We promote equality and diversity:

Guides have come from a rich mix of backgrounds, faiths and nationalities from the beginning. Across the decades there have been units in factories, young offenders’ homes and hospitals to ensure that guiding was really ‘open to all’.

We're relevant to today's girls:

Guiding has not only kept up with the times, but has always been ahead of them: in 1912 (only four years after the first powered flight in Britain), there was an air mechanic badge!

We give girls and young women a voice:

Girls pushed the boundaries and really spoke out when they turned up at the Crystal Palace Boy Scout Rally in 1909 asking for ‘something for the girls’. Later, when Baden-Powell was asked, ‘Who started the Guides?’, he replied, ‘They started themselves.’