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– Members of Irish Girl Guides carry out 84,000 good turns every week –
Dublin, 01/04/2019 – The Irish Girl Guides are inviting members of the public to join them doing good turns during National Good Turn Week (1-7 April 2019).
When girls join the organisation, they promise to do a good turn every day. Given that there are 12,000 members, this makes a whopping total of 84,000 good turns every week!
During National Good Turn Week members share their good deeds on social media using the hashtag #GoodTurns and encourage members of the public to do the same.
In this way, it is hoped to spread kindness and goodwill throughout the country, thereby making a positive impact on individuals, families, communities and on society as a whole.
Younger Irish Girl Guides (IGG) members will help their parents with chores around the home (without being asked!) and share their lunch with their friends while older girls may offer to help an elderly neighbour with shopping, donate money or toys to charity or hold a bake sale to raise money for charity.
Some girls are opting to do good turns for the environment, like walking or cycling to school or turning the tap off while brushing their teeth. Some Girl Guide units are organising litter picks in conjunction with An Taisce’s Spring Clean and sharing their photos with the #trashtag hashtag, which has taken social media by storm in recent weeks.
“By carrying out good turns daily, the value of volunteering is impressed upon our members from a young age,” says IGG Chief Commissioner Helen Concannon. “Our youngest members from age five learn about different ways they can help others at home and at school while our older girls get involved in community action projects and learn to use their voices and their skills to improve the world around them.”
Encouraging members of the public to do good turns each day too, Ms Concannon says: “It doesn’t matter what the good turn is – visiting someone in the community, listening to a friend in need or supporting a charity – once it’s something kind for someone else. Focussing on good turns helps us to see opportunities in everyday life and to become active citizens.
“We hope that thousands of people throughout Ireland will join us in doing good turns and we’re asking everyone to share their kind acts on social media using the hashtag #GoodTurns. Let’s do what we can to spread a little kindness!”
Irish Girl Guides welcomes new members from age 5+ and volunteer Leaders from age 18+. To find out more, see www.irishgirlguides.ie or telephone 01 6683898.
ENDS
Contact:
Fiona Murdoch, Communications Officer, Irish Girl Guides
Tel: 085 8570565
Email: communications@irishgirlguides.ie
Notes for editors:
Irish Girl Guides has approximately 12,000 members. Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,800 volunteer leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens. Girls from age 5+ can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Community Action, Cultural Diversity, Disability Awareness, Drug Awareness, Online Surfer, Science Investigator, Engineering and Global Traveller.