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– 135 Girl Guides to receive Guiding’s top award at Croke Park –
Dublin, 10/10/2019 – Girl Guides in every county in Ireland are getting ready to celebrate International Day of the Girl tomorrow [11 October] by leading out loud.
The 11,000 Irish Girl Guides (IGG) members will join millions of girls and women, including the 10 million members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), in celebrating unscripted and unstoppable girls around the world.
They will learn about girls’ rights in different times, countries and cultures and through their involvement in the Girl Guides will develop their leadership skills and make a positive impact on their communities.
One hundred and thirty-five members who have already demonstrated leadership in their communities will head to Croke Park on Saturday morning to receive their Trailblazer National Guide Award at a special ceremony.
“By participating in a range of activities, projects and challenges, our members demonstrate leadership and develop confidence and independence while learning how to speak up and take action to make the world a better place,” says IGG Chief Commissioner Helen Concannon.
“The theme for this year’s International Day of the Girl is #GirlForce – Unscripted and Unstoppable and many of our members, including the 135 girls receiving awards tomorrow, are unstoppable in that they have blazed a trail for our younger members to follow. These amazing young people are 14 and 15 years of age and have already carried out projects in their local communities and have scripted their own paths by choosing the challenges they undertake.”
IGG awards badges to its members on completion of certain tasks. There are more than 120 badges to choose from, ranging from Community Action, Cultural Diversity and Disability Awareness to Drug Awareness, Science Investigator, Aviation and STEM.
“Our organisation empowers girls to be unscripted and unstoppable by giving them the opportunity to lead, to speak up and take action on issues that are important to them, for example gender equality and climate action,” says Ms Concannon. “We do a lot of work around the Sustainable Development Goals and we encourage girls through non-formal education to undertake new challenges and step out of their comfort zones in order to develop to their full potential and become responsible citizens.”
Irish Girl Guides welcomes new members from age 5+ and volunteers from age 18+. See www.irishgirlguides.ie for further information or tel: 01 6683898.
ENDS
Contact info:
Fiona Murdoch, Communications Officer, Irish Girl Guides
Email: communications@irishgirlguides.ie
Tel: 085 8570565
Notes for editors:
Irish Girl Guides has around 11,000 members. 1,800 young and adult leaders are involved. Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with the 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 become responsible citizens. Girls from age 5+ can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Community Action, Climate Action, Cultural Diversity, Disability Awareness, Drug Awareness, Online Surfer, Science Investigator, Engineering, Aviation and Global Traveller