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– Members of Irish Girl Guides carry out 77,000 good turns every week –
Dublin, 26/04/2020 – Irish Girl Guides (IGG) is inviting all children and young people to join its members doing a good turn each day during National Good Turn Week (27 April – 3 May 2020).
During their annual National Good Turn Week, IGG members share their acts of kindness on social media using the hashtag #GoodTurns and encourage members of the public to do the same. They would particularly like all children and young people to join them this year when so many people, including all those over 70 years, are unable to leave their homes.
By carrying out good turns, it is hoped that young people will spread goodwill throughout the country, thereby boosting everyone’s spirits and making a positive impact on individuals, families, communities and on society as a whole.
Younger children can help their parents with chores around the home (without being asked), such as tidying away toys and helping prepare dinner, while older children and teenagers may offer to go shopping for neighbours or to walk their dogs. Some may choose to do a good turn for the environment, like turning off the tap while brushing their teeth or picking up litter in their locality (keeping within two kilometres of home, of course).
When girls join IGG, they promise to do a good turn every day. Given that there are 11,000 members, this makes a whopping total of 77,000 good turns every week!
“We welcome girls and young women from age five to join our organisation and even the youngest Ladybirds (the IGG branch for five to seven year olds) learn the value of ‘Sharing and Caring’,” says IGG Chief Commissioner Amanda O’Sullivan “The Ladybirds and Brownies (girls aged seven to 10) learn about different ways they can help others at home and at school while Guides (aged 10-14) and Senior Branch members (aged 14+) get involved in community action projects and learn to use their voices and their skills to improve the world around them.”
Ms O’Sullivan says: “It doesn’t matter what the good turn is, the important thing is that it’s something kind for someone else without being asked to do it. We hope that thousands of people throughout Ireland will join us in doing good turns and we’re asking everyone who is old enough to use social media to share their kind acts with the hashtag #GoodTurns. We all need to boost each other’s spirits at this time.”
Irish Girl Guides welcomes new members from age 5+ and volunteer Leaders from age 18+. No previous Guiding experience is necessary. 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 (IGG) has around 11,000 members throughout the 26 counties. Its 1,600 volunteer Leaders provide an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence, independence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens. Youth members from age five to 30 can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Aviation, Climate Action, Community Action, Cultural Diversity, Global Traveller, Engineering, Europe, Responsible Consumerism, Science Investigator and STEM.