Become a Volunteer
Irish Girl Guides (IGG) are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join us! Being a part of IGG means being a part of teaching and guiding the next generation as they grow into the adults of tomorrow. Our volunteers help us to provide our non-formal education programme. This is a dynamic and flexible value-based training in lifeskills, decision-making and leadership.
We welcome any suitable adult volunteers to share in the ethos and values of our organisation. We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, cultures, faiths and abilities. Our volunteers receive training in the area they will work in and there are many different roles you can take up to suit your availability and skillset. Our largest number of volunteers are Leaders with our units.
Get the chance to help the next generation learn to live and grow into adults equipped to cope with the joys, the anxieties, the fears, and the demands of life.
Volunteer
Volunteering with Irish Girl Guides will create long-lasting friendships and your relationships with the girls will enrich your life and help with your personal development. It will also provide you with important life skills that can be transferred to diverse areas such as your career, travel, studies, family, and social groups.
Volunteer
Being a leader, or doing any voluntary role within IGG, doesn’t just come with the fun and fulfilment of working with our youth members. It encourages the best in us as it gives us the opportunity to discover new ideas, new skills, new experiences, and new friendships.
Our volunteers gain invaluable skills for themselves which are transferrable into other areas of their lives. You have the opportunity to increase your organisational, youth work and outdoor knowledge, and improve your skills by working in teams with other like-minded people.
You become part of a national and international network of youth work volunteers.
Volunteering with IGG will open the doors to new friendships, new skills and experiences and new ideas. Guiding gives you the chance to share in a big picture of the future.
All our volunteers complete a screening process when they begin volunteering with us. They also receive training and must complete several requirements to gain a licence, called a warrant, after which there are many different opportunities available to them.
A Leader is an adult aged 18 or over. They set the tone, generate the atmosphere, plan and run the activities and demonstrate the Guiding principles so that they become intrinsic for the girls in their Units. There is a support network of volunteers and staff available to help each Leader on their journey.
Adults wishing to become Leaders with Irish Girl Guides must successfully complete the screening process which includes Garda Vetting. Leaders receive Safeguarding and Child Protection training.
Leaders who are not able or no longer able to commit to running their own Unit may be willing to support Units in their District or Area, occasionally helping to run a meeting when the regular Leaders are not available. They may also be able to volunteer for a committee role depending on their availability, administrative talents, or specific skill teaching. Leaders who want to stay involved as full members, but are not attached to a Unit, can register as a Non-Unit Volunteer.
A Unit Helper is an adult aged 18 or over who aids a Unit occasionally when additional help is needed at Unit meetings, holidays, camps, or other activities. These individuals are often on a parents’ rota and can include both males and females. Unit Helpers who attend regularly (for example to help a member with special needs) or those who attend residential events must successfully complete the full Unit Helper screening process including Garda Vetting.
Unit Helpers are there as a support to Leaders and girls within the Unit. They do not take on the responsibility of running meetings on their own or being left on their own with the girls. Unit Helpers may wear an orange neckerchief but do not wear a uniform or make their Promise as they are not members of IGG. They do, however, need to be in agreement with the fundamental principles of Guiding and enjoy working in partnership with girls and adults.
Contact us via the form below to be put in touch with the right person in your area and what role might suit you best. Our Regional Development Officer team in your area will have a good idea of which Units need additional Leaders or Unit Helpers and can help to start you on the road to becoming a Leader.
Below is IGG’s Volunteer Policy which outlines the roles and responsibilities of both our volunteers and the organisation.
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Contact us via the contact form to be put in touch with the right person in your area and what role might suit you best. Our Regional Development Officer team in your area will have a good idea of which Units need additional Leaders or Unit Helpers and can help to start you on the road to becoming a Leader.
Garda Vetting for the Youth Work sector for new volunteers is now mandatory. People who have on-going contact with children, in the provision of leisure or physical activities (paid or voluntary), other than those who assist ‘occasionally’ or in the course of a family or personal relationship, must be vetted. This applies whether the person works alone or accompanied by another adult. Failure to comply with this duty is now an offence under legislation.
Garda Vetting is only one element of IGG’s recruitment and selection procedures and new volunteers must successfully complete all elements of the screening process before becoming registered members of IGG.
Irish Girl Guides is a uniformed organisation and we expect Leaders and Non-Unit Volunteers to wear the correct uniform for weekly meetings, events and trainings.
Unit Helpers may wear an orange neckerchief but do not wear a uniform or make their Promise as they are not members of IGG.
A warrant is a licence to be a recognised Leader in IGG. To hold a warrant you must be an enrolled member of IGG. To become an enrolled adult member of the organisation, you must successfully complete the screening process and either make or reaffirm your Promise as a Leader.
There are two stages in the warrant process – Assistant Leader warrant and Leader warrant. The scheme is based on a period of service with a Unit. Everything you do, as a Leader in your Unit and as a member of your District, forms part of your pre-warrant training.
The requirements are stated in IGG’s online Handbook, and hints and tips for warrants are laid out in our Leader’s booklet Leading The Way. The same requirements apply to Ladybird, Brownie, Guide and Senior Branch Leaders.
Any further questions please contact us via our contact page.
No external qualifications are needed. You just need to enjoy working with girls and young women and you can gain Irish Girl Guides’ qualifications once you are enrolled as an adult member of the organisation.
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Irish Girl Guides has approximately 10,000 youth and adult members in Ireland. We are a youth-driven, dynamic organisation offering a varied and exciting programme for girls and young women aged 5-30.