Girl Guides - brought to you by Volunteers

At Girl Guides we value all kinds of time commitments from our volunteers. Contribute what you can, when you can.

We will help you find the volunteer role which best suits your availability and skills. You might volunteer to work directly with girls or use your skills in Girl Guide Unit roles such as HR (Human Resources), organizational development, finance, PR and marketing, sponsorship, training, community liaison, or any number of other functions which support Girl Guides.

We aim to provide great experiences for our Guides AND our Volunteers 

Women join Guiding to invest in the lives of girls in their communities. It’s also a chance to make new friends, be active and learn new skills. Girl Guides provides training and mentors for adult volunteers. Volunteers have a choice of positions in a support role or Leadership role, in a face-to-face or behind the scenes role. As volunteers, women can get involved to a level which feels right, and can enjoy all sorts of activities, from arts to camping, from community liaison to promotion, from communications to finance. Volunteers don't need to have a daughter in Guiding. 

Volunteering for Guides

At Girl Guides, volunteering means choice. There is a great choice of roles. Some take on more than one role. Some move from one role to another. Volunteering is a learning experience. 

If you are short of time or are unsure that Guiding is for you, consider a 'donation' of six hours of your time to your local Girl Guide Unit as a temporary volunteer. At the other end of the scale, becoming a Girl Guide Leader is a regular and long-term commitment AND enormous fun and incredibly rewarding.

Listed here are some of the volunteer roles available within Girl Guides. To consider which might suit you, read through the role descriptions which follow.

Please review Working with Children Check for eligibility requirements.

6-hour Volunteer

Did you know that you spend an average 2,592 hours asleep each year? And 1,139 hours surfing the net, 895 hours watching TV and 1,092 hours doing housework if you’re a woman? (or 510 hours on housework if you’re a man!).

Can you spare 6 hours of your time for girls this year? If so, step up for our 6-hour volunteering program. 

There is no set program for these 6 hours. You could do anything from helping a Unit in their weekly meeting, assisting a small group of girls within the Unit to achieve one of their nominated challenges, or collecting resources for a Unit Leader. If you love cooking, why not share your skills with a group of Girl Guides on camp? Or if you like process and numbers, help out with money collection for a Unit activity. 

Please call Guide House on (08) 9355 4586 to register your interest or connect with a Girl Guide Unit near you.

Unit Leader

Girl Guides WA has over 100 adult Leaders and we need more! We have girls waiting to join Girl Guides if we can enlist more Leaders.

Each Unit needs at least one qualified Leader. The Leader has responsibility for the Unit and is often supported by other Leaders.

Leaders receive training both ‘on the job’ and through formal training sessions. Initially a Leader gains the Girl Guides Australia Leadership Qualification and there is further training on offer once qualified. Leaders are supported by a mentor while training and there is a district and regional support network.

When and how often Units meet depends on the commitments of participants. Most Units meet once a week, in the afternoon/evening; others may meet once a fortnight, perhaps on a Saturday. 

Unit Helper

Helpers are vital to Guiding. All Units work with a set ratio of adults to children so committed helpers are all important. For example, one additional Unit Helper means eight more girls can join the Unit.

If you can help on a regular basis, say once a week or fortnight, you could volunteer as a Unit Helper, supporting the Unit Leader. 

Parent/occasional helper

Many Units have a roster, where parents, adult family members or other adult volunteers take turns to assist the meeting. Just once or twice a term, it's your chance to take on a specific role and get stuck into a games and activities enjoyed by the girls.

Camp/event/activity helper

You are very welcome to help at special events to assist with organisation, safety and a various activities which the girls enjoy. Whether it's a trip to the Royal Show, a community event or a camp, your assistance would be invaluable.

Occasional helper - maintenance

Handy with a hammer? Enjoy using a drill? Many Units operate from Guide Halls, or share venues with other voluntary organisations. Your technical skills would keep everything safe and accessible for Guiding activities. And there would be a good chance you could teach the girls some handywork skills too.

Occasional helper - driver

Help with transporting the Unit is critical to succesful events. Driving the girls might involve a quick trip or could involve a journey to a camp.

Occasional helper - resources and storage assistant

The Girl Guides' resources kept on hand or the larger equipment which is stored at the Guide depot, play a big part in developing outdoor skills and confidence. Volunteering for this role would be a big help to the Unit.

Unit Secretary

Girl Guides do a lot of communication with parents and members of the local community. Your secretarial skills would be a vital support to the Unit,  and provide a Leader with solid support.

Unit Treasurer

If you enjoy working with numbers, you could play a vital role in helping the Unit Leader with the accounts.

Public Relations Adviser

Girl Guides WA is a great organization and girls do amazing things. We want people to know what we do. Why not help with publicity for one Unit or for a district or region? PR assistance and support is provided to volunteers by Guide House.

Trefoil Guild member

Trefoil Guild members support Guiding activities while taking part in their own program of events. As a Trefoil member you could assist Units and Leaders. See Trefoil Guild

Olave member

Olave members support Guiding activities while taking part in their own program of events. See Olave Program

Trainer/Guest speaker

If you have training experience you might volunteer to develop and deliver a relevant program for Girl Guides such as safety procedures, recycling and saving energy, practical engineering or horticulture. As a Guest Speaker you could bring your hobby to life, and provide a practical presentation or two to Guides, say in areas of first aid, nutrition, environment, drawing, birdwatching. This will likely support their challenges. 

Fundraising

Whether assisting with sales of Girl Guide Biscuits each year, or co-ordinating a sponsored walk, or applying for a special grant... if you have a flair for raising funds, your skills could be put to great use at Girl Guides. More funds mean girls are able to take part in practical activities. Fundraising value-adds to Girl Guide experiences. As well, through increasing the amount of funds raised, we are able to keep individual expenses down and cast our membership net wider.

Resources

Girl Guides use all sorts of materials and resources. You might support Unit programs through sourcing resouces for Girl Guide activities. This might involve asking parents and community members for contributions, using the Internet to track down materials, looking through Quokka for freebies, or organising an informal verge collection with your Girl Guide Parents.

Membership contact 

If you have an interest in recruitment activities, or enjoy being creative and talking to people, or enlisting support from the community, get behind Girl Guides. 

If you can see yourself in a role, then Girl Guides would love to hear from you.