The volunteer experience must be one of mutual reward, according to chief executive of Girlguiding Julie Bentley.
Talking at an event at Shoreditch House, Bentley described how her charity (formally known as The Girl Guides Association) ensures plenty of personal development opportunities for its leaders. “We hear all the time from our volunteers that they get an enormous amount out of being a volunteer. They have a lot of fun and form a lot of friendships, but it’s also fantastic development for them,” she said, citing the opportunity to pick up skills such as group work and financial management.
She added: “They get to develop their own confidence. Their team working and leadership skills are enhanced, and it’s a real thing to add to a CV.”
Talking on her work – since taking the chief executive role in 2012 – changing perceptions of Girlguiding, Bentley described how powerful harnessing what’s already there culturally can be. “People often try and credit me personally but it’s actually more showing them [the employees] what the organisation is already doing,” she said. Regarding the controversy surrounding her description of Girlguiding as “the ultimate feminist organisation” in 2012, Bentley stated that the organisation has always embodied a culture of championing young girls’ and women’s rights.
“A hundred years ago women were not meant to raise their arm above their head, but back then we had cycling badges, swimming and mechanical badges,” she said. “So I certainly haven’t made Girlguiding feminist.”
Bentley also talked on the lack of role models available to young girls. “Our members frequently tell us that they don’t see enough women they can aspire to be in the media around them,” she said. “We do have a real lack in our society of good female role models... in Guiding the important thing is the volunteer leaders are their role models. That’s an adult woman who’s a regular part of their life, they’re a normal woman and what they represent is women leading the way, showing you can be a confident, independent, thoughtful person with views and opinions.
“I hear all the time that girls are crying out for positive role models. They don’t see themselves represented in politics for example, and then if they do it’s about what shoes they’re wearing,” she said, adding: “We are about inspiring young women to be ambitious and aspirational, and understand the wider world.”
