Community Relations
Girl Guides Australia is a community organisation. Guiding encourages active participation in the community to develop girls and young women into responsible community members. It is this community involvement that differentiates Guiding from many other activities available to girls and young women.
Guides are regular participants in Australia Day, ANZAC Day, and citizenship events and celebrations across Australia. They develop a sense of history, experience a feeling of belonging and gain an understanding of how societies benefit by taking an inclusive attitude toward cultural and spiritual diversity. Guides help raise funds for global projects of the United Nations Development Fund for Women by assisting UNIFEM Australia Inc. with International Women’s Day functions around Australia in March each year.
In every district across Australia, Guides are involved in local community projects. Girls decide how they will contribute to their community, for example sleeping out for to raise funs for a variety of charitable organisations and experiencing the cold and discomfort of homelessness for a night, organising afternoon teas to raise funds for the Cancer Council, entertaining nursing home residents, planting and nurturing trees, helping at camps for children with special needs and packing literacy packs for street children in Lesotho.
Guides demonstrate commitment to protecting the environment through a number of community projects including Clean Up Australia, Earth Hour and the Girl Guides Australia National Cork Recycling Program
Girl Guides Australia is a founding member of WomenSpeak Network, a national coalition funded by Australian Government Office for Women. Olave Program Members represent Guides Australia in this network, which focuses on issues affecting young women, particularly health and education.
Girl Guides Australia is a member of the Australian Women’s Coalition. AWC is funded by the Australian Government Office for Women. It was set up in 2002 to provide advice to the Government on issues affecting women. Girl Guides Australia is represented by Lynne Price our Chief Commissioner.
From May to July each year Guides across Australia sell biscuits to promote Guiding and raise funds to provide girls and young women with up-to-date resources.
Girl Guide Leaders and Units are encouraged to support the Butterfly Foundation to continue challenging society’s perceptions of dieting and weight obsession by participating in International No Diet Day on Thursday 6 May 2010.
The Butterfly Foundation can help Guide Units plan and host a morning or afternoon tea to celebrate the annual diet free day and help raise funds to continue the work Butterfly Foundation does to support eating disorder patients and their loved ones across the country.
To register your interest email laura@thebutterflyfoundation.org.au and Butterfly Foundation will send you a kit to help you plan your event. The kit will include a registration form, further information about International No Diet Day and a few delicious recipes to get you started.
Butterfly Foundation is supporting Girl Guides Australia this year with the development of the Centenary Go Girl activity booklet which will be sent to Guide Units later this year.
Spread the word by urging all of your friends to learn more by going to Butterfly Foundation website at http://thebutterflyfoundation.org.au where you will find more information under Events. We hope your event is a great success!
In support of this year’s Harmony Day celebrations on March 21, 2010, Girl Guides Australia is hosting a photographic and multimedia competition with two prizes of $250 up for grabs. Managed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Harmony Day celebrates the cohesive and inclusive nature of our nation and promotes the benefits of cultural diversity.
To enter the competition, Guides and Units Australia wide are invited to submit either a photograph or a short video which visually celebrates culturally diversity. It might be a photograph or video of your friends, your Guide unit, your family or your community that expresses why culturally diversity is important to you as a Girl Guide.
Entries must be lodged on the Girl Guides Australia Facebook page under the photo or video sections with your entry clearly labeled Harmony Day competition. Be sure to include the location of your Guide unit in the caption so that we can track and notify the winners.
Two prizes will be awarded including a $250 prize for best photograph and a $250 prize for best video. (Note: the prize money will not be allocated to an individual Guide. Rather it will be awarded to the Guide Unit.)
Entries are open now and the competition will close on March 31. The winning Guide Unit will be notified within two weeks of the competition closing.
Earth Hour 2010 will be held on the evening of Saturday 27 March from 8.30-9.30pm. For one hour, cities across the world will turn off their lights, sending a powerful global message that it’s possible to take united action on global warming.
As we know, actions speak louder than words, and this action couldn’t be simpler. And it helps us to work towards achieving MDG 7 – girls worldwide say ‘we can save our planet’. Encouraging Guides, their families and friends to switch off their lights for one hour will show that we care about climate change and want to make a difference.
Participation can obviously be used towards the GAT badge (MDG 7), the GGA Centenary Challenge and the GGA Centenary World Environment Day activities.
Please find attached a sheet that lists activities girls can participate in leading into or following on from Earth Hour to encourage their understanding of how Earth Hour can build a better world. You can find additional activities on the Earth Hour website. We have also attached a media release which can be used to help local Units promote their involvement.
Last year, with your involvement, Earth Hour became the world’s biggest mass participation event ever. This year, Earth Hour is evolving to call for Earth Hour, Every Hour - encouraging the community to make changes in their daily lives and reduce their environmental footprint. We hope your Unit can be part of this important initiative.
For more information go to http://www.earthhour.org.au You can also download information, artwork and template letters from http://www.earthhour.org.au/what-you-can-do to help spread the word about Earth Hour and find out what's new 2010.
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