Getting ready for ‘It’s in the bag' 2025
Getting behind the ‘It’s in the bag’ campaign in November
Our Olaves are a diverse group of young women aged 18-30 who are united by their shared interest in community, self-development and adventure! Olaves enjoy extending their friendship groups, improving their physical and mental health, building confidence, traveling, becoming better connected with their community.
Many women and girls in Australia are not as fortunate.
That’s why Olaves are leading the ‘It’s in the Bag’ campaign again this November. Ensuring Christmas is a little brighter for women and girls in need.
Olaves and other Guiding members:
- Advocate for Equality.
- Actively support the work of Share the Dignity.
- Collate essential care bags in every State.
- Inspire girls aged 5-17yrs to help the vulnerable in their community.
- Coordinate groups of girls nationally to make and donate bags.
- Collaborate with Trefoil Guilds and youth units to maximise Guiding’s intergenerational community impact.
Join the Olaves to put together 800 Adult, Teen or Mum and Bub bags filled with essential items to donate to women and girls in need for Christmas.
Donate filled bags at Bunnings Warehouse from 14 – 30 November 2025
What goes in the bags?
Fill a new bag or a pre-loved one (in excellent condition) with life’s essentials and a few luxury items to help someone in need.
All items included in the bag must be new and in sealed packaging for health and safety reasons.
Please do not include: pharmaceutical items (condoms, throat lozenges, paracetamol etc), razors/knives/scissors, food or drinks, spray deodorant/shampoo and other aerosols, loose tampons and pads or unsealed menstrual cups.
How do I tag the bags?
When you create a bag, please tag it using a ribbon or a downloadable tag from below. This tag will show the type of bag you have created.
- Adult bags should have a pink tag/ribbon
- Teen bags should have a yellow tag/ribbon
- Mum & Bub bags should have a purple tag/ribbon
Donate filled bags at Bunnings Warehouse from 14 – 30 November 2025
How do I record what we donated?
Each year we ask all Girl Guides, Olaves and Trefoil Guild members to record the details of the bags donated to the ‘It’s in the bag’ campaign. This way we can keep track of the donations made by members of Girl Guides Australia. The data will help us see how we are tracking against our target of 800 Bags and the amount of women and girls we have been able to help this Christmas.
For the 2025 campaign please record the details of the bags you have donated in this form.
If you have any difficulty completing this form, you can email the Olave Team at olave@girlguides.org.au.
Help Olaves this Christmas to collate 800 bags filled with essential items to donate to women and girls in need!
Girl Guides made a difference in 2024
Approach
This year’s campaign was led by Olave Program members, in collaboration with Trefoil Guild members and the wider Guiding community. Olave Program members took ownership and reached out to their local Guiding community to maximise the intergenerational connection in local Guiding communities to maximum affect. This approach was very successful – so much so that we surpassed our 600 Bag target!
Results
Each year we encourage Girl Guides to record their donations so we can see the national impact we have made.
We donated 724 Bags, with Guides from every State taking part!
We know a great many Units did not complete the form in time, so we can be sure we actually gained significantly more donations than reported here!
Bag Donations by State Girl Guide Organisation
ADULT | TEEN | MUMS & BUBS | TOTAL | |
GGN | 138 | 193 | 18 | 349 |
GGSA | 12 | – | 1 | 13 |
GGWA | 19 | 30 | – | 49 |
GGT | 15 | 7 | 2 | 24 |
GGQ | 91 | 43 | 21 | 155 |
| GGV | 94 | 21 | 19 | 134 |
TOTAL | 369 | 294 | 61 | 724 |
Supporter Experiences
We got our District (Monash District) involved in collecting donation items to make our bags. We also held a fundraising Trivia night (for both units funds but also some money for making up required extra items needed for Its in the Bag), and had trivia participants bring along donation items too.
Our Trefoil Guild decided to donate a ‘Share the Dignity’ bag for each person instead of doing a Kris Kringle. We felt this would be important to women who have had a bad experience as we feel we are all very fortunate to not have to have dealt with a difficult situation.
It is wonderful that women can support other women in this way.