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22 Aug 2023 |
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In this edition:
State Leads
Twin Rivers Appointments
RAP Working Group - Girl Guides Australia
Great Guide Sleepover Dubbo
Are Guides Adventurous?
NEW! Adult & Leader Recruitment Posters
Sustainable Guiding – Good News Story
National Science Week 2023
Toowong
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I fed a giraffe over the weekend at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, along with Shaylah McClymont, Deputy State Commissioner and the State Leads cohort. We were delighted to join over 200 fellow Girl Guides at the Dubbo Zoo Sleepover and participate in some of the animal encounters and celebrate the incredible success of the event. A matched funding arrangement meant that Girl Guide fundraising efforts enabled an investment into animal conservation over $10,000! What an impact! A huge thanks to the Event Leadership Team for putting on the wonderful event. |
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Our Incredible State Leads |
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Amongst the flurry of Zoo activity at Dubbo, the State Leads conferenced as part of an annual planning weekend with a focus for plans for 2024.
The State Leads play an important role in the implementation of the Strategic Plan, through their design and delivery of key strategic endeavours, which focus on growing Guiding.
Our partnership efforts with the tertiary sector universities and our capacity building of young women in decision making to ready organisational sustainability and succession plan are cornerstones of the Young Women Lead’s portfolio.
Our approach with tertiary institutions is to respond to changing expectations in volunteering and focus on enabling tertiary students (young women and forever young women) to come and volunteer with Girl Guides. There are also lots of exciting projects and opportunities with different institutions, but the lead driver is uplifting adult volunteering!
Our focus on increasing outdoor education access and participation through outdoor opportunities and qualifications, as well as strengthening our water activities offering, and working more closely with peers and peaks in the outdoor education sector, including the delivery of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award are key focus points for the Outdoor Lead.
Our strategy to uplift the profile of Guiding as a leadership organisation and support our Members on their leadership journeys including through qualification and program is at the heart of the Leadership Lead’s work. With changes nationally on how training is delivered, the team the Leadership Lead is building is focussed on supporting learning and development activities in their broadest sense to support our amazing Volunteers!
Our commitment to improving our Member experience, weaving our Guiding community, and firming the bonds that bind us fast, including creating powerful events for our Members is the point of the Engagement Lead. Look no further than the exciting Virtual Campfire being held tonight!
Our Inclusion Lead is focussed on building foundations and outreaching to new communities to increase Membership, while supporting and enabling diverse inclusion activities, which involve delivering mental health and wellbeing initiatives to build resilience, co-designing needs-responsive tools to support participation of Members and taking pride and increasing visbility in our community.
Accelerating our focus on flexible Guiding – as a new way to attract and retain Members through different delivery pathways and helping us take on more agile ways of work and modernise practices is the hallmark of our Innovation Lead.
Whereas our Sustainability Lead is focussed on how we make choices for a better world and engage our Members and support our properties become more sustainable, expanding on previous earth education efforts in line with our Promise and Law, as well as Member expectations to ensure we maintain relevancy to girls and young women today and tomorrow.
There are so many initiatives the State Leads are working on, in collaboration with different Region Managers and other key stakeholders with a focus to deliver on our strategy and drive toward our Mission of empowering girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world. |
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Region Manager Announcement |
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On behalf of the State Commissioner team, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kara Rennick as Region Manager of Twin Rivers effective Thursday 17 August! Congratulations, Kara on your new appointment.
Ros Steel will be supporting Kara as assistant Region Manager - a wonderful opportunity for Ros to continue her leadership for the Region. We look forward to seeing these two amazing women take on this challenge, and even more so to see all the amazing things they will achieve in these roles. |
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Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group |
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Are you willing to help shape a more inclusive future? Recognising the importance of fostering understanding and respect for First Nations People, the GGA Board is committed to developing a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) that will further cement the pioneering efforts of SGGOs toward their own RAP endorsements, and a more inclusive Australia.
GGA are seeking nominations for the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group. If you have skills in any of the following areas, please consider nominating to be a part of GGA’s RAP endorsement:
RAP Development Experience
Prior involvement in RAP development, either within the SGGO or professionally.
Cultural Representation
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander members.
Subject-Matter Expertise
Knowledge and lived experience within the sector.
Community Engagement
Proficiency in community consultation.
Passion and Interest
Individuals with a vested interest in this critical area.
Strategic Insights
Capacity to advise on RAP's impact on SGGOs.
Youth Empowerment
Young women nominees are strongly encouraged to participate.
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Interested? |
If you are interested, please submit your EOI to Michelle Duncan [email protected]
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Great Guide Sleepover Dubbo |
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Wow! What an incredible weekend at the Great Guide Sleepover, Dubbo! This year, 234 Girl Guide Members – Youth and Adults – descended into Taronga Western Plains Zoo for an unforgettable night of sleeping under the stars. There was laughter, there was dancing, and there were animals – a perfect weekend that encapsulated all things Guiding.
Throughout the weekend, the Girls visited several animal enclosures as well as the Animal Hospital on Sunday morning. This was a very special moment for our Guides as they were able to witness first-hand, all the amazing things that the Taronga Conservation Society is doing to protect an array of different species. Being Dubbo’s fundraising cause, seeing the Hospital was very inspiring for our Guides.
Thank you to all those who donated to the Wildlife Hospital at the Taronga Conservation Society. Together we raised a total of $5,213 for this incredible cause. Your generous contributions will go a long way in the conservation and protection of over 4000 animals. |
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Wait...are Girl Guides adventurous? |
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Many of you have contacted me, your Region Managers, and the Guide House office about a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, where the NSW Chief Scout Lloyd Nurthen was interviewed, outraged with what many in Guiding consider to be a misleading statement.
In the article ‘I went to lunch with the state’s chief scout and, of course, he cooked a decent barbecue’ published 28 July, 2023, the journalist asked “why would a girl join scouts rather than Girl Guides?” and Lloyd responded with “I think scouting offers that next level of adventure… Through scouts you can achieve your Duke of Edinburgh Award.”
I wrote to the author of the article and requested the opportunity to right the record with an interview of our own. Nothing has been confirmed yet, however I’m sharing the letter with you here. There is so much cause to disagree with that statement. Read my letter, and if you would like to get on the front foot with righting the record in your local area, contact Jamie at Guide House and he’ll help you with a media release or a letter to the Editor and advise the best way to approach the topic in your community. |
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NEW! Targeted Adult Recruitment Posters |
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Targeted Adult and Leader posters are now available for download via the We Need You Campaign Folder! The new suite of posters contains new and old imagery from a variety of Girl Guiding events throughout the years. Download them via the link below. |
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Download New Posters |
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Sustainable Guiding - Good News Story! |
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You may remember that late last year we partnered with the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to educate our communities and to promote awareness of plastic waste and the single use plastics ban and what it meant. Our Sustainability Lead Janice also drove an initiative to get waste sorting systems into campsites and Guide Halls.
The EPA acknowledges the pioneering presence of Girl Guides in the sustainability space and will be sending out a media release about how we are leading by example. The EPA has agreed to let us share the media release with you for your information so you won’t be surprised if a story pops up in the local newspaper, and so you can answer questions if someone asks you about how we’re helping our communities make choices for a better world. |
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National Science Week 2023 |
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This past week, from 12-20 August, we celebrated National Science Week. And what a wonderful week it was! It was amazing to see so many Members and Units getting involved in all thing's science; from fun experiments to STEM activities, I was incredibly impressed with everyone’s efforts.
If National Science Week has sparked an interest in you or someone you know, we encourage you to keep a keen eye on our upcoming events. There is always something new to discover in the world of science and STEM! |
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Cumberland Plains Region getting involved in some Science Week fun! |
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Read Toowong Now! |
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The Northern Territory Region’s bi-monthly newsletter, Toowong, is now available for reading. |
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Access it here! |
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Access the SharePoint link above using your [email protected] email address. We recommend using browser mode to access documents using your Girl Guides account. If you haven’t activated your o365 Girl Guide account yet, you can do so here. |
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Yours in Guiding,
Emily Milton Smith (She/Her)
State Commissioner
Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT
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Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which our office, Guide Halls and properties are located and where we deliver and promote Guiding. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present. Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT celebrates the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ and their unique and ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters and seas of NSW, ACT & NT. |
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© Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT PO BOX 950, STRAWBERRY HILLS NSW 2012 |
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