Getting my ‘Going Away With’ License!

As a Guide I LOVED going to camp: staying up late whispering and eating contraband sweets; waking up with a cold nose toasty warm in my sleeping bag; and sitting round the fire toasting marshmallows.

As a leader I still love camp but now the best thing is watching the Guides growing in confidence and making firm friendships.

I decided to do my ‘Going Away With’ qualification which allows Leaders to take the girls away overnight. The thought of being responsible for the girls for a whole weekend was scary. But I had the support of my amazing unit team so I went for it!

Actually it was a lot easier than I thought. It’s a lot of responsibility, but Girlguiding have loads of great resources to help you. I got training from my County and loads of support from my Mentor and Division Camp Adviser. Also – the girls do lots of the work! They choose the theme, help come up with the menu and suggest activities! I did a couple of practice camps first to prepare me for my assessment.

My assessment camp was daunting, but the inspection went really well and I got lots of helpful hints for my next camp! My Division Camp Adviser came out to camp to see me afterwards with a tin of biscuits and a huge hug! The Guides were really supportive too – they made me a lovely Thankyou card!

The evidence for my module book piled up without me even realising – all I had to do was collate it. I even put in the actual crumpled shopping list!

When the news came back that I’d passed I was so pleased. I had achieved something I hadn’t thought I was capable of and the Guides were really proud of me!