The Big Help Out is a great opportunity to showcase the power of volunteering with Girlguiding and the amazing work we do supporting girls and young women.
The Big Help Out 2024
This year The Big Help Out takes place on the weekend of 7-9 June at the end of Volunteers’ Week.
Register your division, district or unit on The Big Help Out app and offer potential volunteer taster sessions during your unit meetings. You can offer multiple events and they don’t need to be during the 7th to 9th of June. Offer dates that suit you.
There are real benefits to taking part, including the potential to discover a new volunteer, the opportunity to connect with your local community, and ensure Girlguiding is being seen.
The Big Help Out is not only about local projects in your community. It’s about us too and the vital role we play for girls and young women.
Getting Started
On this page we have the information you need to help you get your volunteering opportunities on to the app. Use the text and visual assets below to create your event.
Big Help Out website Big Help Out LogosBefore you begin…
You may prefer not give out your meeting place address or precise location to discourage walk-ins. If so, just add the area name.
You do need to provide the exact time and date. You might prefer your potential volunteer to arrive a few minutes ahead of your meeting.
Make sure you limit the number of available places to 1 or, at most, 2. You (or another formal Girlguiding volunteer) will need to supervise any adult visitors at all times.
Do ensure you are familiar with current Girlguiding policy regarding visitors to your meetings, share the unit safeguarding guidelines with them, and complete an external visitor form.
Let them know that not all girls can have their photograph taken and that only formal volunteers familiar with each member’s photo-permission can take photographs.
External visitor form Draft risk assessmentRegistering with Big Help Out
Visit the Big Help Out website registration page and select Upload your Opportunities. Follow the steps below to help you through the process of creating an event for the Big Help Out app.
Creating an organisation
If you set up 1 or more events last year, you can sign into your existing account.
To register a new account, enter your name, telephone number, email address, and choose a password. Read the terms of service and the privacy policy, ‘tick’ the relevant box, and select ‘Continue’.
A verification code will be sent to your email address so you can verify your details. Enter this as requested.
Once your account has been created, you can register an organisation. Select ‘Register an Organisation’ and enter your unit name (e.g. 1st Anywhere Brownies, Home Town), select the cause ‘Young People and Children’ from the drop-down list, and then the purpose of your unit.
Purpose
Through fun, friendship, challenge and adventure we empower girls to find their voice, inspiring them to discover the best in themselves and to make a positive difference in their community.
Chose a unique name, such as 1stanywherebrowies as your doit.life/ url. Next you need to add a logo, website link and description.
Profile image
You will need to provide a square image as the profile picture for your unit. You can save the images below to your device to add a profile image. Use a section logo for units, or the Girlguiding logo for divisions, districts and units with 2 or more sections.
Website
If you have a local website for your division, district or unit, make sure you include a link to it here. If not, use the link of your division’s page on the Girlguiding Kent East county website. Select ‘copy link’ to obtain the link for your division.
Ashford Crown Copy link
Ashford Knoll Copy link
Canterbury Copy link
Faversham Copy link
Folkestone Copy link
Herne Bay Copy link
Sandwich Copy link
Sheppey Copy link
Sittingbourne Copy link
South Foreland Copy link
South Goodwin Copy link
Tenterden Copy link
Thanet East Copy link
Thanet North Copy link
Thanet South Copy link
Whitstable Copy link
Description
We’re part of the UK’s largest youth organisation dedicated completely to girls.
Girls can do anything and we help them know that, whether they’re 4 or 18 or in between. Week in week out more than 300,000 girls meet as Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers. We fire their imaginations through challenges and adventures for all personalities and abilities. All girls have a home at Girlguiding – whoever they are, and wherever they are.
Admins
You can also add other volunteers to be admins for your unit, district or division account.
Creating an activity
Once you have created an organisation account, you can start to add activities. These are individual event dates or opportunities for volunteers. We recommend you create several options, 1 for each unit meeting. These do not need to be during the Big Help Out weekend itself. All dates and days are available from now and into the future.
Select ‘New Activity’ (in the top right-hand corner).
Choose the most appropriate type for the listing you would like to create. If you want to create individual volunteer taster sessions, choose New Event. You can also create an entry using New ongoing Opportunity.
Which App?
The BHO ’24 App and the BHO Business App are both dedicated to the Big Help Out campaign, with the BHO ‘24 app for the members of the public, and the BHO Business App dedicated to opportunities for corporates and businesses for employee volunteering.
DoIt is the Big Help Out platform provider, who offer a year round platform, therefore, there is the option for you to publish your volunteering opportunities on their Do Volunteer platform too.
You need to create an activity individually for each app you choose.
New Activity
Enter a title such as ‘Volunteer Rainbows Unit Helper taster’.
Select ‘Young People and Children’ as the cause.
Choose the requirements that apply. Girls and young women, 14+, can become Young Leaders. Boys and young men, under 18, can volunteer provided that it is part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. All adults, 18+, can volunteer with Girlguiding (subject to the recruitment and vetting procedure including a DBS check).
Cover Image
For each of your events, choose the appropriate cover image below. They have been created specifically to work with The Big Help Out app. Save them to your device or computer so that you can add the desired image to your event.
Rainbows
Brownies
Guides
Rangers
Girlguiding
Use this for division, district or multi-section events. Do not use this cover image for a single-section event.
Description
Now it is time to write a description about your event. We have provided the following section specific introductions. We have also provided an introduction about volunteering, additional information and a summary of what to expect on the day.
Rainbows introduction
She’ll laugh, sing and make a happy mess! We have plenty of magic moments at Rainbows, in regular unit meetings. Join us for a volunteer taster.
Rainbows welcomes all girls from 4 to 7 years old for play, learning and tons of fun in a colourful, safe space. It’s a wonderful world of adventure, week after week.
Brownies introduction
Something for every girl and plenty of moments she’ll never forget. Brownies is full of firsts: growing her first plant, cooking her first cake, lighting her first fire, and going on her first camp. Join us for a volunteer taster and create a first of your own.
Brownies welcomes all girls from 7 to 10 years old and it’s nonstop fun, learning and adventure.
Guides introduction
Guides is the place to have fun, learn and be yourself with good friends. It’s a relaxed and welcoming space for girls and young women from 10 to 14 years old.
Have you ever cooked over a campfire, or created your own perfume? Had a mocktail party, designed an advertising campaign, or raised money for a charity you believe in? Come and join us for a volunteer taster at Guides.
Rangers introduction
We’re girls and young women from 14 to 18 years. We get together to have fun, learn more, give back, hang out, and just be ourselves.
At Rangers we have regular meetings, with trips at home and abroad, and make a difference to the things we care about. It’s an open and relaxed space to talk with good friends. Come and join us for a volunteer taster.
Volunteering
Include this paragraph about volunteering with Girlguiding.
No matter how much time you have to give, there’s an opportunity for you in Girlguiding. Whether you see yourself being an extra pair of hands, as a unit helper, or becoming more involved as a unit leader, or in a supporting role outside of unit meetings: no commitment is too small!
Additional information
You do not need any prior experience or qualifications. All we ask is that you bring yourself and offer us your time.
Volunteering for Girlguiding is about being you. Because we work with children, we do request that you read and follow our unit safeguarding guidelines beforehand.
If you would like to volunteer at further unit meetings, particularly on a more regular basis, we would love to welcome you. We can talk to you about how to make this happen, including our recruitment and vetting procedure.
There are many ways to share your skills to support Girlguiding. Whatever time you can spare, and the skills you have to offer, there is a suitable opportunity available.
On the day
During your taster meeting, you will be assured of a warm welcome from the existing volunteers and the girls.
You will have a nominated adult volunteer to support you during your visit, to explain anything you don’t understand and to help you to find out whether volunteering your time and skills with Girlguiding to help girls to achieve the best that they can is something you would like to do.
As Girlguiding volunteers we discover new experiences, build our own confidence, realise accomplishments, and most of all, have fun. From helping girls with crafts and small group activities, to large event planning and management, there are opportunities to use your skills, and even discover some you didn’t know you have, in rewarding and fulfilling ways.
Once you have completed your event description, select ‘Continue’.
You do not need to complete the ‘What do volunteers need to offer?’ and ‘What will volunteers receive?’ boxes. You can add individual points, or short sentences to these boxes.
Select ‘In local area’ for Type of attendance, and choose an appropriate optional for Space options. For Type of work select ‘In group’.
Select ‘Continue’.
To complete your event you need to provide the date, time and an approximate location.
Select ‘Local’ for Event type.
You may prefer not to enter the full address of your meeting place. Instead enter the local area name, town or village.
Choose the start date and time, and the end date and time. This is for 1 event only, so both the start and end date should be the same. Allow for some time before and after your unit meeting, so that you have a chance to talk to your prospective volunteer before girls arrive.
Limit the number of volunteers to 1 per event, unless number of existing volunteers you have would safely allow you to manage 2. You will need to supervise them for the entire meeting.
Select ‘Publish’ to add your event to the app. Don’t forget that you can repeat this process to add multiple dates.