{"id":10071,"date":"2023-03-23T10:35:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=10071"},"modified":"2023-03-23T14:23:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T14:23:12","slug":"girls-can-do-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/03\/23\/girls-can-do-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Girls Can do Anything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading graduate, Karen Dwyer, has been volunteering with Girlguiding for nearly 45 years. Her longstanding commitment is inspired by her love of Girlguiding and helping young girls grow into confident women.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Girlguiding is a UK charity for girls and young women, who believe in helping all girls know they can do anything. They offer Rainbows for 4-7 year olds, Brownies for 7-10 year olds, Guides for 10-14 year olds and Rangers for 14-18 year olds. Karen\u2019s time with Girlguiding began when she was a girl herself.<\/p>\n

\"Karen\"She said: \u201cI was a Brownie, Guide and Ranger in Dorset as a child. It was whilst I was a Ranger that I and another Ranger were asked to take on running the Guide unit that met before Rangers. I don\u2019t think we really thought about not doing it. The Guide unit was without a leader and if we didn\u2019t step up it would close. We were under 18 when we started running the unit, so the Ranger Leader also had to be present in the building, but we loved it and once I started as a leader I didn\u2019t want to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed Girlguiding so much as a child and felt accepted within the group. I wanted other girls to have that experience too. And now, nearly 45 years later, I\u2019m still volunteering with Girlguiding \u2013 currently running a Rainbow group with 40 girls aged 4-7.<\/p>\n

\n

“I love the feedback I get from seeing what the girls achieve and enjoy from their time in Girlguiding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Karen studied BA(Ed) Design & Technology with the Institute of Education<\/a> at the University of Reading and continued to run a Guide unit whilst studying. Although studying full-time, running a home, caring for three young teenage sons, working part-time, and volunteering was all quite a juggle, Karen nonetheless thrived on the challenge. She now also volunteers as the secretary for the local Guide Hall, and has recently started volunteering with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.<\/p>\n

Empowering girls<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Karen told CONNECTED that one of the special things about Girlguiding is how the organisation helps so many young girls to blossom.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI have many memories of the girls I\u2019ve volunteered with over my years with Girlguiding, particularly those who have joined us very shy and have thrived during their time with us.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne particular young lady I remember had special needs. When she joined my unit she had a vocabulary of five or six words, poor motor control and functioned considerably younger than her age.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was so proud of the way the other girls accepted her into the unit and adapted games\u00a0and activities to ensure she was included. The girl also had her first holiday away from family with us and during this time she really started to find ways to communicate her needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen also recalled how the girl was not keen on singing \u2013 something which features a lot in Girlguiding meetings \u2013 and how they overcame this so she could still join in.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe girl would become distressed when we sang. But with the adding of actions she became more comfortable with our campfire songs and with us singing Happy Birthday.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNow the girl is in her 30s and, with the support of her mum, she still phones me and remembers who I am. I am very proud of her and proud of how Girlguiding supports and empowers girls and women to enjoy themselves, learn new skills and grow in confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A supportive female environment<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Karen tells CONNECTED that being a Leader in Girlguiding involves running weekly meetings, planning, resourcing and delivering a range of fun activities. Alongside working with the girls there is also the administrative responsibilities, such as keeping accounts, letters to parents, managing a team of volunteers and risk assessments. She said: \u201cOccasionally there is the fun of organising a sleepover or camp holiday which I really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KarenDespite the hard work involved in running a unit, Karen believes there are huge benefits to being in an all-female supportive space for both children and adults.<\/p>\n

Karen said: \u201cActivities cover a wide range of skills and topics, opening the girls\u2019 minds to a broad range of opportunities that are available to them, and learning by doing and having fun is key. Having studied design and technology at Reading certainly gave me more confidence and knowledge when offering a broader programme of activities within the units I have run.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cGirlguiding also provides programme materials for weekly meetings which focus on women role models, including scientists and engineers for example. Guiding has also been kept as a girl-led space, as surveys over the years have delivered an overwhelming response that girls want this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Karen shared that guiding is also a supportive and encouraging space for the adult leaders as well. She said: \u201cWhether it\u2019s sharing an achievement or sharing a difficult situation, or perhaps helping out at a meeting, there is support, camaraderie and encouragement within the leadership team. There is also an online community of support, with a number of online groups that offer support with meeting ideas and solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about the inspiring women in our University community<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading graduate, Karen Dwyer, has been volunteering with Girlguiding for nearly 45 years. Her longstanding commitment is inspired by her love of Girlguiding and helping young girls grow into confident women.\u00a0 Girlguiding is a UK charity for girls and young women, who believe in helping all girls know they can do anything. They offer Rainbows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":10142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,64,21,34,168,47,87],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGirls Can do Anything - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reading graduate, Karen Dwyer, shares with CONNECTED why she has been volunteering with Girlguiding for nearly 45 years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/03\/23\/girls-can-do-anything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Girls Can do Anything - Connected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reading graduate, Karen Dwyer, shares with CONNECTED why she has been volunteering with Girlguiding for nearly 45 years.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/03\/23\/girls-can-do-anything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Connected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-23T10:35:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-23T14:23:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/03\/shutterstock_image-2023-03-23T141658.451.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hborthwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hborthwick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/03\/23\/girls-can-do-anything\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2023\/03\/23\/girls-can-do-anything\/\",\"name\":\"Girls Can do Anything - 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