Growth & Retention Letter to the County – November 2019

Dear Leaders,

Thank you to everyone who was able to complete the County Survey earlier this year. We have received some fantastic feedback with some really great ideas to take our County forward. A team of guiders have spent a long time working through the answers we have been given and we are grateful that you have been patient with us during this time.

When you completed the questionnaire, we suggested that a follow-on survey would be sent out in April. Having reviewed the responses, we did not feel this necessary as the information we received has already been so informative. We have received an array of responses and all equally important!

So many of our members enjoy their time in guiding (77%), based on the purpose of the organisation and, for many, they ‘do it for the girls’. It’s also great that so many of our leaders (again, 77%) feel that they are part of our County. This is great and it’s wonderful to hear about the activities you have been up to in your units. We want to really share these across the County, share our ideas and handy tips, especially with the introduction of the new programme. Please share your activities and outings on our Facebook page and of course, you can always email your stories to durhamnorthpr@gmail.com so that we can share them on our fantastic new website too!

We are very aware that we cannot acknowledge the wonderful points of our County without also addressing the unrest. The topics that have been mentioned the most are:
• Necessity for more leaders (83.6% of you struggle with this);
• More girl events;
• More leader only events and leader recognition (96.3% would like this!);
• More advertising, more presence at events; and
• More connection between leaders, districts and divisions across the County (interestingly, the split between those who feel like divisions and districts are connected across our County is about 50:50).

We have taken these all into consideration and started with a brilliant day in April for the County’s 30th birthday, combined with the Trefoil Guild’s 75th birthday! We also have another leader event coming up so watch this space! This will be a chance for leaders to meet County Advisers, understand their roles and what goes on at ‘County level’. There will also be a Q&A session to allow some airing and sharing of thoughts, ideas and observations and finally some treats for you all.

As many of you know, planning events take a lot of time and commitment. County events are absolutely fantastic for everyone who is able to attend, however they can’t be planned by only one or two people. We want these events to be exactly what you want therefore we need to ask for your help. If you can share some ideas or would like to be part of a planning committee, perhaps you have excellent IT skills to design an event poster or could make facility enquiries through the day. Do you work somewhere with a big hall or field we can use? It would be great to hear from you.

Some of the negative responses relate to a feeling of ‘disconnect’ between divisions and districts, and the County. There seem to be a number of topics sat under this headline including varying levels of support, work life, personal life, events and communication. We want to address this and have been putting together a 2020 growth and retention plan which has been requested of us by HQ; this is the source of the questionnaire. We know how important our leaders are (of any level, experience and qualification) and ultimately, you are our best advocates for your roles, the time and commitment you give to Guiding. It is therefore a priority that we tackle our internal PR and communications so that you are fully informed and reconnected to Guiding and your immediate County. We have some ideas brewing in the background which will be shared with you all at our Leader event, on our Facebook page and on our website.

It is important at this point, for us to provide you with a little feedback in relation to some topics that were raised in the survey responses. The following are the most common topics raise that, unfortunately, we have no control over:
• red tape
• forms to be completed/ paperwork;
• the new programme; and
• communication from HQ (London)

Whilst we may not be able to change some of these things, we do want to help and support our leaders with their units and those issues in guiding which cause that bit of extra pressure. Watch out for some topical discussions on our Facebook page together with some training opportunities that may be useful. Don’t forget also, there is a lot of knowledge within our County – ask your fellow leaders, ask your former guider or the guider who you attended an event with last year – you never know, this might just be the guiding connection you’re looking for.

We would like to thank you all again for your time to complete the survey and also for your time and effort within guiding.

Yours sincerely,

Durham North Guiding Development
Lisa Nesworthy, Brenda Day, Sonia Butcher, Christine Mantel, Jennifer Boynton, and Angela Marshall