Way back when Guiding started, most people did not have
access to genuinely waterproof coats, and wellington boots were rare. Nevertheless, the first handbook makes it
clear that Guide meetings should be held outdoors unless the weather absolutely
forbade – and there is the famous response from our founder when a unit asked
her about fundraising to build a drill hall – Agnes asked why on earth they
would want to do drill in a stuffy hall when they could equally well do their
drill outdoors and get the benefit of the fresh air . . .
Although we do have to bear in mind that in those days most
units met at weekends rather than weekday evenings, and so had the benefit of
year-round daylight which many of us don’t, nevertheless any unit log book from
those early days would be filled each week with outdoor games, picnic hikes,
tracking, fire-lighting, shelter building, campfires, practicing first aid and
rescue skills, long-distance signalling, wide games – and very little mention
of handicrafts, citizenship discussions, or other indoor/sedentary activities.
And whenever we are preparing adverts about modern Guiding,
we automatically look out our photographs of the camping, sailing, climbing and
other outdoor adventures we’ve done – and tend to include very few pictures of
the girls sitting around tables at the hall.
Even though that would be a more accurate reflection of the average unit
meeting.
Are we being honest – with the public, and just as
important, with ourselves?
I do try to get my unit outdoors as much as is
reasonable. Weather permitting we spend
the greater part of the summer term outdoors.
But this year the summer term is only 10 meetings long for one of my
units, and only 7 meetings long for the other due to Monday holidays. On top of this there will be a couple of
weeks at the start of the autumn term when we will have daylight. During the winter we do try to arrange some
outdoor activities in the dark, but generally we’ll be indoors most of the
time. I don’t suppose we’re unusual in
that. And I try to organise at least one
weekend residential for each unit, which is as much as I can manage most
years. So the photos I pick out for the
display will almost all tend to come from our once-a-year visit to the
watersports centre, or the once-a-year camp or indoor holiday. What we did at unit meetings on the other 34
weeks of the year we met will not get much mention, nor many photos. So I guess my adverts and displays won’t be a
very honest portrayal of the unit at all.
Need it be that way?
We nowadays have access to thermal clothing, effective
waterproofs, affordable wellingtons. So
we can go outside on any week of the year without ill-effects. Most units have access to a local park,
farmland or common land, car parks/clearings, or other open areas (however
small) which would enable them to get outside – or could borrow a back garden. If the will was there. The range of outdoor activities available to
us is much wider than 100 years ago – as well as organised sports there is
orienteering/geocaching, many towns have trails, streetlights allow us to do
floodlit trails, many playparks and skate parks are open at night, bike trails
and cycle lanes are being opened, many areas have countryside wardens, park
keepers or nature clubs. And the outdoor
activities the early Guides did are still open to us, and still as adventurous
as ever they were – indeed in many cases even more so.
I know about staffing.
I know about paperwork. I know
about worried parents. I have all of
those too. But Guiding was a game
designed to be played outdoors, and nowadays more than ever, Guiding has a role
to play in improving the health of the girls.
The old health rhyme was “Always feed on wholesome fare, through your
nostrils breathe fresh air, clean yourself both in and out, twist and turn and
run about”. Well, don’t we keep hearing
about balanced diet, self-healthcare, hygiene and exercise? The rhyme is as relevant and as necessary now
as ever it was, when so many of the girls don’t have balanced diets, and rarely
get exercise in the fresh air. One of
the big aims of Guiding was to give the girls healthy outdoor exercise. I think it’s important that, whatever else
the programme may bring, we keep that at the forefront.
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