Girlguiding UK Vision for the Centenary Launch Parties is:

‘1.2 million people party to celebrate 100 years of guiding.’

The title for the Party is ‘100 years on – come and look at us now!’ It summarises precisely what the Launch Parties are about.

They will include a measure of reflection on the past 100 years of guiding in a fun and interactive manner, with activities that show modern guiding as a forward looking youth movement for girls and young women in the 21st century, and an invitation to others to come and see what Girlguiding UK is like now.

What do people, especially young people, associate with birthday celebrations? Birthday parties!

The Centenary Launch is our chance to party to mark the 100^th birthday of guiding. While the party events will be very varied, each with its own character, they will share some core elements so that everyone enjoys a common experience. There will be a strong focus on youth participation.

Every Trefoil Guild member will be invited to one of the local parties, and if it is practical for her to do so will be bringing a guest who has previously made her Promise.

These guests might range from a friend who made the Rainbow Promise but did not move on to Brownies, through young women who have gone away to university and are not currently active in guiding, to mums / carers, grandmas, aunts and neighbours who would like to remember and celebrate their time in guiding.

It is hoped that each party will attract a mix of ages, with a strong representation from the younger age groups. Each guest is being invited to ‘come and look at us now!’ – who knows, some of them may like what they see and want to join in again!

The Centenary Launch Parties will offer a fun, shared experience to guests of all ages. They will be events that members, past members and organisers will look back on in years to come and say ‘I was there’.

We know that guiding pushes the boundaries and that it is relevant to girls in today’s world. Unfortunately, people who do not know us well sometimes have a very different image of Girlguiding UK. This is our chance to challenge others’ perceptions. We’ll provide a modern celebration of guiding in the 21st century, for our members and past members alike. And we’ll make sure the media know what is going on too! We’ll celebrate our heritage in a fun way that is relevant to the modern world, focusing on how guiding and its members have pushed the boundaries over the past 100 years.

In 1909, two years after the first Scout camp was held on Brownsea Island, Robert, Lord Baden-Powell announced that he would be in Crystal Palace Park on Saturday 4 September. Any Scout who wished to join him was welcome. Lord Baden-Powell wanted to show the public how the Scout Movement had progressed since the first Scout camp in 1907.

To his great surprise, approximately 11,000 Scouts came along. Among them was a group of girls, sisters of some of the Scouts, who challenged the idea that Scouting was only for boys – they declared themselves to be Girl Scouts. Baden-Powell agreed to consider their request to join in and, in 1910, guiding began.

The Centenary Launch Parties will therefore be held during the weekend that falls exactly 100 years after those ground-breaking young women approached Baden-Powell at Crystal Palace Park, demanding something for the girls.

All Centenary Launch Parties are being organised locally. There will be one event in Crystal Palace Park, London, organised for representatives from the four surrounding local Counties, which will be the focus for the Girlguiding UK celebrations.

This event will be organised along the same lines as all other Centenary Launch Parties.

In addition, the Crystal Palace Party will include the opening of the Park’s renovated Maze. This is one of the creative projects being undertaken by Girlguiding UK to celebrate the Centenary. Artists Brook and Black have been working with the guiding Counties local to the Park, to design interactive works of art which will be installed in the Maze to celebrate the 100-year history of guiding.

In years to come, we hope that this Maze will be visited by guiding members from all over the UK, just as the stone commemorating the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island is visited by hundreds of Guides and Scouts each year.