Hello! My name’s Laura.
Some of you may know me as the Rangers Adviser, but I’m also a member of Inspire. I was chosen to be part of the GOLD cohort 2023, and will be writing a monthly blog about my GOLD journey, and the general GOLD experience.
Last year, in early 2022, a friend encouraged me to apply for GOLD; a remit of Girlguiding UK, which gives members the opportunity to work internationally. Girlguiding members from all across the UK will partner with different organisations within the WAGGGS community, and collaborate with their members on various project. Each project is tailored to meet the needs and aims of each individual Member Organisation (M.O).
In Spring 2022, I applied for GOLD, or Girlguiding Overseas Linked with/Leader Development, using their short digital form. As GOLD is only available to 18-30 year old members, I wanted to apply before I aged out!
In Summer 2022, I received an email, saying that I had been selected for the Go for GOLD! weekend. Go for GOLD! is the selection weekend, which narrows down further the possible applicants for that year’s cohort. Mine took place in Bristol, on the first weekend of October 2022.
To find out more about the Go for GOLD! weekends, stay tuned for the next blog post!
For now, we caught up with Holly, who was involved in guiding in Cornwall when she took part in GOLD Rwanda 2019 as a Team Member. She then took part in GOLD Maldives 2022 as Team Leader.
Holly, what inspired you to apply for GOLD?
“I love all things international travel and guiding, so the idea of combining the two in the form of a GOLD project seemed really appealing. I applied for Go for GOLD knowing very little about the weekend, other than it was a chance for a weekend camping with a bunch of like-minded people my age. I was assured by people I knew that had also been on a GOLD project, that it would be lots and lots of fun. I wasn’t disappointed!”
You can find out more about GOLD here.