Senior Section

Senior Section members are members of GirlguidingUK who are aged between 14 and 26 - not what the name might suggest! Lots of different groups make up Senior Section and you can be part of as many or as few as you want. We have lots of Senior Section members in Benton Division although it is very rare for them all to be in 1 place at the same time!

The Senior Section programme is called Look Wider and is based around 8 octants each with 3 levels encouraging members to think up their own challenges and develop their skills. All Senior Section members can take part in the Commonwealth Award, D of E and the highest award available in Guiding, the Queen’s Guide Award.

Senior Section members have lots of residential opportunities which are not available to other younger sections such as Innovate (a Guiding national weekend where the members get to help shape the future of GirlGuidingUK), international camps representing the County or Region or even just with their units, and GOLD (a national trip where members help make a difference in a project overseas) projects, over 18s even get the chance to take part in camps as part of the service crew!

Ranger in Grey Uniform

Rangers

This is probably the section that most people associate with being Senior Section, although to be Senior Section you do not have to be part of a Ranger group. Rangers are the next age group up from Guides with older Guides often going to Rangers. Rangers are more flexible than other sections with meetings varying in length, location and time to suit members. Often there are fewer meetings at exam times because members are too busy to meet then. Members also tend to come and go and they go away to University but all are welcome back during their holidays as meetings can happen during normal school holiday times as well if the memebrs choose.

In Benton Division we have 1 Ranger group who meet on average every 2 weeks on various nights and in various locations. The members of the current group range from 14 years old to being 24 meaning the group is very varied!

The Ranger programme is varied and is totally planned by the members of the group. Activities have ranged from pottery decorating, Geocaching, having a Wii and chocolate night, knitting and having a careers night.

Young Leaders

Young Leaders are members who are aged between 14 and 18 and who are working with a Rainbow, Brownie, or Guide unit as a Leader. Aged between 14 and 16 Young Leaders can work towards the Young Leader Qualification and once they are over 16 they can start working towards the Adult Leadership Qualification with parts of the Young Leader Qualification counting. Young Leaders can join in many of the same activities as Rangers and have the same opportunities open to them. We have Young Leaders in Benton Division working with Brownie and Guide units.Some are also members of the Ranger unit, some are not.

SSAGO

SSAGO stands for Student Scout and Guide Organisation and is what many of our older Senior Section members become part of when they are at University. SSAGO enables them to still maintain contact with Guiding and take part in fun activities which they organise themselves. In our area there is a SSAGO in both Newcastle and Northumbria University.

Young Adult Leaders

These are Leaders who are over the age of 18 but still under 26. It is possible to be a Young Adult Leader and not a member of any other part of the Senior Section. Young Adult Leaders have all the benefits of being a Senior Section member such as all the fun activities on offer and can also wear the Senior Section uniform (including hoodie) to their unit meeting.

In4mers

In4mers are Senior Section members who are peer educators. To be an In4mer you have to attend a basic or refresher 4ward, 4elf, 4others training to learn these skills. In4mers travel around Rainbow/Brownie/Guide/Ranger units carrying out nights on topics which may normally be difficult to discuss such as bullying, binge drinking and sex and are coordinated by a County 4 Co-ordinator. To be an In4mer you don’t have to be a member of any other part in Senior Section although most In4mers are also Rangers or Young Leaders.

Although the Senior Section does not have as wide a range of uniform as the other sections, the Senior Section uniform is designed to be practical and contains the Senior Section hoody – designed for Senior Section members by Senior Section members and is one of the most popular choices of uniform. Uniform can be bought from the North Tyneside depot in North Shields, online at Guiding Essentials or other locations that the leader will let you know about.

Ranger in Aqua Uniform

The Senior Section Promise

Senior Section members all make the same promise which is the same as the Guide promise but with an added bit on the end:

I promise that I will do my best:
To love my God,
To serve the Queen and my country,
To help other people
the extra bit is
To be of service in the community

Useful to know: