As the ultimate award in guiding, the Queen’s Guide Award presents you with a series of challenges that allow you to give sustained service to guiding and the community as well as develop your own skills.

Who can do it?

The Queen’s Guide Award is open to any member of the Senior Section aged 16–25. If you’ve done other guiding awards and challenges, or even if you are new to guiding, then this Award is open to you (although you’ll have to make or renew the Promise). It is meant to be as flexible as possible to allow for any changes in your life during this time, so even if you are studying for exams, starting your first job, off to university or starting a family this Award can be versatile for you.

What will I get out of it?

The Award is based on the concepts of personal challenge and participation, and gives you the chance to develop through activities that you enjoy. The Award will help you to develop various skills such as:

• teamwork
• time management
• organisational skills
• planning and evaluation
• communication skills

How do I get started?

The first step is to contact your County Queen 's Guide Co-ordinator.
To register for the Award you must complete Girlguiding UK ’s Queen’s Guide Award Form (S/QG). Return the form to the Co-ordinator. During your progress through the Award, she will be your main point of contact regarding any queries or clarification.
You need to choose a personal mentor who can offer you advice and guidance through the Award, and help to plan and review your progress during the Award. Your mentor can be your Unit Guider, Commissioner or anyone else that you know through guiding. If you are unsure who to ask, your County Queen ’s Guide Award Co-ordinator can help you identify someone.
You will also need to obtain a copy of the Queen’s Guide Award Syllabus and Notes, and the record book.

Planning

Once you’ve registered, arrange a planning meeting with your mentor; the date of this meeting will be your official ‘start date’. The Award must be completed within three years of this date, or before your 26th birthday, whichever is soonest. At your planning meeting, get together a rough outline of the three-year period detailing how you intend to complete the Award. If you plan to undertake any activities that require further training, make sure this time is included. The clauses may be completed in any order so when you’ve decided which to do and when, send a copy of this plan to the Co-ordinator for her information and comment. You may find that while working on the Award some plans need to be changed. If this happens then talk to your mentor about any amendments and send a copy of the revised plan to the Co-ordinator.

Taking a break

You can take up to 12 months out from the Award, which should be planned at the beginning of the Award where at all possible. However, if you have started work on the Award and the need to take some time out arises without much warning, this can be arranged in discussion with the Co-ordinator. This period must not be used as extra time in which to complete clauses, but as a break. Any work undertaken towards the Award in this time shall not be counted.

What counts?

No project or event can be used for more than one clause or element. Projects undertaken, for example, for Look Wider, Making It Count!, the Leadership Qualification and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award may be used provided they are planned as such in your initial meeting with your mentor but work forming part of a school or college course may not be used. However, you could take a project started as course work to a further or higher level as your personal challenge for any clause. Where an award or qualification from a body other than Girlguiding UK is involved, the conditions for both the Queen’s Guide Award and the additional qualification or award must be observed. You have three years to complete the clauses for the Award, but work already done for the Senior Section Permit or Camp and Holiday Scheme can be counted.

Contacts

Check out the Association’s website www.girlguiding.org.uk, go to the Senior Section pages for information on the Award.

For further information please contact admin@girlgudingbsg.org.uk