Girlguiding - Rainbows, Brownies & Guides

jetfighter

meganandben wrote: »

My little girl has just started Rainbows. She loves it - as I loved Brownies many years ago. My only issue is the cost of the uniform. It used to cost about £7 for a rainbows' tabard. Now it's nearly £50 for the uniform. I know there are grants available for those who cannot afford it, but even coming from a family with a reasonable income, £50 is a lot of money. I wish they could go back to the simple tabards and make the organisation more inclusive - as it was originally intended to be. ....sorry for the rant!

The uniform is expensive though the outlets do tend to offer the individual items at a subsidised cost if you go along in person. (At least ours does!) e.g. I have recently started my leadership training and bought an adult hoodie for £21 (brand new) when it's meant to be £24.50. I made similar savings on the polo shirt by going to the outlet shop. Ours is based on the Girl Guides camp site in a nearby village - might be worth a try?

Another thing that may be worth doing is asking your unit leaders if there is any way of buying second hand / nearly new uniform. Sometimes girls will start and then lose interest, and the parents will sell the uniform back to the unit. I am pretty sure our unit has some uniform "in stock" which has only been worn a handful of times.

Also, are you sure your unit requires full uniform? Some units are more relaxed and will let girls wear their own bottoms as long as they have the uniform polo top, though admittedly most do require the full uniform. Ours is one of the exceptions but we are in a fairly deprived area - it means we have girls turn up in pink leggings and so on but at least they can come without feeling like they have to spend loads of the uniform. Rainbows are more colourful than Brownies so I think they get away with it!

So glad your daughter is enjoying Rainbows.

ellawood

I do agree with you meganandben I was a rainbow leader about 4 years ago and think the rainbows uniform is expensive we used to have a group set of tabards that we lent out so the parents did not have to pay for that but i would not object to a girl only have the polo shirt as there uniform and wear it with jeans I am with guides now and the girls only have to have a top now

kingfisherblue

meganandben wrote: »

My little girl has just started Rainbows. She loves it - as I loved Brownies many years ago. My only issue is the cost of the uniform. It used to cost about £7 for a rainbows' tabard. Now it's nearly £50 for the uniform. I know there are grants available for those who cannot afford it, but even coming from a family with a reasonable income, £50 is a lot of money. I wish they could go back to the simple tabards and make the organisation more inclusive - as it was originally intended to be. ....sorry for the rant!

Sorry, but I disagree with this about the price of uniform. It is only almost £50 if you buy everything. Most Rainbow units that I know only require you to buy the polo shirt, which is £10. Some also want you to buy the trousers, which are £12. I don't know any that require you to buy the jacket (£17). In addition, we encourage the parents to buy only after their daughter has settled in and they are sure that she is going to stay. If you get a top that is a bit bigger, it can last the full two years that girls are in Rainbows (if you don't tumble dry - a sure way to shrink!).

For Brownies, the tops are £8 (short sleeved) or £10 (long sleeved) and pants are £9 (leggings) or £12 (combat style). Again, I don't know any unit that requires the jackets (£17.50) and we actively discourage them, as the room we meet in is always very warm.

These prices are for uniform from Girlguiding UK. Other suppliers can charge what they want, and I know in my area that you can add an average of £2 per item when you buy elsewhere.

I also suggest that uniform is bought, where possible, either second hand or for birthday/Christmas presents. We have a small amount of second hand uniform for sale in our units and offer that first.

slbhill

kingfisherblue wrote: »

It is only almost £50 if you buy everything. Most Rainbow units that I know only require you to buy the polo shirt, which is £10...

In addition, we encourage the parents to buy only after their daughter has settled in and they are sure that she is going to stay. If you get a top that is a bit bigger, it can last the full two years that girls are in Rainbows

Just what I was going to say! My guides are expected to have a uniform top... there is a huge range but the minimum is just a t-shirt and that's fine. Of course there may be some peer pressure or pester power to have everything, especially if you're in a shop with a child surrounded by new things! But there really is no need.

It's well worth asking the Guider if she has any second hand items available, or approaching parents of girls who have left recently, or trying your local Freecycle. Of course this might limit the choice of styles available but that's mainly for the older sections rather than rainbows.

myalphabetgirls

Hi, wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction. I live in Weston super Mare and am trying to find out if my local guiding shop is open this afternoon - I cant find the bloomin number anywhere on google. Driving me nuts! I recently had my mobile stolen and hadn't made a back up! (learned the hard way!) so have no immediate numbers for brown/tawny owl. Ive sent tawny an email but had no response yet - christmas and all.

I know my local shop opens on a wednesday 3-7pm and on a Saturday morning. Just wondering with the christmas period is it likely to still be open?

have typed this in vein hope of a reply, Im still checking via searches to see if I can find it msyself.

Just wanted a few brownie items for stocking fillers.

To the poster about cost of rainbow items - do check your local buy,sell, swap site on facebook. Ours locally has rainbows/brownie items regularly.

Also car boots - We've just sold our daughter's rainbow uniform (trousers, polo top, zip up jacket) and I was happy to get £10 for it. Most often they are in great condition as worn so little.

Thanks in advance for any help. x

jetfighter

Unfortunately the local Guiding shops are notorious for being a bit cloak and dagger! Ours is based on the local Guide campsite and even that isn't really advertised anywhere - there are no actual maps for it online and it took me forever to figure out where it was the first time I went! I ended up having to ask our leader in charge for directions. Definitely nothing obvious online unfortunately.

They all have different opening times so no idea if yours will be open today or not... don't see why not really unless they have specific Christmas holidays (don't think ours does). Is it easy enough to get there to chance it?

myalphabetgirls wrote: »

Hi, wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction. I live in Weston super Mare and am trying to find out if my local guiding shop is open this afternoon - I cant find the bloomin number anywhere on google. Driving me nuts! I recently had my mobile stolen and hadn't made a back up! (learned the hard way!) so have no immediate numbers for brown/tawny owl. Ive sent tawny an email but had no response yet - christmas and all.

I know my local shop opens on a wednesday 3-7pm and on a Saturday morning. Just wondering with the christmas period is it likely to still be open?

have typed this in vein hope of a reply, Im still checking via searches to see if I can find it msyself.

Just wanted a few brownie items for stocking fillers.

To the poster about cost of rainbow items - do check your local buy,sell, swap site on facebook. Ours locally has rainbows/brownie items regularly.

Also car boots - We've just sold our daughter's rainbow uniform (trousers, polo top, zip up jacket) and I was happy to get £10 for it. Most often they are in great condition as worn so little.

Thanks in advance for any help. x

myalphabetgirls

thanks so much for your reply. Well, I can go - but its the parking... Our depot is in the same building as "relate"! When I climb their stairs I always wonder if anyone thinks I need therapy! Well, actually I probably do! lol.

Cloak and dagger, yes absolutely. lol.

I probably will chance it, but thanks for helping me. Hope you have a lovely christmas x

jetfighter

I think they're so secretive and not advertised online because they like to know they are selling the adult uniforms to actual leaders... I know our local scouting shop (which is well publicised online) sells the Rainbow/Brownie/Guide uniforms but is banned from selling the adult leader uniforms, probably for child protection purposes - just like I expect you can't buy a genuine police uniform in regular shops (presumably)!

kingfisherblue

Our local Guiding depot isn't advertised as it is run from home by a volunteer. She has generous opening times, but there are still people who do not seem to understand that it isn't acceptable to turn up on a Sunday afternoon or late one evening. Having said that, she is very accommodating and will answer the phone any time. She will also let you collect things outside her usual opening hours if you make an arrangement to do so.

Most depots are run by volunteers and are only open for short hours. I doubt if one would be open on Christmas Eve, but hope that I am wrong, myalphabetgirls, so that you can get the things you want.

Looby_-_Lou_2

My dd has just made her Brownie Promise - very proud parents here.
Please can I have some clues as to where I should sew the badges on her sash?
Thank you
L-L