Irish Girl Guides get gold

THE Irish Girl Guides has been awarded a fifth Gold Health Quality Mark by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) in recognition of its high standard of health promotion.

The organisation’s wide-ranging programme for girls and young women aged from five to 30 includes a number of health-promoting activities including healthy eating, physical health, relationships, self-esteem, bullying and stress management.

Irish Girl Guides (IGG) members regularly take part in a variety of indoor and outdoor challenges, which help them develop teamwork and leadership skills, resilience and self-confidence while contributing to a healthy body and mind.

A five-week body confidence programme called ‘Free Being Me’, which was introduced two years ago, helps girls realise that there is no such thing as ‘the perfect body’. Girls are encouraged to accept their natural shape and to use their bodies for activities that they enjoy – whether that is sport, dance or drama.

NYCI’s Health Quality Mark aims to enhance best practice and a high standard of quality in health promotion work in youth organisations. IGG was the first national volunteer-led youth organisation to achieve this standard in 2003 and has succeeded in retaining it ever since, with monitoring checks held every three years.

IGG Chief Executive Officer Linda Peters said she was delighted that the organisation’s ongoing health-promoting work was being recognised in this way.

“We take great pride in the high quality youth work our 12,000 members are involved in across the country and welcome this acknowledgement of that work,” she said.

“In the last three years, since our last award, we have continued to incorporate health-focused approaches in our programmes, events and weekly meetings because we believe that they form the basis of good quality youth work relevant to today’s young people.

This involves training for leaders, staff, support and resources for our youth members in fun, participative and educational ways.”

Congratulating the Irish Girl Guides on their achievement, NYCI Director Mary Cunningham said the Gold Award was testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the organisation.

“This service is managed and staffed by people who are committed to the highest quality standards in health promotion and to the well-being of all who use the youth service,” she said.

The Irish Girl Guides welcomes new members from the age of five and volunteer leaders from age 18. For further information, see www.irishgirlguides.ie or tel: 01 6683898.