Category: Guiding

Guiding, Personal

7 things I would have missed

Nic

NOTE: talk of suicide and suicidal thoughts

One of the lowest points of my mental illness was when I was suicidal and even attempted. As you can probably tell, that attempt was unsuccessful. As my mental health is currently at the worst it has been in a while, I thought now would be a good time to reflect on what I would have missed if I had been successful.

1. Going on a GOLD project
Last year I was part of GOLD Zambia, which was a project to grow guiding within Zambia for 3 weeks. I had always dreamed of being selected to go on a GOLD project but at one point thought it would never happen. Being selected meant more to me because of the fact it showed how far I had come.

2. Graduating from uni

Uni and the stress that came with it may have been one of the main causes of my mental illnesses and the decline in my health. Despite that, I am incredibly proud of myself for being able to graduate. I am the first person in my family to go to uni, never mind graduate so it’s a really big deal that I was able to! Although I think it’ll be a while before I’m back!!

3. Meeting Rose

I’ve only had Rose for 7 months but she is genuinely one of the best things for me to come back to myself when I dissociate. She’s so funny and is always up to something which takes my mind off things going on in my mind.

4. Going to a Grand Prix

My mum and I are both F1 fans and it was always our dream to go to a race. Two years ago we finally went to our first race in Belgium. It was everything we thought it would be and more. We loved it so much we booked our accommodation for Germany the next year while we were there. We went to the Spanish race this year and are planning on going to the Dutch one next year.

5. Getting my Adult Leadership Qualification

I had been working on my ALQ through guiding since I was 18 but I had to put it to the side when I was really ill. I really wanted to complete it to be able to say that I was a qualified leader. Last year I completed modules 1-3 in rainbows and guides and earlier this year I completed module 4 which allows me to be leader in charge of a unit.

6. Becoming a Peer Ed trainer

I was trained to become a Peer Ed trainer in 2017. Not only was this a great achievement in itself, I also got a level 3 award in education and training which could come in handy if I wanted to persue a career in training.

7. Meeting some of the best friends ever

My attempt was when I was still living at home. I moved out a few months later and my housemate is genuinely one of the best people about. Not only was she also a tea enthusiast, she understood my need to be alone when I had done too much peopleing that day. She also came and sat with me in A&E any time I had to go because of my CVS. I have also made other invaluable friends through guiding experiences and work that I don’t know what I’d do without.

I’m sure there are many other things i would have missed but I can’t think of them right now! These are just the major highlights that I’m so glad I was around to experience!

Guiding, Personal

My volunteering experience

Nic

I have been volunteering with Girlguiding for over 8 years now. Recently, I was asked to speak at two volunteering appreciation events run by the Education Authority. At both events I was one of two speakers talking about their personal experience. Below is the speech that I said at both events (because I am lazy and didn’t change it between the two events!!)

Hi everyone, my name is Nic and I am representing Girlguiding Ulster. I have been a member of Girlguiding since I was 7 years old and joined Brownies. I moved through Guides and Senior Section and more recently became a leader.

I have also just finished a master’s degree in Biochemistry at Queen’s University Belfast.

I decided to start volunteering when I was 15 because I had always been interested in being a leader and starting my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award proved to be the ideal catalyst. I became a Rainbow Helper with 6th Larne Rainbows and soon discovered that I loved working with the girls and helping them to learn new skills every week. I never left. I started working on my Adult Leadership Qualification when I turned 18. I then started working with 5th Larne Guides when all my friends left to go to university and I was still wanting to go along every week.

I became a Peer Educator in 2014, so I am trained to deliver sessions on topics such as mental resilience, body confidence and fighting gender stereotypes to groups both inside and outside of Girlguiding aged 7+. I am also one of Ulster’s Peer Educator trainers and I have trained new Peer Educators all over the UK.

My most recent roles in Girlguiding include being one of the young member representatives on the regional executive and being in charge of a Rainbow unit in Belfast.

Through volunteering with Girlguiding, I have gained qualifications I never would have had the opportunity to get otherwise. My confidence has increased in bounds and I now have experience in planning and implementing activities for up to 24 children aged 4-7, which isn’t an easy task! The main thing I have got from volunteering, and the reason why I go back every week is seeing how the girls develop, grow in confidence and experience something new. It’s always the evenings where you’re having a bad day and just want to go home and cuddle your puppy that a girl will show you that they can do something they weren’t able to do even 6 months before and makes everything worthwhile.

One major high I have got from volunteering with Girlguiding was being one of 6 members from across the UK to be selected to go on a Guiding Overseas Linked with Devlopment (GOLD) project to Zambia in 2018. In the three weeks we were there, we worked with the Girl Guide Association of Zambia (GGAZ) to work on key issues that they had noticed in the organisation. We trained leaders in leadership and confidence and girls in assertiveness and advocacy. We were only there for a short time but we made such a difference to them, especially in the more remote communities who rarely receive this kind of training.

My life has been impacted by volunteering in many ways. I have experiences and qualifications that make my CV impressive, especially for someone my age. I have also made some of my best friends through Girlguiding. I can go to an event knowing nobody and leave with a whole lot of new friends, and as we like to say, Guiding friends are the best friends!

However, the biggest impact it has had on my life is by giving me purpose. I was very unwell through most of my degree, but through Guiding I had somewhere to go and something to do. I saw the difference , even if it was small, that I made in the girls lives and realised that I mattered. Since Guiding has been in my life for so long, it was one of the only points of stability in my life when I moved from school to university, moved out of my parents house and all of the other changes that comes with being a young adult. It gave me a reason to continue. And if I can do that for even one other girl, then I will all be worth it.

I received good comments from the people who attending both events and I have to say I was massively proud of myself for doing it. Especially the end where I shared something incredibly personal which I had never really spoken about in public before.