British Guides in Foreign CountriesNew Units
If you are interested in opening a unit you must contact The Commissioner for BGIFC at Girlguiding UK.
A unit may not be opened without the consent of the BGIFC Commissioner.
Moving
If you are returning to the UK or your own home country then please contact the Girlguiding BGIFC Office and advise the Administrator. This will allow her to send your records to the appropriate Country or Region to ensure that they are aware of your Guiding record and can make contact with you.
Transfers
For all adult members and all Senior Section members who are working on the Leadership Qualification (ie members who are registered on a database held by their Country or Region, including BGIFC.):
- If the member is moving within BGIFC, she should ask for her personal contact details to be forwarded to her new location, who should either contact her and welcome her into the new area, putting her in touch with the relevant Commissioner, or delegate the job to another member of the County team.
- If the member is moving to a new Country or Region, she should request a print-out of her personal details and then forward it to her new Country or Region office with her new personal contact details if possible. The new Country or Region office will advise the relevant County Commissioner who will then follow the procedure outlined above. Students moving between home and college may choose to be registered with units in more than one place.
- If a member wishes to find out about the new guiding area to which she is moving before requesting a transfer, she should contact her present Country or Region office. The Join Us number (0800 169 59 01) may also be used to contact the new guiding area, or the Join Us online form on the Girlguiding UK website.
- For all members who are moving home aged under 16 and members of the Senior Section aged over 16 who are not working on the Leadership Qualification (ie members whose details are not registered on a Country or Region database.)
- A girl or young woman who is a member of Girlguiding UK and wishes to continue guiding but cannot remain in her present unit because she is moving house, is entitled to a place in a unit near her new home provided a place exists. Usually she is placed in the nearest appropriate unit.
- If a Unit Leader is approached by a young woman or by a parent who is about to move, the Leader should complete a Transfer Card for the young member concerned. The card has details about the Join Us telephone number, as well as those of the relevant Country or Region offices. The Unit Leader and the girl or her parent should agree on who will phone to find out the details of the new unit and when. The card provides details of the girl and her previous unit and Leader, and also provides evidence that she is already a member. The lower half of the card has a section for completion by the new Unit Leader, with details of the new unit. This is then returned to the previous Unit Leader to show that the transfer has taken place and to allow members of the previous unit to keep in touch with the member who has moved, if they wish.
Suspended or Closed Units
When an Independent Unit or an Independent District is suspended or closed, accounts should be produced and any money and equipment sent to the Girlguiding BGIFC Office.
In a County or Independent District any remaining Unit funds should be held in the District, Division or County account until such time as the Unit re-opens. If the Unit does not re-open within a year, the money is retained by the County or District and should new Units be opened the money can be used to set them up.
For full details on suspending or closing a Unit please refer to Chapter 3 headed ‘Structure’ in the Guiding Manual 4th edition.
