Helping Heaton Chapel Guides turn ideas into community action!

Before her maternity break, Beth visited Heaton Chapel Guides to introduce them to social action and how they can make a difference! Today's blog is written by Caroline (Leader) & the Guides to tell us how it went and how it supported them to be a force for good in their community:

This term, 1st Heaton Chapel Guides have been exploring Girlguiding’s Take Action

theme, looking at how young people can use their voices and ideas to make a

positive difference.

To help bring the theme to life, Beth Nunn from PIE visited the unit to deliver a

workshop on social action and community impact. Beth led the Guides through a

lively “social action sprint”, encouraging them to think about issues they cared about,

create campaign ideas, and consider how those ideas could become practical action.

The session sparked three campaigns designed by the Guides themselves: Better

Brain, Better Body, promoting the benefits of exercise for mental wellbeing; Turn

That Frown Upside Down!, focused on spreading happiness and positivity; and Old 4

New, encouraging people to reuse clothing and think differently about fast fashion.

Crucially, the workshop helped the Guides understand that social action is not only

about fundraising. It can also mean listening to others, raising awareness, changing

habits, encouraging kindness and bringing people together.

Inspired by the session, the Guides went on to put their campaigns into action. One

group organised an outdoor activity challenge for local Brownies, helping younger

girls explore the link between movement and wellbeing. Another created bracelets

and positivity postcards to spread good cheer. A third collected pre-loved clothes and

ran a swap-shop event, encouraging families to reuse clothing while raising money

for a local cause.

The project brought Guides, Brownies, parents, volunteers and local organisations

together. Feedback from the girls, families and leaders was fantastic, with many

commenting on the Guides’ confidence, creativity and enthusiasm.

The swap-shop raised an impressive £145, which the Guides voted to donate to

Dementia Disco, a Heatons-founded organisation supporting people living with

dementia, along with their families, friends and carers, through joyful disco events.

Leaders at 1st Heaton Chapel Guides said PIE’s involvement had made a real

difference.

“Beth’s workshop gave the Guides the confidence and structure to take their ideas

seriously and turn them into action. The girls came away understanding that they do

not have to wait until they are adults to make change — they can start now, in their

own community, with the issues they care about.”

The project has created a powerful local link between three Heatons-rooted

voluntary and community organisations: 1st Heaton Chapel Guides, PIE and

Dementia Disco. What began as a workshop became much more: young people leading campaigns, younger Brownies joining in, families getting involved, and local social action creating a wider community impact.

For 1st Heaton Chapel Guides, it has been a memorable reminder of the difference

the right support can make. With PIE’s guidance, the Guides did not just learn about social action — they became social action in practice.