By Sarah Dea
Centretown girl guides and scouts are redrawing their boundaries and canvassing neighbourhoods because of a membership shortage.
“A lot of people our age think guiding isn’t cool anymore,” says Alecia Hutton, 16, a Centretown guide. She says classmates think guiding is for children.
In September, the Ottawa girl guides downsized from nine divisions to six. This effectively redrew the division maps in the city, says Judy DiMillo, deputy commissioner for the Ottawa girl guides.
Low enrolment is a problem, DiMillo says. Every year membership drops.
“We had nine divisions when we had 12,000 girls, now we have 5,000 girls. It didn’t make sense to run with the same group,” DiMillo says. The drop in membership means there are more resources and plenty of adult volunteers, she adds.
Norah Lynn Paddock, a Centretown guide leader, says guiding can be a rewarding experience. “A lot of girls can benefit from self confidence, sharing things, and learning with female role models that they don’t necessarily get in school,” she says.
Joelyn Ragan, another local guide leader, says the public may not realize the value of guiding and as a result, may not participate. “I find it sad. I don’t think that we’re visible enough in the community.”
DiMillo says shifting demographics have affected the number of members. Double-income families have reduced the amount of time parents have to shuttle their kids to after-school activities.
Immigration might also affect this drop in membership. Immigrants might not relate to girl guides and scouts, DiMillo says. “Guiding is found in 145 countries around the world,” she says, “but, people’s lifestyles have changed.”
Guiding might not be their first priority. They are probably more interested in settling into a new country, language and school, she says.
Sandy Shaw, a group commissioner for the Rideau scouts, says aging communities do not provide opportunities for new youths to signup. “They’ve all grown up,” he says. Where communities are located plays a large role in whether or not a group has members.
“You’ve got changes in downtowns,” Shaw says, “They’ve developed a large number of housing units, high rises, and condos.” The downtown area might have a large concentration of residents, but they do not necessarily have children, he says.
Guide leader Nancy Kelly says many communities, especially in suburban areas, contain young families with children who may be potential members: “You’ve got a built-in base right there.”
Shaw says it is hard for scout groups to compete with other activities that a community may offer youth, such as sports or after-school programs.
In response, scouting groups are recruiting people and holding community events to raise awareness. “Other groups are partnering together to reach a critical mass,” Shaw says.
The guide groups hold special nights aimed at encouraging existing members to bring friends who are not involved. Kelly says word of mouth draws the most new members.
Guiding groups have also reacted to the low counts by adapting their program to modern-day needs.
Kelly says guiding can accommodate almost any interest. “It’s trying to be more relevant to today’s society. There’s a lot more opportunity for the girls to experience different walks of life and career paths.”