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Adult to child ratios

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Three Guides with their LeaderGirlguiding UK suggests the following adult to child ratios for normal unit meetings within the usual meeting place.

Unit Leadership Teams are not required to follow them, apart from the mandatory requirement for two adults at all Rainbow meetings.

The Unit Team’s decision regarding the number of girls and young women in the unit is final.

The ratios become mandatory when:

  • taking the unit out of the normal meeting place
  • undertaking certain activities.

 

  Suggested minimum unit size Suggested unit size Suggested maximum unit size Suggested ratio of adult to girls Mandatory ratio
Rainbow Guide units 5 12-15 18 1:5 Minimum of 2 adults irrespective of the size of the unit.
Brownie Guide units 12 12-18 24 1:8 N/A
Guide units 12 12-30 36 1:12 N/A
The Senior Section 5 N/A N/A N/A N/A

Young Leaders are members of the Senior Section helping at a Rainbow, Brownie or Guide unit. Ideally there should be no more than two Young Leaders in a unit.

Rainbow units may have Rainbow Helpers and Brownie units may have Pack Leaders. These are girls in the Guide section who are working towards a specific part of their section programme.

Young Leaders who have not reached their 18th birthday, Rainbow Helpers and Pack Leaders must be counted as children in the adult to child ratios when taking a unit away from the meeting place.

The recommended ratio of adults to girls does not apply to Lone Guiding.

The A-Z of activities and Residential events documents for the Training and Activity centres contain details of requirements for specific activities, along with qualifications, ratios and minimum requirements for residential events.

To download forms related to camps, holidays and sleepovers go to the main Girlguiding UK website Resource library.

Page last updated: 10/28/2011