By Victoria Mc Andrew - Girlguiding Cymru Diversity Adviser

Hello, I'm Victoria. I'm a Rainbow Leader in Pembrokeshire.
I am Girlguiding Cymru's Diversity Lead. I aim to bring you short pieces about Diversity with the aim of increasing the value we place on, and respect we give to our members differences.

I am a Muslim of white Welsh origin. I consider myself a go-getting, determined, example-setter for women and girls. I work in the construction industry, I'm involved in local politics as a Community Councillor and I love to walk. I'm passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. Living my life as a minority in many arenas of my life and raising 3 girls in todays society means I am determined to make this world a fairer and more inclusive place for the next generations.

So, What is diversity?

We hear this word often in life at the moment. No doubt you've done some diversity training or bias training with GG or through work. But what does it mean and what does it mean for us as Leaders/Volunteers? Diversity is often found hand in hand with its partners Equality, Inclusion and Equity. Diversity simply put means variety. We recognise that all our members are diverse in many aspects of
our life. Diversity includes us all in one way or another.

The GGUK website has a simple and easy to read Equality and Diversity Policy, which states "We want to build an equal world where all girls can make a positive difference, be happy, be safe and reach their potential."

The Girlguiding Policy

Girlguiding's Inclusion and Diversity Policy sets out aims which include everyone - whatever their faith, race, culture, nationality or sexual orientation. Thinking about diversity helps us consider whether we are truly considering the needs of ALL our members or are we thinking about the majority. Inevitably, if we consider the majority then a minority are not considered or thought about. Diversity aims to break down those barriers and ensure ALL members feel they are a valued, respected and important part of Girlguiding.

Diversity benefits us all

Diversity helps us to know one another. By learning about each other's differences we can grow and enrich our own lives, but also ensure our meetings and the experiences we give our young members are wholesome and add value to their own lives. Diversity allows us to look at things from a different perspective. We can widen our outlook and find better ways of carrying out our guiding practises.

When we talk about and learn about diversity within our units we begin to empower all our members. We learn respect and to truly place value on those things which make us different. Aspects of our life which may be diverse include faith, race, culture, nationality or sexual orientation. They can also include age, disability, education, and socio-economic and life experiences.

The future

Information on ‘Including All in everything we do’ can be found here

Over the next few months I will continue to write short pieces to give you ideas and points to ponder.

If you'd like to know more or chat, please do get in touch with me here.
You may find the following pages and articles useful.