Irish Girl Guides Get New Uniforms

On Saturday, April 10th last, the Irish Girl Guides launched their new logo and new uniforms, with a big event for 400 of its membership here in ‘The Dome’, Semple Stadium, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. This comes in advance of the IGG’s 100 year celebrations in 2011 and will further illustrate how vibrant and modern,  the Irish Girl Guides really are.

Special guest at the event was Thurles Mayor, Mrs Evelyn Nevin.

New uniforms for Irish Girl Guides

The Irish Girl Guides were first founded in Harolds Cross in 1911. Now in their 99th year the IGG number some 10,500 members throughout the country.
IGG’s new uniforms have been designed in consultation with some of the organisations younger members. They are bright, they are colourful and in the words of the girls themselves, they are ‘cool’.

IGG has always been a forward thinking organisation and they rightly feel that this new attractive look will further encourage members to take pride in their uniform. With so much of IGG’s programme based on education through action, group activities and the great outdoors, these new uniforms, while attractive, are also practical, versatile and come in different colours identifying each section within the organisation. The new look includes colourful t-shirts, trendy hoodies and fitted micro fleeces as well as accessories, such as branded bags.

Ladybirds, Brownies and Guides aren’t just, as often misconceived, some cute kids in uniforms who go camping on weekends. The Irish Girl Guides are so much more, as people like myself quickly found out on visiting their chosen campus on Saturday last. IGG members are currently working on exciting projects such as a weekly Guide unit in Crumlin Hospital for girls who want a fun break from hospital life, Road Safety and Drug Prevention programmes for their members, their Outreach Programme – the positive step of bringing minority ethnic communities into IGG.

Those lucky to attend as visitors, witnessed everywhere, teamwork, enjoyed discipline, sharing, laughter, caring and knowledge being transmitted through the medium of competitive fun, and we were left with the feeling that, contrary to the day’s dreary newspaper headlines, this country may after all have a bright productive and positive future. Personally, if I had daughters, still young enough, I would be seriously encouraging them to join this wonderful happy organisation.

Some of IGG’s core methods are still very much in evidence such as earning badges, but they have also modernised these for example: New Brownie Badges -Discovering Faith, Cultural Diversity, Foreign Language, Disability Awareness and for Guides – Chocolate, Film Lover, Beautician, Renewable Energy, Ski-ing and Team Player.

Commenting on the IGG’s new look, Emer O’Sullivan, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Girl Guides stated:

“We were very conscious when designing our new logo that we kept the traditional elements of Guiding. The Trefoil which is used by all Guiding Associations, together with the uniquely Irish Celtic knot, in a modern style.  Up till now, our Guides and adult Leaders all wore the same uniform.  Our new range of uniforms has colours and styles to suit all ages.”

Linda Peters, CEO of the Irish Girl Guides stated:

“The launch of our new logo and uniforms comes at a very exciting time for our organisation as the Irish Girl Guides will celebrate its centenary in 2011. We will have a dynamic new image as we move into the next century of Guiding.”

The launch in Thurles on Saturday last saw 300 girls aged 10 – 15 and 100 leaders from all over the country come together for a fashion show of uniforms from the last 100 years, as well as taking part in 100 Guiding challenges with everything from hand-printing, crafts, fun outdoor games, and camping challenges, to taking a photo in the shape of our organisations letters and sending messages to Girl Guides around the world via the Internet.

The 10th of April, the date chosen for this event, was significant, as it was also the day when the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) were celebrating the centenary of Guiding worldwide with a themed ‘Plant Day‘, which involved Girl Guides all over Ireland in the planting of trees in their local towns.

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