Is your Child a member or looking to join, or maybe you just want to find out more? Below you'll find the answers to frequently asked questions, but get in touch if you have any further queries.
Q What is Guiding?A Guiding is a youth movement for young girls and women providing training for life with activity, adventure and challenge which is both purposeful and enjoyable. Opportunities are provided for girls and women where they learn and grow by making decisions, doing and discovering for themselves and having fun at the same time. Through Guiding this is achieved in five different ways:
They get the opportunity to try many different things and at the same time learn self -reliance and self esteem. Guiding aims to prepare them to be resourceful, responsible and to think for themselves. It emphasises the importance of family values and contribution to the community in which an individual lives.
Q Who / What is CGI?A The Catholic Guides of Ireland (CGI) is a nationwide uniformed Association open to all women and girls. CGI's mission statement is "to provide a challenging Guiding programme within a safe environment, to enable all girls and young women to develop their full potential."
Q How does my child join?A Contact the National Office and we can pass your name and phone number to your local Unit to contact you.
Q Does the organisation have a Safeguarding Policy?A Yes - CGI does have a Safeguarding Policy that is centred on both the protection of our young members and the volunteer. Training in this field is compulsory if an adult wishes to work with our young members.
Q Are adult volunteers subject to Garda Vetting/ Access NI?A Yes - adults that have substantial unsupervised access to Children and Young people are subject to vetting.
Q Is uniform compulsory for Children/ Young people?A If you wish for your child or Young person to be enrolled in CGI then they will need to buy and wear a uniform. More information is available in the different member age sections of this website.
Q Where do I purchase the uniform for my Child/ Young person?A Uniforms are available from The Scout Shop online. Some optional extras are available from the National Office Shop e.g. rainjackets and hoodies.
Q This is a Catholic organisation - does it matter if my Child / young person isn't particularly religious or not a practising Catholic at all?A No - this does not matter. The Catholic Guides of Ireland is open to all denominations. Occasionally, programmes may incorporate a spiritual dimension, but this will be general.
Q I'm interested in volunteering, how can I get involved?A Local Units are also always looking for volunteers so contact us today if you would like to get involved! To find out more about volunteering click here.
Q Ok, I've seen the vision and the mission statement – do they mean anything?A Yes. Our mission statement is what we see as our core responsibilities, whereas the vision is like a fingerpost from what we are strong in now (strong in communities, strong in growing with our members) to where we'd like to be in the future.
Q Something came up at the meeting that I'm not comfortable with. How do I complain?A Like we've emphasised above, Guiding is a community organisation. This means that your problem will be dealt with at the local level with the Unit Leader (head Guide Leader for your community) as they will have met your child and will also know your Guide Leader. Usually a short chat is enough to clarify any issues to every one's satisfaction. Sometimes if things are more serious the Regional Commissioner will also meet with you to help solve the problem. Regional Commissioners' contact details are available here. Contact details for Reporting Officers are available here. It is only in very rare cases that the issue is brought to the attention of the National Officers.