The badges available to Girl Guides over the years have been dedicated to a diverse range of skills and tasks — from making chocolate ribbons, juggling and party planning to first aid, camping skills and faith awareness — and from early April, there will be a new badge in town: ‘Think Resilient’.
This exciting new addition to the existing 45 badges was developed with Young Minds charity, and aims to tackle mental health issues in young girls across the UK. A recent study by Girlguiding UK found that over 60% of girls between 11 and 21 know a girl their age who has had a mental health problem, and nearly 50% of those between 17 and 21 said that they have at some point needed help with their own mental health. Given the taboo that is associated with mental health in our society, there is no better time to address this issue than the present.
Girl Guide Peer Educator and the brains behind the Think Resilient programme, Zoe Dowler tells the BBC, “I know low mental well-being is a major issue affecting the daily lives and ambitions of lots of young women my age,” adding that she hopes to create a “safe place (for girls) to share what’s on their mind”. Pretty awesome.
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Image via Girlguiding