My unit number had fallen to 10 and I knew I would have a few leaving at Summer so I wanted to recruit some new members so the younger girls had some role models to follow before they left. As a team we talked about different ways of recruiting and decided the first thing to try was a “Bring a Friend night”. We talked to the girls who were all very excited about the idea and reassured the older girls (who would be moving to Guides) they could still bring a friend as well.
I printed invitations with all our unit details on and made them bright and colourful. At the bottom of the invitation I had a section for the “Brownie Friends Parent” to fill in with Name, Contact Number, Address, Email address and allergies. I also added a “Your friend Flossie would love you to come and have a trial meeting at Brownies”. This was really useful as when the girls arrived with their filled in invitation I new straight away which Brownie they had come with.
I made it clear to parents it was one friend only so I could keep the numbers in ratio. I did have to remind one enthusiast parent who said they would put it on their school WhattsApp group! I had visions of half a school turning up.
The theme for our evening was Easter and out of the 10 girls 6 brought friends with them.
As the girls arrived we had hidden pictures of Easter Eggs round the hall. They had to go round and count them then put their guess in a box. We then sat as a group and had a chat about what Brownies was and what we did. This was lovely as the leaders sat back while the Brownies told their friends all the things they do at Brownies.
We then had different activities set up each with an adult or young leader supervising. The girls were able to go round and choose what they wanted to do. We made sure to have a mix of activities…
UMA – Guiding in a Bubble
Painting Wooden Rabbits
Beetle drive game to make a rabbits face using a biscuit, chocolate fingers, icing, smarties and red laces.
Lighting a candle and melting chocolate in a tin case. Then they added raisins, biscuit crumbs etc.
Pin the nose on the chick and throwing bean bags into the Rabbits basket
The time absolutely flew by and we finished the meeting by singing a few songs and gave an Easter egg to the girl who had guessed the correct amount of eggs hidden round the room. The meeting finished with exhausted leaders but very happy girls!
The following day I emailed all the parents of the new girls who had come along. To say we hope they enjoyed it and if they would like any further details to please get in touch. We were delighted when all 6 parents responded saying their daughters had a great time and when could they start!
So if your numbers are falling I would definitely recommend a “Bring a Friend Night”. Yes it’s a bit more planning but in the space of a week we jumped from 10 girls to 16 and my waiting list has also grown as parents have put younger siblings down. It’s definitely a great way to recruit new girls.
Nic, Unit Leader – 6th Northwood Brownies
