Lone Guides or Lones are

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

and

Girl Scouts Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

who do not attend group meetings for a variety of reasons. They are organised into groups that keep in touch, for example, by letter or email. Members carry out their organisation's normal programme on their own as much as they are able. The first official Lone Guides started in 1912 in the UK. Many countries have Lone Guides.

Lone Guiding by country and organisation

Australia – Guides Australia

"Lone Guides" communicate monthly through magazines put together by dedicated Leaders, with contributions and letters from the girls. ''Lones of the Air'' talk to Guiders and other Guides on radios. ''Lone Satellite Guides'' use a computer satellite link to keep in contact.

Canada – Girl Guides of Canada Guides du Canada

Lone Guides are recorded as early as 1916 in Canada. Lone Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers exist in most provinces. In 1930 in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

, the province's first Lone company was formed. Helen Kidd, a Lone Guide from

received the Commonwealth Prize in 1955.

New Zealand – GirlGuiding New Zealand

In New Zealand, there is a project to offer Guiding over the internet for girls between 5 and 18.

United Kingdom – Girlguiding UK

Lone Guiding started in 1912. The first Lone Guide conference was held at Foxlease in 1923. In 1925, separate Lone Ranger companies were started. Lone Guiding still operates in the UK at every level. Within Scotland Region Lones is set up as a separate County with all the same rights an privileges of a physical county. A county commissioner is appointed on a 5-year termly basis who in turn supports leaders who are assigned to each Section. The most populous sections are Guides (age 10–16) and the Senior Section (age 14–25). Girls are supported through postal newsletters, email, blog, phone calls and the opportunity to meet up at an annual gathering. Additionally, Lone Guiding supports peer mentoring for girls working on various Awards and Qualifications, from interest badges to the Queen's Guide Award.

1st Lone Company

1st Lone Company was established in 1912 by

Agnes Baden-Powell Agnes Smyth Baden-Powell (16 December 1858 – 2 June 1945) was the younger sister of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, and was most noted for her work in establishing the Girl Guide movement as a female counterpart to her older bro ...

. The Captain was Nesta G. Maude, the very first Guide to earn the Silver Fish award. Members of this company lived in such diverse places as England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cyprus, Poland and Belgium. They kept in contact by a postal newsletter. There were several patrols, including the

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves ...

patrol. There is record of a camp at Eridge, taking tea with

at her house and visits to Guide Headquarters (at that time located at 116 Victoria Street in London) in the first few years of the company's existence.

United States of America – Girl Scouts of the USA

Lones in the USA are called Juliette Girl Scouts, so named after the founder of the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized ...

Juliette Gordon Low Juliette Gordon Low (October 31, 1860 – January 17, 1927) was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, forming her own gr ...

. They were formerly known as Solo Girl Scouts. In the 1980s and 1990s, the term "Independent" was used. In 2001, Stefanie Argus, an eighth-grade student, created Juliettes, an official designation for independent Girls Scouts, as her Silver Award Project. "I wanted to create something to tell other girls who left their troops they belong to the Girl Scouts," Argus said. In 2003, nearly 2% of Girl Scouts were Juliettes.

Notes

References

* * * {{Scouting, sections Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Distance education