The Guide Friendship Fund (GFF) is a fund made up entirely from donations by members of Girlguiding UK. Members can fund-raise and send in their proceeds at any time of the year.

The money is used to directly support Associations in other countries. Prior to 2003, Associations were invited to apply directly to the GFF at CHQ. This system has recently been changed to become more in line with the WAGGGS Mutual Aid Scheme. Now, projects that wish to be supported will be chosen from the list of Mutual Aid applicants, thereby ensuing the projects chosen are supported by WAGGGS and the whole process is more standardised.

The Guide Friendship Fund

• Accepts donations at any time.
• Holds emergency funds to give help to Associations after disasters and emergencies.
• Selects new projects to support every year.
• Asks for feedback from recipient Associations on their projects.
• Reports on funded projects on the website and in guiding magazine.
• Gives all donations directly to the projects because the administration costs are covered by Girlguiding UK.
• The GFF enables UK Guides to work in partnership with overseas Guides, by giving practical support to fellow members in other countries and by learning about other Associations.

Members from all sections can take part in fund-raising activities. Many also use this as an opportunity to learn about the members of Girlguiding UK for which they are fund-raising, the country they live in and/or the issue involved (for example, AIDS).

There is information on the website, in Girlguiding UK publications and in resources from other organisations (for example, development charities) that can support this work.

Confusion with the World Thinking Day Fund

The GFF is separate to the World Thinking Day Fund (WTD), although there is often confusion between the two. The GFF is run by Girlguiding UK, and makes donations to individual Associations. The WTD Fund is run by WAGGGS, and the money is used to support all of their work with Guiding around the world.