It's the end of an era as Girl's Brigade Scotland to be wound up

By GRAHAM GRANT, SCOTTISH HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 19:17, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 19:17, 29 May 2026 The Girls’ Brigade Scotland is to be wound up as an independent charity after more than 125 years amid concern over dwindling membership ‘in the digital age’. It will now be part of Girls’ Brigade Great Britain and bosses say it will ‘operate as usual while planning and preparing for this exciting opportunity’. On April 19, 1921, one week before she became The Duchess of York, the late Queen Mother became patron of the Girls’ Brigade Scotland. The Girls’ Brigade north of the Border is an autonomous member of a worldwide organisation for girls and young women, working ‘within a framework of Christian principles’. In a statement, the charity said the decision to close it in Scotland came after consideration of ‘membership figures’ and ‘what they mean for our future’. The organisation will be wound up on May 31 next year, meaning staff redundancies, with the executive team saying it believed dissolving the Brigade was the ‘only responsible decision’ without ‘significant membership growth’. Members of the Girls' Brigade on parade back in 1965 Laura Quilter, president of Girls’ Brigade Scotland, said she knew it would be ‘deeply painful’. Girls’ Brigade England & Wales and Girls’ Brigade Scotland jointly announced that Girls’ Brigade members will be ‘welcomed into the newly formed Girls’ Brigade Great Britain’. Caroline Goodfellow, chief executive of the organisation in Scotland, said: ‘Our priority is the fantastic Girls’ Brigade members who need a thriving community at national level to support their local groups. ‘We have over 4,000 Girls’ Brigade members in Scotland, who will be welcomed to join the new organisation.  'This is the end of an era in Scotland, and there will local celebrations and thanksgiving for the organisation as Girls’ Brigade Scotland comes to an end as a separate charity.’ Judith Davey-Cole, chief executive of Girls’ Brigade England & Wales, said: ‘Mebership numbers have shifted in the digital age, and our priority is making sure we have a national organisation that is sustainable and ready for the future.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.