Girlguiding has said it faces “continued risks of legal challenge” despite excluding transgender girls and women from being members of the charity after consulting professional advice.
Trans girls and young women who are members will have to leave Girlguiding next month, according to the charity’s earlier announcement that its policies would change following last year’s Supreme Court judgement that “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to “biological sex”.
Announcing the 6 September deadline in March, Girlguiding said at the time it had also set up a taskforce of around 500 people to explore new future opportunities for trans girls and trans women to connect with and be supported by the charity.
In its most recently filed accounts, the charity said that its board of trustees updated the charity’s equality and diversity policy in December 2025 to ensure ongoing compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
However, it said: “Like all girl- and women-only organisations, Girlguiding faces continued risks of legal challenge which cannot be entirely mitigated, and associated reputational risks in the context of a highly polarised public debate.
“The board will continue to monitor the external environment, engage with key stakeholders and be supported by professional advisers and the executive team.”
Updated following the Supreme Court ruling, the new code from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) watchdog came into force last week.
The Charity Commission plans to publish sector-specific guidance in the autumn but has urged voluntary organisations not to wait before complying with the EHRC code.
Plans to double in size
Despite the loss of its trans girl and women members, the charity said in its accounts that it wants to grow and broaden its membership to reach “a broader socioeconomic mix of girls, and more girls of colour”, with the organisation aiming to “double our size to reach one in 10 girls by 2035”.
Girlguiding recorded a total annual income of £31.6m in 2025, an 8% drop from 2024 largely attributed to sale money received from its former activity centres in the previous year.
The charity recorded a total annual expenditure of £31.4m, an increase of 4%, driven by an increased cost of raising funds of £7.62m (2024: £6.98m) and charitable expenditure of £23.7m (2024: £23.3m).
Girlguiding declined to comment further when approached by Civil Society.
