Ding! The sound of another email from Girlguiding pinging into my inbox. Girlguiding LaSER was seeking volunteers to usher guests at a service at Westminster Abbey in March. It was years since I last visited, put off by the crowds and the entrance fee. I wasn't working that day and I had the chance to go in for free, so I signed up.
Emails passed back and forth checking security details, passport info, official names and eventually, the day dawned bright and extremely chilly. I put on my best uniform and set off early, dropping in at HQ for a spot of shopping. Badges bought – and a Girlguiding waterproof in distinctive blue as the wind was bitterly cold – I still had an hour to kill and the reception team showed me to the members’ area for free tea and coffee (and wifi)! What a lovely facility we have access to, and one I’m definitely going to use again. Thanks team!
It was soon time to set off. As I left, there was another leader heading for the Abbey so we walked together, chatting all the way. What a fantastic sisterhood we have, that gives us so much in common and makes conversation and friendship so very easy! We soon reached our designated entrance and found our names “on the list” so security let us through the fencing, barriers and gates, where we met a few more uniformed sisters braving the chill. The blue of those waterproofs is visible a mile off!