Pipâs Perspective â a message from the Chief Commissioner
What a wonderful term itâs been for our young members. Iâve loved all the Big Brownie Birthday events that Iâve been invited to, many of them on the StarQuest theme of past, present, future but all individual and very special to the girls whoâve been part of it (whether 150 or 1,500!) and their Leaders. Youâve not forgotten the other sections: Iâve heard about Rainbow Sleepovers and trips to the zoo; followed wet, muddy Guide camps on Twitter and the joy when the sun has come out to dry the tents; felt the challenge of The Senior Section as theyâve set off for 24 hour non-stop adventures and read with a watering mouth of a County Trefoilâs cook-out â pulled pork hmmmm! You are AMAZING, what fantastic opportunities our members are given, thanks to you, one of 14,000 volunteers in Girlguiding LaSER. Enjoy your well-deserved summer break from regular meetings and come back refreshed and invigorated for a new term and the launch of our very exciting âGrowing Up Wildâ. What is it? All will be revealed in September!
Our Region office in Wandsworth will also be experiencing a quiet time over August, communications will be kept to an absolute minimum but of course, if you have an emergency or urgent matter someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
Happy summer time!
pipmck@girlguidinglaser.org.uk
Twitter: @ PipMcKerrow
G-file Consultation for Guides
Girlguiding is undertaking a review of the G-File, the core resource for Guides. They want to hear what Guides think so what they produce is what they want and need. Girlguiding is also interested in Guidesâ views about the welcome they received when they joined Guides, the Patrol Xtra publication and interest badge syllabi.
While we appreciate that most units have broken up for the summer now, it would be great if this could be cascaded to as many Guides as possible throughout the Region, so that our Guides can help shape the future of the G-File.
Unit of the Term
Thank you to everyone who entered. Our Unit of the Term has been chosen!
3rd Folkestone St John's Guides!
Nominated by Wendy Finn âfor the way they have worked with our newly adopted local elderly care home in Folkestone.â
Wendy tells us⊠âWe began with a Carol Singing session in December with the Brownies, and at Easter we returned with handmade gifts and more visiting. The girls are absolutely lovely with the elderly residents of Mandalay and love being with them to spend time chatting and singing. In the summer we are going to go back and play board games with them. I think it's safe to say the elderly people should consider themselves adopted! The Guides should be very proud of themselves - they have certainly made me very proud and have added hours to their service awardsâ
Girlguiding LaSER member elected Chair of World Board at #35WoCo
Huge congratulations to Nicola Grinstead, who was voted in as chair of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)â World Board.
She joins 16 women from across the globe on the panel, which governs WAGGGS and ensures that more than ten million guiding members across the world have amazing experiences.
Nicola has been involved in guiding since starting Brownies aged seven, and previously held the position of Deputy Chair of the World Board. Only last year, Nicola was instrumental in setting up a joint Guide and Scout group at Evelina Childrensâ Hospital in London.
Nicola was elected at the 35th World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) World Conference, which took place in Hong Kong from 5-10 July.
Before the conference, Caroline Davis, Girlguidingâs International Commissioner and Girlguiding LaSER member said:
"The World Conference is a truly unique event, bringing together representatives from the 145 countries that are part of world guiding. It will be a fantastic opportunity to see how guiding members from diverse backgrounds share the same commitment to enabling girls and young women to fulfil their potential."
Check out the Girlguiding delegation's blog to learn more about the event.
Congratulations
Congratulations to the following on the completion of their Queens Guide Award â
Elizabeth Adam, 1st Five Oak Green Unit, Girlguiding Kent Weald County.
Sarah Calderbank, 3rd Stanmore Brownies, Girlguiding Middlesex North West County.
Charlotte Harding, 1st Sunbury Guide Unit, Girlguiding Surrey West County.
Nicola Milton, 1st Horam Guide Unit, Girlguiding Sussex East County.
Harriet Peters, 5th Goring Brownies, Girlguiding Sussex West County.
Victoria Storey, 2nd Barnehurst Brownies, Girlguiding Greater London Kent County.
Chelsi Willis-Doe, 1st Sunbury Senior Section, Girlguiding Surrey West County.
Division Commissioner from Girlguiding Croydon County receives 50 year Long Service Award
At the Croydon County Barbeque Judith Mitchell was presented with her 50 year Long Service Award by Pip McKerrow our Region Chief Commissioner.
Judithâs long career in guiding has run alongside raising her family and before she received her own award she heard her daughter remake her Promise as she takes over a local Ranger unit.
It was a wonderful evening at which local leaders and friends gathered together socially before the Summer holiday begins.
Yellow is the new Raspberry
Greater London Kent County Zootastic
On 21 June almost 1,400 Brownies and 300 leaders from Girlguiding Greater London Kent County headed to Drusillaâs Zoo Park in East Sussex to take part in GLK Zootastic â the County Big Brownie Birthday event.
Every participant was given a Zoolympics challenge book which contained challenges to undertake around the park including how long they could stand on one leg and how loud they could yell. The girls were also given animal spotter books to complete. Animal encounter sessions were available with the chance to handle snakes and lizards.
At the end of the afternoon, everyone gathered together for a presentation to the Brownie that designed the badge for the day and to join together to sing Happy Birthday. 100 Brownies stood up and held up large foam candles as we sang.
Everywhere you looked there were happy, smiling Brownies and compliments about the Brownies from Drusillaâs staff and members of the public.
Holly from 5th Watling Brownies said, âIt was a fun day spotting all the animals and doing the Zoolympicsâ. Ashley and Alexandra from 1st Shortlands Brownies enjoyed the Hello Kitty attraction and singing Happy Birthday with everyone.
900 Brownies Sleepover at Stadium
From Saturday 21 June to Sunday 22 June, over 1,100 Brownies and Leaders from Girlguiding Sussex Central County took over the Amex football stadium, home of Brighton & Hove Albion football club, for a spectacular Big Brownie Birthday sleepover.
The fantastic range of activities included circus skills, fairground games, drumming workshops, dance activities, an inflatable assault course and Spider Mountain. The girls also enjoyed crafts ranging from pop-up cards to milk bottle elephants, from felting flowers to friendship bracelets.
Training with top women's footballer Kim Stenning was a highlight for many of the Brownies, as she coached them in ball skills and teamwork.
The girls followed their fun-filled afternoon with an energetic disco and then chilled out with a movie on the big screens, before settling down to sleep beneath the stands of the stadium.
âThere's hundreds of them, there are sleeping bags everywhere!â one security guard was overheard saying.
Breakfast was generously provided by Sainsburys, after which the girls decorated birthday cupcakes. The girls filled the upper east stands for the closing ceremony, enjoying action songs before thanking the volunteers who made the event possible, and renewing their Brownie Promise.
Teddy Bears Picnic
Girlguiding Victoria District Brownies in Southborough celebrated the Big Brownie Birthday by having a Teddy Bear picnic.
There were prizes for the best-dressed bears.
Everyone had a picnic, joined in craft activities, team building assault course challenges and parachute games.
Conga in Waitrose!
7th Horley Brownies celebrated 100 years of Brownies and completed their Big Brownie Birthday Challenge by dancing a conga around Horley Waitrose store. They collected donations for âHelp for Heroesâ before taking refreshments in Waitrose cafe. Horley Mayor Richard Olliver presented each of the girls with a special 'Well Done Brownies' badge.
British Canoe Union
U Canoe is Canoe Englandâs programme offer to young people (14-25 years), to encourage new participants to take part in canoeing and further enthuse those who already take part. There are two activities on offer:
- U Canoe Wired aims to bring canoeing to those that may not have easy or regular access to canoeing on the water. It involves training young people as Activators who go on to enthuse their peers using fun challenges, skill activities and races on indoor kayaking machines (kayak ergometers).
- Unleashed is the other part of the programme through which young people can get onto the water, led by qualified instructors, and decide what activities they want to do from a set of resource cards. Canoe England would be able to broker relationships with Leaders and on the water deliverers to make this happen.
Sri Lanka 2014 â Fundraising badge
We are 14 members of The Senior Section and 4 Leaders who are very excited about our imminent trip to Sri Lanka. Weâll be providing non-formal education in a mixed school for disadvantaged children, doing conservation work with the endangered Sri Lankan elephants, helping at an elephantsâ orphanage, visiting a project in the Colombo slums and spending time in a residential home for disabled children as well as meeting up with local guiding groups. As part of our fundraising, we produced a badge, and thereâs an activity pack too for units interested in holding a Sri Lanka themed evening. There are a limited number of badges left on a first-come, first-served basis.
Vacancy - Marketing Officer
Fundraising & Marketing
London
ÂŁ23,367 per annum
Including London Weighting
Closing date: 20 July 2014
Girlguiding is recruiting a Marketing Officer, reporting to the Head of Fundraising & Marketing, to work within our Communications & PR Directorate.
Should you wish to apply, please complete an application form and return to Human Resources at hrvacancies@girlguiding.org.uk
Community Adoption Scheme with The Canal and River Trust
The Canal & River Trust have a Community Adoption scheme where groups can adopt parts of their local canal or river and do a range of activities around it in partnership with the Trust. They suggest doing things like helping maintain the canal environment, running community events or promoting the canal. How much you do is up to the group. Their website is here.
London Zoo - A Rainbows Promise
On Saturday 21 June, six very excited Rainbows along with their eager Leaders started on the journey from Hackney to London Zoo at Regentâs Park, where the girls were going to make their Promise.
The 5th Hackney Rainbows is a relatively new unit, opening in October last year. The girls have been having a wonderful Rainbow adventure so far and after practicing their Promise in front of their animal craft puppets, they were ready to do the real thing!
The day out was fantastic! They learned a lot from staff, got a chance to get hands-on and the weather was lovely making it ideal for a Rainbow picnic. After a fun time of seeing the animals and singing songs from Madagascar to the Lemurs, the girls made their promise in front of their favourite animal.
The 5th Hackney Rainbows would like to thank Youth United for supporting them and giving them the opportunity to make their entrance into Girlguiding so memorable and fun. Theyâre looking forward to developing in Rainbows as they continue on their amazing adventures.
This week is the last edition of Raspberry Ripple before the summer break.