Pip’s Perspective – a message from the Chief Commissioner
If you were one of the 919 adult volunteers or 118 young leaders lucky enough to spend last weekend with 3,004 Brownies at our Big Brownie Birthday event then you will already know what a truly awesome experience it was! Girlguiding LaSER took over Butlins at Bognor Regis to celebrate 100 years of Brownie guiding. 'Funtastic' followed in the footsteps of 'Funtasia' and 'Funtenary', our region events of eight and four years ago, and offered the girls a fabulous weekend of FUN. The event wouldn't have happened without the support of the wonderful Brownie leaders who coordinated all the pre-trip paperwork, held parents' meetings and of course accompanied their excited girls, but, the event couldn't have happened without the huge effort put in by the volunteer event teams who worked tirelessly before, during and now after the weekend. My very grateful thanks go to Lead Volunteer Clare Grout and all the team leaders and team members who contributed to the huge success of the event. The smiles on the faces of the girls as we waved goodbye said it all... thank you everyone!
pipmck@girlguidinglaser.org.uk
Twitter: @ PipMcKerrow
Want to hear more about Funtastic and see some photos? Our ‘Yellow is the new Raspberry’ column is on page 3
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the following on the completion of their Queen’s Guide Award:
Jayne Steel, Plumstead Common District Senior Section, London South East
Karen McDonough and Millie Johnston, Redhill Senior Section, Surrey East
Catherine Cremmen, 1st Westcott Guides, Surrey East
Abigail Glass, 6th Edgware Guide Unit, Middlesex East
Rebecca Crisp, 8th Sidcup (St Lawrence’s) Brownies, Greater London Kent
National Astronomy Week
In 2014, Jupiter will be at its highest for many years to come and we would like to invite you to celebrate National Astronomy Week (NAW) which will take place from Saturday 1 – 8 March.
During this time, Jupiter will be more visible than usual in the early evening sky and this provides a great opportunity to organise events and activities to view this giant planet with its turbulent cloud belts, colourful storm areas and major moons.
You could run a Star/Observing Party, camp out overnight, invite a speaker to provide an educational lecture or run a science workshop.
If you would like to organise an event, a number of useful downloadable resources are available from the NAW’s dedicated website. These include lesson plans, posters, fact sheets, speakers, resources and more. To help increase publicity for your event, please ensure you register your event on the NAW website.
For further information, please contact the NAW Co-ordinator (naw2014@the-observatory.org) at the Observatory.
Growing guiding with support from the Youth United Foundation
LaSER received funding from the Youth United Foundation to open units in areas of north and east London where girls have not previously been able to enjoy guiding.
Over 20 groups are expected to open by summer 2014 and learning from the project is being fed back at both national and regional level.
Cat Roberts, who opened a new Unit last autumn, said:
“Opening 1st Alexandra Park Guide unit has been an amazing experience. Getting to know the girls and my new leadership team has been great fun.”
Lynne Woolley, Development Worker, agreed:
“It has been amazing to support current volunteers who have not only decided to take the step of opening a new Unit, but who have also supported the project with everything from recruitment to new Unit training. I’d also like to welcome volunteers joining guiding for the first time, helping to open new units in new areas as well as supporting current units.”
@growingguiding #growingguiding
Yellow is the new Raspberry!
What an amazing weekend Funtastic was, and it even made the news! If you’re not a regular visitor to the BBC news website, make sure you check out the article and admire the birthday cake made of 55,000 lego bricks (see the photo on the right)!
Val Hickmott, Brownie Advisor and BBB champion, summed up the experience:
“I hope you all enjoyed the weekend after a very wet Friday. I was lucky to be with the beach activity team so met lots of you around the exit gate on the beach or on the promenade.
The sea creatures put on display were amazing and every single one of them was absolutely brilliant – thank you Brownies so much for all your effort! As a result it was incredibly difficult to choose a winner, but eventually it was 2nd Southwick Brownies, Sussex West, who were awarded the prize.
We were lucky that Sunday was a beautiful sunny day to finish off a wonderful weekend.”
Funtastic Photo Competition
We are running a competition for the best photograph from the weekend. Please send one photo that you think sums up the weekend to Cleo (cleod@girlguidinglaser.org.uk) at region office and there will be a prize. We will also publish the winning photo in Raspberry Ripple and on the LaSER website.
Closing date: 18 February 2014
Watch out next week for the link to the evaluation forms!
Vacancies
Centre Manager - Foxlease
Girlguiding is currently recruiting a Centre Manager who will be based at Foxlease, Hampshire and will report to the Head of Property Management
Closing date: 30 January 2014 at 5pm
Activity Instructor Apprenticeship
Blackland Farm, West Sussex
12 month fixed term contract
£5.00 per hour
Girlguiding has an exciting opportunity to recruit Apprentices in Activity Leadership at Blackland Farm. The successful candidates will train to be Activity Instructors and complete a Level 2 qualification in Activity Leadership on the job, in conjunction with Kendal College.
Closing date: 03 March 2014
Should you wish to apply for either opportunity, please complete an application form and return to Human Resources (hrvacancies@girlguiding.org.uk) at Girlguiding HQ. Follow the link for a full job description.
Brownies and Guides become first in county to achieve Arts Award
Proud members of 1st Shorncliffe Gurkha Brownies and Guides, from Folkestone in Kent East, have become the first in their county to complete their Arts Award Discover certificate. Arts Award is a qualification accredited by Trinity College London that inspires young people to grow their arts and leadership talents. To achieve Discover, the girls had to discover the arts around them, find out about artists and their work and share their experiences with others. The girls tried making jewellery and felt craft and took part in a drama workshop. They also invited a local artist to come and be interviewed about her career.
The unit may be the first in the region to complete their Discover Award however leader Julie Larner, an Arts Award Adviser and Trainer for the South East region, would love to hear from you if your girls are doing the same. Let Julie know by sending her an email at Girlguiding Kent East (info@girlguidingkenteast.org.uk).