Girlguiding Shropshire is pleased to be partnering with Macmillan Cancer Support on a number of events and challenges this year. To find out more about the partnership at region level and how you can get involved with some of the challenges, check out this web page.
Back in September, some of our leaders dressed up as pirates and took to the seas (well, the River Severn) as part of the Shrewsbury River Festival. The team was given supplies to build themselves a raft, putting their pioneering skills to the test and then all of the rafts got to take part in a race along the river. Not only did all of the Girlguiding Shropshire team’s knots stay in tact, but they paddled their way to victory as well, beating the other teams to win the race.
Also at the event, some of our volunteers spent a successful day teaming up with Macmillan Cancer Support to run a fundraising stall with a tombola and gifts for sale.
Here is our County Commissioner being awarded with the trophy for the winning raft at the event.
One of our leaders, Rebecca Harding, tells us about the challenge she set herself in the name of Girlguiding.
“In December 2016 I decided to challenge myself and signed up to take part in the Girlguiding UK Charity Trek of the Great Wall of China. As a Brownie leader I challenge Brownies each week to try new things and at 6th Whitchurch Brownies we are not allowed to say we can’t do something! So this was a challenge for me and throughout the challenge I was not allowed to say ‘I can’t do it’ – our Charity Trek group t-shirts said it all – ‘Girls can do anything’.
I first saw the challenge on the Girlguiding website, the iconic image of the Great Wall stood out and made me think I would love to go; traveling independently I knew going with Girlguiding I would be looked after and have fun. I signed up and told my family over Christmas dinner that I was going to China in 2017. I have been fundraising and training for the challenge throughout 2017 finding beautiful walks around Shropshire, Cheshire and North Wales borders as well as climbing lots of steps. The Girlguiding Charity Challenge co-coordinator at HQ has been very supportive and she also completed the challenge with us.
Over ten days at the end of September thirty ladies took part in the challenge, the majority of whom are members of Girlguiding but the charity challenges are open to anyone to raise money for Girlguiding UK. Some of the group flew out to China the week before the trek and had an extension trip to see the Terracotta Warriors; I joined the second group traveling to China for the trek. The trek was organised by Discover Adventures and we were joined by two guides from Discover Adventure, a doctor and two local Chinese guides. We spent 6 days walking along different sections of the Great Wall of China – this included walking on parts of the original wall, wall that had been restored, walking on / by un-restored wall. The weather was kind to us and we had breathtaking views of China. The walks were challenging with lots of steps and slopes to climb up and down. Each night we stayed in different hotels close to the section of wall we would be climbing the next day.
All of the ladies successfully completed the challenge and have raised £45,000 at present for Girlguiding UK – this money will be used for new unit grants, grants for units in deprived areas, training for Peer Educators, paying for members to travel and speak at high profile events to influence decision making and supporting members with disabilities.
I loved taking part in this challenge, I challenged myself physically, experienced a wide variety of Chinese culture and met amazing inspirational ladies as we supported each other to meet our personal goals.”
Some of our leaders dressed up as pirates and took to the seas (well, the River Severn) as part of the Shrewsbury River Festival. The team was given supplies to build themselves a raft, putting their pioneering skills to the test and then all of the rafts got to take part in a race along the river. Not only did all of the Girlguiding Shropshire team’s knots stay in tact, but they paddled their way to victory as well, beating the other teams to win the race.
Also at the event, some of our volunteers spent a successful day teaming up with Macmillan Cancer Support to run a fundraising stall with a tombola and gifts for sale.
Girlguiding Shropshire is pleased to be partnering with Macmillan Cancer Support on a number of events and challenges this year. To find out more about the partnership at region level and how you can get involved with some of the challenges, check out this web page.
We’d like to offer a big congratulations to Dorothy, who was presented with her 40 years service award at the Newport Trefoil Guild meeting this week. Well done, Dorothy!
As part of her Queen’s Guide Award, Kat organised a trip to Cardiff with some of her guiding friends.
Section 2 of the award asks candidates to take on an Outdoor Challenge, where they will take on new responsibilities and explore somewhere which is new to them. Kat chose to head to Cardiff to explore and the group took on an A-Z challenge whilst they were there, meaning they had things to do for each letter of the alphabet. Some of the items on their agenda included visiting Bute Park, eating Welsh cakes, enjoying some of the many museums which Cardiff has to offer, and playing crazy golf, as well as learning more about the history of a city which they hadn’t been to before.
Kat’s highlight from the weekend had to be the crazy golf. “We had such a laugh and it was a great atmosphere at Treetops Adventure Golf. It was designed like a rainforest complete with thunder and lightning effects, talking toucans and singing tree frogs!”
The Queen’s Guide Award is the highest award you can work towards within guiding, and is open to members aged between 16-25. To find out more about the award, please see this link for the syllabus on the national website.
For anyone considering taking on the challenge, Kat’s advice is to go for it. She says: “It is an excellent opportunity to try new things, meet new people and push yourself to the limit to achieve things that you didn’t think you could do. I’ve loved doing it!”.
Volunteers from across Shropshire braved the weather to join Princess Alexandra at the Lyneal Trust for the naming of their new day-trip boat.
The narrowboat, which has been purpose-built to be used for taking those with disabilities out on the canal, has been named The Shropshire Lady and volunteers are hoping that more people will be able to make use of the canal and it’s boats for holidays and trips in the future.
The Lyneal Trust is located just a short walk away from our county’s residential centre and the trust are happy to arrange for guiding groups to have a canal boat trip as part of their stay. More information about the residential centre and how to book can be found here.
Leaders from Shropshire North were given the opportunity to get together on Sunday at Prees Cricket Club for an afternoon of socialising and sharing ideas. After talking about things which units have done over the past twelve months, as well as making plans for the coming year over scones and strawberries.
Division Commissioner Janet Howarth thanked her leaders for everything they do for Girlguiding Shropshire and then handed over to her ex-Brownie, Miriam Ridley, who gave a presentation on her experiences within Girlguiding thus far. Miriam spoke about GOLD international teams which she had been a part of, running a unit whilst at University, and her voyages with the Tall Ships events and inspired everyone to remember that they can make a difference.
On Saturday, 1400 members of Girlguiding Shropshire celebrated 100 years of guiding in Shropshire with a carnival fair themed event at Shrewsbury College. Rainbows and Brownies from across the county spent the day at Shrewsbury College taking part in activities such as bhangra dancing, circus skills workshops and a silent disco, as well as adding to a tile mosaic which will be displayed at the Jackfield Tile Museum to mark our centenary. The girls then made hats and shakers and took part in the carnival parade along with guides and senior section members.
On Wednesday 24th May Zoe Jacobs, leader at Randlay Rainbows went to Buckingham Palace to receive her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
To achieve the award Zoe had to do among many things a years volunteering. She decided to ask the local guiding units if she could do this with them. The Randlay Rainbow unit were more than happy to have her come along as a volunteer. Pam who runs the Randlay Brownies and also was Zoe’s Brown Owl while she was at Brownies organized it for her. Zoe enjoyed the group so much that at the end of her year decided to stay on and do her leadership training. On achieving this, the position of Rainbow leader became available and she was delighted to take over the group where she has seen girls start at 5 and worked with them as they move on to Brownies. She runs a successful unit , which is full with 15 girls and a waiting list.