It’s been a busy weekend – first our Brownies were helping at St John’s Summer Fayre in Newton, Porthcawl and then I was chairing the Girlguiding Cymru business meeting and Annual Review at Broneirion in Llandinam.
The Summer Fayre was lots of fun. Newton has a very traditional and beautiful village green surrounded by a 12th century Norman church, 2 pubs and the old schoolroom (where we meet for Brownies) making it an ideal setting for the Summer Fayre.
Lots of stalls, activities and entertainment and hundreds of people. The Brownies really enjoyed running the games. We had Splat the Rat, Find the Red-bottomed Egg, Balls in a Bucket, Hoop-la, Higher or Lower and Find the Golden Golf Tee. We had lots of winners – young and old and it was a great PR opportunity too with a few more names added to Join Us and a chance to chat to some prospective helpers! Very warm, a little hectic, but great fun!
From the Fayre to Broneirion and straight into some meetings to prepare for Girlguiding Cymru’s big day on Sunday.
With our new constitution in place, the business meeting was a little different this year. The Strategic Management Group together with the County Commissioners Council had a very productive and stimulating morning focused on the business of Girlguiding Cymru. Flexibility and Opportunity were key themes – we have to have a clear direction yet remain flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities for funding, partnerships and activities to enable all our members to develop and grow. The team showed that we’re certainly in very good hands and that they’re in tune with the needs of today’s modern girls and women.
The morning finished with a very stimulating workshop in which I urged everyone to ‘Release their Genie’ and to discover how to ‘Become a Genius!’ Thank you ladies for your participation – I hope you now have some new tools to rise those challenges and opportunities. Remember, get out of your lamp!!
After a tasty Broneirion lunch, we were joined by guests and members from across Wales for the Girlguiding Cymru 2013 Annual Review. This was an amazing opportunity to inform everyone and to showcase Girlguiding Cymru.
Under the theme We Discover, We Grow, we had a snapshot of the highlights of the last year and a truly varied afternoon with contributions on the new branding and the new Promise, our very successful Peer Education programme, an insight into one girl’s Guiding journey and an amazing finale from the girls at Project Spotlight 2013. Phew! So much energy, enthusiasm and excitement and so many talented girls – it’s a pleasure and a privilege to be part of this amazing organisation.
Tea on the lawn in the sunshine with friends rounded off a wonderful weekend.
Keep smiling, keep Guiding,
Helen
P.S. Another busy weekend coming up – Pack Holiday AND Friends of Broneirion! I hope the sun keeps shining…..
This Little Guiding Light 