Lockdown at the start of March brought to a halt many of the out of school activities that our children enjoy and look forward to each week. Girl Guides though and their leaders are not ones to give up easily though. The many Girlguiding units in the village have still been busy this year – some sending out activity packs for the girls to work on at home, some took their meetings online and met on zoom and others have recently started enjoying socially distanced outdoor meetings.
The girls too rose to the challenge of adapting to meeting differently. We would like to share with you what a few of our groups have been up to …
1st Burley Brownies have met every week since the start of lockdown (with just one week off!) We meet using Zoom and are joined by anything up to 20 girls each week to work on the Girlguiding program together, earn badges, welcome visitors and have fun.
Some of the many things we have enjoyed include a puppet workshop, making microwave mug cakes, creating poppy stones for Remembrance, lots of scavenger hunts, games, quizzes and an escape room. We’ve been joined by author Will Mabbitt, illustrator Alison Brown, guests from the RNLI & the Blue Cross and Jill from Canada who taught us all about sharks.
The girls have worked on badges at home earning badges in baking, performing, mindfulness, gardening, collecting, charities and space. They’ve made zip wires for their teddies, built obstacle courses and gone wild in June for 30 Days Wild with the Wildlife Trust. They’ve earned a number of Bronze, Silver and Gold awards which are the highest awards you can earn as a Brownie.
Pack Holiday is the highlight of the Brownie year and this year we went virtual, helping to break a world record for the largest camp at home, enjoying our own virtual campfire and meeting and adopting some alpacas from Scotland.
1st Burley Guides have 29 out of 30 Guides signed up for zoom meetings and nearly a full house turning up every week. They have enjoyed scavenger hunts and quizzes and enjoyed Taskmaster challenges. Their microwave mug cakes were delicious. They earned their whittling badge carving peppers and making whistles out of carrots. The girls took part in a debate for parliament week and made pinwheel poppies for remembrance whilst working on their remembrance UMA (unit meeting activity.) The birds in their gardens are well fed thanks to the fab citrus feeders the girls made.
They enjoyed camping at home and also helped to break a world record. They are looking forward to Christmas activities and a virtual pantomime with the other girlguiding units.
2nd Burley Brownies are also busy meeting online, the girls are currently working on their skills for my future theme award. They have been busy learning how to use hand tools, making lifts, robots and air canons. They have joined with Microsoft to make their own computer games, worked on their space badge with The Royal Astronomical Society and practiced strategies for improving their mental well being with a Girlguiding Peer Educator. The girls have camped in their gardens and also enjoyed helping to break a world record. They have been busy baking. The girls have been involved in various community ‘cheer up’ activities including the rainbow window trail, the Burley Halloween trail and the Girlguiding display for remembrance in the Wharfedale deli. They are acting their age to raise money for Children in Need, writing cards to residents of local care homes and planting seeds. But most importantly they have plenty of giggles, silliness and fun!
We hope it won’t be long until we are able to resume face to face indoor meetings but until then you can be sure we will be carrying on Guiding!
