PAGE 2
GGEW NEWS
Two very special
awards were made
recently to Jenny
Aspinall, left, Division
Commissioner for
Upminster, and Lou
Warnsby, right, the
Chair of the County
Business and Finance
Committee.
Jan Knight presented
each of them with the
County Silver Brooch at an afternoon tea at Mulberry House, Ongar. Both ladies were there to
see Ann Matthews receive her Laurel Award, and were surprised and delighted when Jan
called them both up to receive the award.
SUMMER 2015
Jenny Wolff of North
West Division is well known
as one the County Trainers.
Jenny will be even better
known in future after Region
Chief Commissioner Mary
Putt recently presented her
with her Region Trainers
certificate
ckendon District held their first TDOTA
(Thinking Day On The Air) this year. One
of our Leader’s sons has gained his full
radio licence and with members of his club, the
Thurrock Acorn Amateur Radio club, he arranged the
day for our girls to be able to chat on a radio, do
morse code and find out about amateur radio. The
girls were able to drop in at All Saints’ church hall
between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm with a range of
activities also available to them:- icing biscuits with
their initials in Morse Code, using the Phonetic
alphabet t o say their name and address, making a
QSL card showing their call sign and preparing what
to say on the radio. 49 girls took part with 6 Leaders.
Brownies and Guides were able to use this event towards their Communicator badge and everyone
will get the special TDOTA badge. The radio club members were full of praise for our girls saying
how well behaved and enthusiastic they were. We Leaders were very impressed by the way the
radio club members encouraged the children to talk on the radios and answered their many
questions! A great day for all involved! Paul Fuller also kindly donated all the QSL Cards and
Batteries to make the Morse Code Lights.
O
pminster Division Commissioner Jenny
Aspinall recently presented three 5th
Upminster (St Josephs) Guides with their
well deserved Baden Powell Awards. Left to right in
the picture are India Armstrong, Holly Rhodes, Alice
Hindson. Parents were invited along to see the
girls receive their awards and everyone enjoyed a
party tea to celebrate.
U
I thought I’d send through
some photos of our Guides
taken on the May Day Bank
Holiday Monday when we went on
a day trip to Kew Gardens. The trip was my idea as our Captain,
Shirley Utting, celebrated a ‘special’ birthday on May 10th (she
was 50) and I thought it would be nice for our Guides to help her
celebrate with a day out. The weather was incredibly kind which
really helped as we spent most of it in the open air. We saw many
of Kew Gardens’s famous sites, including the pagoda, the steamy
palm house, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, home to the
titan arum which is alleged to be the smelliest plant in the world,
Queen Charlotte’s cottage and, the most recent addition, the tree
top walkway with its wonderful views across the gardens. We
were lucky enough to time our visit to coincide with bluebell time
‐ Kew has some extensive bluebell woods which were absolutely
stunning. Our girls also enjoyed Kew’s log trail, an extensive trail
of felled trees and
logs which really
tested their balanc‐
ing skills as they
navigated their way
from one end to the
other. A fantastic
time was had by all.
Julia Martin, Unit
Helper, 11th
Loughton Trinity
Guides
GGEW NEWS
SUMMER 2015
PAGE 7
Manuden Guides in London
group of girls and Leaders spent three days in London over the February
half-term. We stayed in one of the World Guide Centres- Pax Lodge, in
Hampstead.
The first day we spent sight-seeing, mainly on foot, crossing and re-crossing
the Thames. We walked round the Tower of London, to St. Katharine Docks,
where we chose our yacht if we ever win the lottery, then across Tower Bridge.
We passed the Golden Hind, then stopped for lunch outside the Globe. We
crossed the Millennium Bridge, continuing on to Covent Garden and Trafalgar
Square. The Golden Jubilee Bridge took us back across the river again to find
somewhere to have a meal.
The highlight of the day, probably the
whole holiday, was the ride on the
London Eye at night. Some had been on
the Eye before, albeit when they were
very young, but riding by night was a first
for everyone, and was truly magical.
We headed ‘home’ to Pax Lodge for
supper and a well-earned good night’s
sleep.
The choice for the next day was London
Zoo. We were able to walk there across Primrose Hill. There was plenty to see and
places to shelter from the rain: the girls’ favourites were the penguins, whilst the adult
vote went to the giraffes.
It was Alice’s birthday and we arrived back at Pax Lodge to find a surprise birthday cake had been sent by her mother, so an
extra treat for us all. We later collected a take-away meal to eat in, then explored the centre, learning more about world guiding
and played games before going, exhausted, to bed!
On the last day we set off for shopping in Camden Market, an amazing experience for everyone, and then got the tube to
Kensington to take- in a museum. As the queue for the Natural History Museum was incredibly long, involving a 2 hour wait, we
opted for the Science Museum! Another tube journey took us to Liverpool Street, then home, after a tiring but wonderful few
days in London, getting to know each other, our capital city, and guiding, much better.
Glynis Prothero
A
th Hutton
Brownies will
really miss their
unit helper Pat Walker
who has after 26 years
decided to retire and
enjoy her grandchildren.
She helped in normal
unit sessions, on trips
and on pack holiday.
The brownies celebrated
her last evening with
games and a campfire’
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