GGEW Winter 2008 | Page 3

PAGE 6 GGEW NEWS AUTUMN 2005 ots of coffee was made by the 3rd Brentwood Brownies when they held a Coffee Evening for Macmillan nurses. The Brownies also served tea and cakes and were helped at one point by Brentwood mayor Dudley Cooke who decorated a cake. The event raised £250 in just one hour and the sum was matched by Barclays Bank who operate a support scheme for staff. Brownies also gained their Hostess badges. PAGE 3 he 12th Hornchurch Brownies gained their Hostess badge on Monday 13th October by holding a tea party. The evening was held to primarily raise money for the NSPCC as well as cover clauses of the hostess badge, such as serving refreshments and making table decorations. There was a stall selling county gifts, a fab raffle and a presentation about Guiding through the ages and Changing the World projects. We were very lucky to be joined by several members of the Trefoil Guild who kindly came to visit before the County meeting. Brownie family and friends were invited to see a presentation of what the girls have been up to and launch the 12th Hornchurch Brownie website www1.freewebs.com/twelfthhornchurchbrownies. The evening raised £150 for the NSPCC and £125 for Essex West. There was standing room only in the Church and I would like to say a big thank you to Annabel Harder, Trudy Bekkers, Toni Day and all the parents who stayed to help clean up, you are all Guiding Stars! Sarah Low L T Nicola Parry n June the 4th Epping (St John’s) Brownie Pack along with Waltham Ab bey and Upshire Brownies undertook the BT Giant sleepover and chose Love in Action as their theme. We contacted Rachel Butterfield and used some of her information and resources to plan our activities. A very successful and informative sleepover was had, where we learnt all about the school she was building in Uganda about the country and its children in general. All Brownies gained their Love in Action badges. Rachel Butterfield then came to visit us on 22nd October where she was able to show us artefacts and slides of her visit to the school during the summer. We learnt more about where our money was being spent and specifically on what. We presented her with a cheque for £151.33. GGEW NEWS AUTUMN 2005 I Manuden Guides at Essex International Jamboree 2008 uess whose head this is (Sue Wiseman!) this was my view at Big G Gig! 2nd Buckhurst Hill Guides enjoying the concert in Birmingham. st Horndon on the Hill Brownies held a “Macmillan” coffee evening event on Weds 8th Oct 2008. 17 brownies from the Horndon Brownie pack decorated cakes and biscuits for sale as part of their Macmillan cancer charity fund raising event. The event was attended by parents, family and friends who were well catered for as they all enjoyed being served tea, coffee and cakes by the brownies. The event raised £68.82. 1 This was a very worthwhile and educational topic to undertake. We had fun but at the same time we learnt how different other children’s lives and experiences could be to our own and about the value of money. (By just earning our badges - £1.00) - We each bought approx. 20 bricks to build the school. The land the school was built on only cost £30.00!) ake acres of farmland, add over 50 marquees, 3.2km of fencing, 12 toilet blocks, and a few thousand tents and you have the Jamboree site. Put 10,000 people, half from Essex and half from the rest of the UK and from 30 other countries, into this, and you have the most amazing holiday village you can imagine! The area was divided into 11 sub-camps with the names of endangered animals, the theme for the Jamboree. We were on the Lemur sub-camp and enjoyed getting to know people from nearby (Elsenham!), a little further away (Colchester, Wigan, Worcester) and even further (Ghana, Germany, Ireland, USA, Norway, Japan). There was a wide range of activities on offer throughout the week, the highlights being the water sports. Girls in our group tried, and thoroughly enjoyed, sailing, power-boats, canoeing and scuba diving. There were quad bikes, gokarts, abseiling, climbing, caving, archery, assault courses, huge inflatables…… the list goes on. The It’s a Knockout involving the whole sub-camp provided a mixture of physical, mental and team-effort games, with plenty of music to let your hair down to inbetween. We also had day-out, and our girls chose to do some retail therapy in Colchester, and managed to find some incredible bargains. An impressive International Plaza contained tents set out in a huge circle around all the flags of countries represented at the Jamboree. Here we could try activities involved with world cultures, world faiths and global awareness. It was also here that 2 of our girls, Helena Berry and Jessica Arnold, were presented with their Baden-Powell Challenge awards by the Chief Guide, Liz Burnley. This was a wonderful opportunity, and made their achievement even more special. At night, the Jamboree came alive in other ways. In the central arena, there was a huge stage that took 5 people 3 hours to build (I thought it would have taken longer!), and the house band, Reef Knot, played here to get everyone into a party mood. Entertainment continued in the Dance tent and the Live tent, with different acts each night. On Thursday it was the Talent Show. Our group had won our sub-camp heat and so had the fantastic experience of performing an Abba medley on stage with a battery of lights and sound equipment in front of a large audience. They didn’t win but were absolutely brilliant! The Essex Jamboree takes place every 4 years, and is the largest in the UK. The Jamboree Chief summed up what the Jamboree is all about; “It is an opportunity for members of Scouting and Guiding to join together in a way that is not often seen in other parts of life today; a chance to meet, talk with, befriend and live with each other, in an atmosphere of harmony, peace, cooperation and celebration.” It certainly was that. We now look forward to 2012 when we can do it all again! T Glynis Prothero Guide Guider