Abingdon Girlguiding have had another exciting year helping girls know they can do anything, full of activities, games, day trips, and camps.
Guiding members all around the world celebrated World Thinking Day on the 22nd February. This special day was a celebration of 10 million girls worldwide, that has happened every year since 1926. It is a day to think of each other and celebrate guiding and scouting sisters all around the world. Every year the theme of the event encourages members to think about the big issues affecting them and their global community, with previous themes tackling poverty, gender inequality, and environmental sustainability and access to education.
To celebrate World Thinking Day 2024, Abingdon Division held a celebratory event, where all 35 of their units were invited to a fun activity day, all based around this years “Our World Our Thriving Future” theme. The guides stayed on to camp afterwards and had an excellent (although chilly!) time.
Their Rainbows (aged 4-7) have been busy making new friends, and spend their evenings playing games, doing arts & crafts, and learning new things.
Brownies (aged 7-10) are always busy having fun, you may have spotted some in the Abingdon Extravaganza parade, trying new sports, or out and about litter picking around Abingdon.
The guide units (aged 10-14) have enjoyed lots of adventures, getting out and about with a visit to the police station, a winter Sparkle and Ice camp, and a team competing in this year’s Guide & Scouting Live Monopoly Run.
The fun, friendship, adventure, and service continues for the older girls who join rangers, with many different opportunities available for this age group including international residentials and completing awards. They have just opened a new Ranger unit who are looking for new girls aged 14-18 to join. They’ve already had fun completing an Ikea scavenger hunt and are planning lots of fun exciting meetings for the summer!.
Girlguiding in Abingdon wouldn’t exist without their excellent volunteers. All the units are run by unit leadership teams, who design, plan and execute excellent programs to support every girl.
They are always welcoming new volunteers to join their unit teams; adult volunteers and young volunteers from aged 14 (great for DofE participants!). To be a volunteer with Girlguiding you just need to be adaptable, be ready to have fun, and want to make a difference to girls today. You do not need to have been a member of Girlguiding to volunteer and there are plenty of training opportunities for all roles.
Girlguiding have recently launched a new Leadership Development Program, which they have already had several volunteers begin. Being a unit leader within Girlguiding is all about working together as part of a unit leadership team, and this new qualification really focusses on that. No commitment with Girlguiding is too small, roles can be flexible and adapted to suit you. Along with unit leaders they are always after volunteers happy to carry out support work; unit admin, finance support, or be an extra pair of hands on residentials.
Brownie leader Hattie tells us more: “Volunteering with my Brownie unit is really rewarding. I enjoy seeing the girls develop in confidence, make new friends, learn new things and conquer new challenges. I also have loved getting to know my fellow adult volunteers – we lead the unit as a team and so the responsibilities are shared flexibly between us”
If you would like to volunteer or register your child to get involved, simply visit the Girlguiding website girlguiding.org.uk or you can contact
Carol and Emily via email at abingdondivision@oxfordshiregirlguiding.org.uk for more information.
