Our Amazing Journey to the Centenary Maze: 57th Bath Guides, 40th Bath Guides

Not wanting to miss out on any aspect of the Centenary Year, 12 Guides, 2 Young Leaders and 3 Leaders from St Saviours and Bathampton Guides decided to go to London to see the Girlguiding Centenary Maze in Crystal Palace. One fine Saturday in March, we left Bath Railway Station at 7.30am for a day trip that would involve 4 train and 5 tube journeys – all of which ran on time!

Our first destination was Crystal Palace Park, where we walked past some of the life size dinosaur models made by the Victorians, before enjoying a welcome hot chocolate drink in the cafe. Next stop was the Maze, with the race on to who would get to the centre first. On route there was an opportunity to collect rubbings of Guiding features from the stone obelisks. Once we were all in the centre, lots of photos taken before everyone was presented with a souvenir badge and a booklet.

We travelled back to Waterloo and a short walk took us to the London Eye, which the Guides had selected as the top place to visit in London. We were fortunate with the weather and had fine views in all directions, including seeing the Crystal Palace Transmitter and Buckingham Palace which was our next destination. From the Palace we went to Girlguiding HQ to do some shopping and then the Natural History Museum Darwin Centre to round off our sightseeing tour.

Our final stop was ASK near Paddington. The waitress really questioned whether we could have pudding and still catch our train home, but the staff and girls rose to challenge and ice creams and chocolate puddings were prepared and eaten in record time!

On the train home there was just time to ask the Guides what they thought of the day, "Good Fun", "Exciting, especially the Maze and London Eye", "Too much walking", "Brilliantv, "Not enough shopping" were some of the responses as we journeyed back to Bath.

Centenary Launch Party: Bath Division

Girlguiding Bath Division held its Centenary Launch Party on Saturday 5th September at Bath Racecourse. Over 500 current members and 350 guests who had previously been members came along. This was a huge undertaking for the Division, involving many months of planning but it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us all to get together to celebrate such a remarkable event.

On arrival the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Senior Section members joined five coloured groups and received their matching colour party bag, containing the Greatest Adventure booklet. Leaders, Trefoil Guild members and adult guests received blue or red bags and a souvenir booklet.

On offer to the girls were age-based activities in five zones:
Adventure: Pioneering, Bouncy Castle, Giant Games and Inflatable Obstacle course
Music/Dance: Drumming Worksop and Campfire Singing
Heritage: ‘Cinema’ for viewing the Girlguiding UK Launch Party, a timeline, old uniforms and a ‘what was it used for’ picture quiz.
Creativity: Head Dresses and Spoon Pals for Rainbows and Brownies, Bead Brooches, Bookworms and Pot Pourri for Guides and above and card making for all.
Common Threads: Memory Wall, putting a stitch or two into a Centenary Banner, a shopping opportunity and a re-join us point.

We were fortunate that Gill Slocombe, our Region Chief Commissioner was able to visit and cut the celebration cake, which had been made by local chef Martin Blunos. We are delighted that the Mayor of Bath could also join us and had time to tour the site.

We were not deterred by the weather from finishing our event with ‘campfire’ singing, albeit inside our very large marquees sheltering from the rain rather than on the grass in the sunshine. We hope the following pictures give you a flavour of the event and the fun you can have as part of Girlguiding Bath Division.

Guides to hold Pop-up Shop: 57th Bath Guides

57th Bath (Bathampton) Guides are holding a pop-up Save the Children Shop on Saturday 27th June 2009, 10.00 – 12.30 at Bathampton Village Hall. The Guides will be selling books, videos/DVDs, puzzles and games, clothes, cakes and biscuits. Please come and support Save the Children!

Bath Division Brownies and Guides Trip to Beer – May 2009: Bath Division

A group of 31 Brownies and Guides from the Bath Division recently enjoyed a trip to Beer in Devon. The 9-10 year olds plus seven Guiders made their way to Beer on Friday 15th May 2009, to begin their weekend adventure!
The group arrived at Beer YHA on Friday evening, after which the Brownies and Guides cooked supper for the entire group. After hot chocolate it was time for bed, with girls sharing dorm rooms. Rosie, one of the Guides attending the trip, said her favourite part of the weekend was that they got to sleep in the dorms, saying “it was fun because it was different to ordinary bedtime, it was quite exciting!”
Fortunate enough to miss most of the rain on Saturday, the group went to Pecorama, home of the Peco Railway Exhibition and light railway. After enjoying a ride on the train, the Brownies and Guides were keen to explore the adventure playgrounds and fitness trails.
The girls ate lunch in a park before heading to the beach for the afternoon, where everyone was delighted to have an ice cream before the rain sent them back to the hostel. Evening activities included making cats cradles, origami boats, donkey masks and much more, before cooking, clearing up and heading off to bed.
On Sunday, the group departed from the YHA, going home via the Donkey Sanctuary at Sidmouth. Despite the bad weather, the group loved seeing all the donkeys and were pleased to be able to adopt two of them, Busby and Little Vijay. The Brownies and Guides also had fun in other activities at the sanctuary, including a maze and a donkey exhibition. Lucy, one of the Guides, said that the maze was her favourite part of the trip, “getting lost and wet and eventually finding the middle!”, whilst another, Georgia, said “I especially liked the donkey exhibition, seeing what donkeys do in different countries”.
All in all, a weekend thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who went!

Vicky Otter

Changing the World: BookAid International Book Fair: 31st Bath Rainbows, 31st Bath Guides

31st Bath Guides and 31st Bath Rainbows completed their Changing the World project by holding a book fair on May 9th.

African-inspired artwork such as masks, bookmarks and jewellery, which was created by the Guides during meetings was sold at the event. Hundreds of books were donated and sold; some visitors enjoyed the comfort of our book tent with a cup of Kenyan coffee or tea. All this, along with cake, lucky dip and treasure hunt stalls led to a very successful and enjoyable event!

We raised a fantastic £172 for BookAid International, who provide free books for some of the poorest countries in the world. Our donation will enable 135 books to be sent abroad to help other people improve their education by reading!

Thankyou to everyone that was involved, we really have changed the world!

Guides Change the World with Pop up Save the Children Shop: 50th Bath Guides

Girls at Bathford Guides held a Pop-Up Shop on Saturday 28th March 2009 to raise money for Save the Children.

The event was part of celebrations for the Girlguiding Centenary. The Guides were involved in generating stock, publicising the event and running the shop on the day with funds raised going towards Save the Children’s simple lifesaving health and hunger work.

The event was a huge success, with the Guides raising over £300 for the charity.

Vicky Otter, a Guide Leader helping with the event, said "Supporting Save the Children’s work is very important to us as the fundraising will make a difference to so many children around the world. Everyone at Bathford Guides really enjoyed holding the pop-up shop and is delighted to have raised this money to help save children’s lives".

Vicky added, "I also think it was an important project for the Guides to be involved in because it taught them about working in teams, organisation and interacting in a professional manner with members of the public, whilst giving them the responsibility to raise as much money as possible for Save the Children".

The Bathford Guides Unit would like to thank everyone who donated items to sell at the shop and those who turned up on the day to buy things, without whom the event would not have been a success.

Guides Change the World with Pop up Save the Children Shop: 50th Bath Guides

Girls in Bathford and Batheaston are changing the world by saving children’s lives.

To celebrate their centenary, Girlguiding UK has teamed up with 19 fantastic partner organisations to create 19 different projects for the girls and young women to change the world.

The local Guides are changing the world by setting up a pop up Save the Children shop on March 28th 2009.

The girls have been involved in generating stock and publicising the event and funds raised will go towards Save the Children’s simple lifesaving health and hunger work.

10 million children die before their fifth birthday every year. That’s as many as one child per three seconds. In the worst countries, like Sierra Leone in Africa, the rates of survival are so drastically low that one in four children do not make it to the age of five.

The shocking reality behind these figures is that most of these children are dying of causes that are preventable by staggeringly simple treatments. Two of the three main killers responsible for the loves of these children are malaria and diarrhoea, when we know that rehydration salts and mosquito nets – items that costs only a few pounds – would keep these children alive.

Jenny Prall said “Supporting Save the Children’s work is very important to us as the fundraising we’re doing, at the Good Shepherd Church Hall in Batheaston, will make a difference to so many children around the world. Everyone at Bathford Guides is really looking forward to holding a pop up shop and we hope we can raise as much as possible to help save children’s lives.”

For more information please contact Jenny Prall (01225 858269) or Marilyn Wright (01225 858047).

Woodhouse Park Camp: 31st Bath Guides

In Summer 2007, 31st Bath Guides had a Heroes and Villains inspired camp at Woodhouse Park. Here is a photo of the bridge they built with help from the pioneering team!

Badminton Cottages 2008: 31st Bath Guides

Here is a photo of 31st Bath Guides enjoying the shelter they built at their I Will Survive indoor camp at Badminton Cottage in spring 2008!

Guides Collect Baden-Powell Award: 50th Bath Guides

On 10th December 2008, 4 girls from 50th Bath (Bathford) Guides were presented with their Baden-Powell Awards at a special ceremony held in the Guildhall, Bath. Alice, Hannah, Gina and Gemma received their awards from the Mayor of Bath, along with the Mayoress, and Chairman of the Council.
Whilst visiting the Guildhall the girls got sign the Guildhall’s visitors’ book and see the signatures of some very famous people, including Olave Baden-Powell, and the Queen. Afterwards, the Guides celebrated at Bath Divisions HQ’s with food and games!