. WOW – things don’t stop in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, time just flies by. I can’t believe it’s a whole term since the last Bags of News. The Shaun the Sheep design competition went well - thanks to the Ambassadors for judging it. We are all now eagerly waiting the unit resource with the badges ready for the trail in the summer - thanks to Laura Whiteway, Wendy Elliott and the rest of ‘Team Shaun’ for organising it. My Brownies can’t wait! The County final of CookaFun organised by Maria Jenkins and her team was a huge success. Thanks again to the judges as I know it was not an easy task as the standard was so high. We are now getting ready for CookaFest in July. As we address our next challenge - Growing Guiding - I would like to welcome Megan Crossley and Viki Gardiner, the two Growing Guiding Development Workers who joined the County recently. Some of you have met with these ladies as we work together to open more units and to recruit the adults to run them. Megan will be working in the areas with large waiting lists and Viki will be working in areas where there is little or no Girlguiding. To enable Megan and Viki to succeed they will require support from the local Girlguiding community, as will the new adult volunteers. County Commissioner’s Letter MAY 2015 The Interim Solutions task group, led by Lisa Williams, is working on a ‘Rainbow Day’ for those girls who are currently on the waiting lists. This is planned for Sunday 28 th June at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College. Sara Berryman and Libby Hunt have agreed to lead our latest initiative – ‘Holiday – out of term’ (Hoot) units. It’s very early days with this task group so watch this space!! Finally – the last weekend in April was the official opening of Brooks Lodge at Briarlands. This was opened by the Chief Guide Gill Slocombe, and it was also attended by Solange Rebours, our Region Chief Commissioner, together with dignitaries from Bristol and South Gloucestershire. The weather was kind to us and the sun shone – it was a wonderful atmosphere and there were great activities for the girls who attended and delicious food. Thank you everyone for your help and support – we’ve done it!!!! Just leaves me to say – a big Thank You to you all, for all you do for Girlguiding BSG. Enjoy the summer and don’t forget some ‘me’ time!! Lorna Lee – County Commissioner
Transcript
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WOW – things don’t stop in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, time just flies by. I can’t believe it’s a whole term since the last Bags of News. The Shaun the Sheep design competition went well - thanks to the Ambassadors for judging it. We are all now eagerly waiting the unit resource with the badges ready for the trail in the summer - thanks to Laura Whiteway, Wendy Elliott and the rest of ‘Team Shaun’ for organising it. My Brownies can’t wait! The County final of CookaFun organised by Maria Jenkins and her team was a huge success. Thanks again to the judges as I know it was not an easy task as the standard was so high. We are now getting ready for CookaFest in July. As we address our next challenge - Growing Guiding - I would like to welcome Megan Crossley and Viki Gardiner, the two Growing Guiding Development Workers who joined the County recently. Some of you have met with these ladies as we work together to open more units and to recruit the adults to run them. Megan will be working in the areas with large waiting lists and Viki will be working in areas where there is little or no Girlguiding. To enable Megan and Viki to succeed they will require support from the local Girlguiding community, as will the new adult volunteers.
County Commissioner’s Letter
MAY 2015
The Interim Solutions task group, led by Lisa Williams, is working on a ‘Rainbow Day’ for those girls who are currently on the waiting lists. This is planned for Sunday 28th June at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College. Sara Berryman and Libby Hunt have agreed to lead our latest initiative – ‘Holiday – out of term’ (Hoot) units. It’s very early days with this task group so watch this space!! Finally – the last weekend in April was the official opening of Brooks Lodge at Briarlands. This was opened by the Chief Guide Gill Slocombe, and it was also attended by Solange Rebours, our Region Chief Commissioner, together with dignitaries from Bristol and South Gloucestershire. The weather was kind to us and the sun shone – it was a wonderful atmosphere and there were great activities for the girls who attended and delicious food. Thank you everyone for your help and support – we’ve done it!!!! Just leaves me to say – a big Thank You to you all, for all you do for Girlguiding BSG. Enjoy the summer and don’t forget some ‘me’ time!! Lorna Lee – County Commissioner
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I recently returned from three months as a Winter Vollie at Our Chalet, in Switzerland as part of my gap year. I worked on the programme team where I led hikes, sledging days, on-site days and snow BBQs. I also worked on the guest services team and provided guests with breakfast and packed lunch, worked on reception and did other jobs such as cleaning, laundry, tidying and ‘snow patrol’. We cooked dinner for all the guests so I’ve improved my cooking skills. There were many different evening programmes; for example, traditional Swiss nights, snowshoe hikes to the magic tree, games night, WAGGGS night and a campfire in the snow.
My World Centre Adventure!
County Day, Thank you
Thank you to everyone who came to County Day in March! Over 250 leaders attended, which is a great figure. The evaluations were very complimentary, there were one or two problems but you can’t run a large event with everything perfect! The craft stall run by Artrageous (from Scrapstore) was appreciated, and they are returning again next year. A reminder that County Day is for everyone, from 14 year-old Young Leaders upwards! So please look out for the application forms next January 2016, and get your applications in early Make a note in your diary to reserve the date for next year 19 MARCH 2016 Penny Moon
I completed a staff challenge and to find out more go to https://chaletchatter.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/staff-rising-to-the-challenge-danielle-uk/v I had the best three months of my life as a vollie at Our Chalet, making some amazing friends for life from around the world and I don’t think I have ever smiled and laughed as much as I did in those three months. Danielle McIver 1st Thornbury Rainbows and 6th Thornbury Brownies
St. John's Guides are celebrating our centenary this year. We are having a reunion for anyone who has been involved in Scouts or Guides at St. John's 4th July and a church service on 5th. Please pass onto to anyone you know who was involved. Please email me for more info - [email protected] Thanks Carrie Britton
Dear Friends Please do not forget to book your weekend at the Cottages. We have had a lot of enquiries but still have some vacancies. Our coffee morning was a great success at our new venue, The Church Centre at Quakers Road; we raised nearly £500 with the Jam sales included. We are still collecting pennies if you would like to forward any to me please do. At County Day our Raffle of the Picnic Basket was won by Brenda Smith, raffle ticket No. 9. Our A.G.M will take place at the Cottages on Tuesday 12th May 2015, hope to see you there. Below is our Membership application form, we are up to 57 so there is still room for more. Best wishes Sue Cook
FRIENDS OF BADMINTON COTTAGES Membership Application & Renewal Form 2015 Tick I/We wish to join the Friends of Badminton Cottages l/We wish to renew membership of the Friends of Badminton Cottages
Name(s) _______________________________________ Tel No ____________________
Unit / Group _______________________________________
Address _______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________ Post Code _____________________
(Above required for contact / correspondence
AMOUNT ENCLOSED £ __________________ SIGNED _______________________________________ Current Fee Individual = £6.00 Couple or Group = £10 (Minimum!) Cheques should be made payable to Friends of Badminton Cottages and sent to:
Mrs S K Cook, 23 Shortwood Road, Pucklechurch, Bristol BS16 9PL. Tel: 0117 937 3636
Debbie Jackson 5th Thornbury (Christ the King) Brownies Severnvale
Sarah Trubshaw 2nd Thornbury Guides Severnvale
Jo Fry 141st Bristol (Avon Vale) Rainbows Bristol South West
Alice England 165th Bristol Rainbows Concorde
Claire Reynolds 1st Bitton Guides Kingswood South
Kelly Emery 2nd Stoke Lodge Brownies Frome Valley
Sara Hughes 21st Kingswood Brownies Kingswood North
Victoria Rowe 4th Kingswood Rangers Kingswood North
Abigail Bowden 4th Kingswood Brownies Kingswood North
Rebecca Curley 4th Kingswood Rangers Kingswood North
Emily Westacott 25th Kingswood Brownies Kingswood North
Katie Brown 2nd Soundwell Rainbows Kingswood North
Jackie Bee Thornbury Senior Section Severnvale
Emma Lynch 4th Yate Guides South Cotswold
Hannah Howell 4th Yate Guides South Cotswold
Freya Swanson 183rd Brownies Bristol West
Hanne Gadeberg 28th Guides Bristol West
Lauren Huish 1st Westbury on Trym Rainbows Bristol West
Sara Berryman 1st Henbury Rainbows Bristol West
Liz Sheppard 1st Henbury Rainbows Bristol West
Emily Geens 91st Westbury on Trym Brownies Bristol West
Alex Plumb 54th Guides Bristol West
Sandu Baker-Hellings 54th Guides Bristol West
Eleanor Tovey 114th Bristol Brownies Bristol North West
Correction April/July 2014
Jessica Taylor should have read Jessica Tolliday
183rd Brownies Bristol West
“Design our Shauns” Competition
Thank you to everyone who entered the competition to “Design our Shauns”. We had a fantastic response – over 200 entries! – and our Ambassadors who picked the winners at County Day found it very hard to choose from all the fantastic designs.
Congratulations go to:
Carol Seel – Bristol North West Trefoil Guild Emma Mitchell – 2nd Stoke Lodge Brownies 1st Hartcliffe & Withywood Rainbows Heidi Williams – 145th Bristol Guides Carol’s design - “Olave” - will be used in its entirety on one of our Shauns. Our other Shaun will be decorated with elements of the designs submitted by Emma, Heidi, and 1st Hartcliffe & Withywood Rainbows. All the winning designs can be seen on our website - http://www.girlguidingbsg.org.uk/index.php/news/296-design-our-shauns-the-winning-entries.html Laura Whiteway Assistant County Commissioner - Communication
Congratulations!
To all Guiders who have completed their Leadership Qualifications between January to April 2015
At a recent County Presentation Evening held at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall the following Awards were received: County Sea Stag Award Sandi Hardwick Sara Berryman Good Service Award Jo Fry Julie Rowsell Jane Evans Janet Hale Mary Langdon County Standard Award Jeanne Pinkerton Susan Marshfield 50 years Service Award Sue Cook 40 years Service Award Jane Evans
Many congratulations to you all
County Presentations
Severnvale Rainbows, Brownies & Guides
SEVERNVALE RAINBOW, BROWNIES & GUIDES TAKE ON EPIC DANCE CHALLENGE FOR RED NOSE DAY! On Sunday 8th March girls from different units in the Severnvale Division took part in the first ever Comic Relief Danceathon in support of Red Nose Day 2015. The girls, joined thousands of other GirlGuiding members up and down the country to take part in the special girl-only dance - getting sponsored to bust some serious moves for six hours. Kicking off at 12 midday, the girls gathered to take on this epic challenge, with sessions from Zumba to line dancing, and continued to dance until 6.00pm. Special thanks go to Amie King for the Zumba session, ladies from the Caedmon Complex for the Street dancing, Shirley Holloway (County Ambassador) & colleagues for the folk dancing and Chris Adams for the line dancing. So far the sponsorship money collected including our Justgiving page is in excess of £1000.00 – Well done girls For more information please contact: Lisa Phillips, 1st Thornbury Brownies – 07976 708679 [email protected] Pictures – Rainbows from Thornbury, Alveston and Pilning. Brownies & Guides from Thornbury, Falfield & Stone and Alveston
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Wanted ASAP a Cleaner @ Brooks Lodge
Do you own a Cleaning Company?
Have you got a 2hr slot a week to clean Brooks Lodge?
If the answer is YES and you’re interested please contact :
8th April saw 17 of 42nd Bitton Guides leave UWE at 7.45am on the Mega Bus to head east to London, to see how many Shaun the Sheep we could find. We were all given a Shaun the Sheep Trail map that Lizzie had got from the shop in the Mall.
We went on 2 MegaBuses
12 Underground Trains 1 London Eye (they even gave us our own pod)
We Found
15 Shaun the Sheep 2 Leaders from Staple Hill
We Saw
Buckingham Palace 4D experience
Big Ben Horse Guards Parade
The Mall Nelsons Colum & the Lions
Houses of Parliament
We ate Packed lunch opposite St Pauls Cathedral
Tea in MacDonald’s (We managed to empty a section in there)
We took
100’s of photos
We gained Lots of memories
It was then time to leave London and head back to Bristol, we arrived back at 10pm and we were very tired. We are just waiting for the Challenge that is on its way (and badge). Thanks to all of our leaders for taking us
Our two new Development Officers Megan Crossley and Viki Gardiner have now joined the county team. Megan joins us from Greater Manchester Fire Service where she worked setting up new cadet units as part of a national Youth United programme. She will be setting up new units in order to reduce our longest waiting lists in Bristol and South Gloscestershire. Viki previously worked as a secondary education Learning Mentor in Bristol and will be looking to open new units in areas which don’t currently have a guiding presence. She will be working across both Bristol & South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire. You can email Megan: [email protected] or Viki: [email protected] or find them on facebook at: facebook.com/growingguidingbsgg and follow them on twitter @growguidingbsgg
Tr Training Matters
There‘s still space on the 1st Response Refresher session on 17 June and the full course on 27 June. Please make your booking as soon as possible. There will be 4 “It’s all about the money” sessions – 11 May, 15 May, 12 June and 22 June. The venues are currently being finalised, and will be promulgated in the usual manner including via the website. The training week will be held throughout the week commencing 2 November. There will be a choice of 4 trainings each evening, plus one for senior section leaders on a couple of those evenings. We are arranging venues across the County; we may be at more than one venue in the same locality in order to release more space to each training. I noticed it was a little crowded at times last year. Again, details will be made available as soon as they are finalised through the usual channels. Safe Space training will be piloted on 20 June with the Division Commissioners. Thereafter it too will be taking place at various localities across the County. The training calendar is currently being prepared. Please let me know if there’s any training you’d like to see on it and we’ll do our best. Valerie Williams Adult Support Coordinator PS I am now seeking my successor. If you are interested in training, this is an interesting role within the County. It should be possible to job share. A role description is being prepared.
We hope you like the new simpler format newsletter and thank you for restricting articles to no more than 100 words and only one photograph. Don’t forget, if you would like to include a link to photographs or further information, please feel free to do so. Deadline for next edition: 18 September 2015
Please send articles to HQ, preferably by e-mail, [email protected] Westmoreland Road, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6YW Tel: 0117 973 4776
Tr Pom Pom Parade
48th Bristol Guides contributed to a fabulously colourful and playful community art project over the Easter holidays. Vic Harrison, community art enthusiast and owner of Paper Village on North Street Bedminster, invited local community groups around North Street in Bedminster to create a rainbow of pom-poms that ran from one end of the street to the other. 48th Guides had a lot of fun creating bundles of blue, indigo and violet pom-poms for the parade.
Don’t Forget
Log on
Find out what’s going on in the County
See details of all available trainings
We would welcome photos for the gallery. Please email these to County HQ ([email protected]), ensuring all relevant permissions have been obtained
Our website
www.girlguidingbsg.org.uk
The parade was mentioned on BBC Radio Bristol and here is a link to an article and photos on the BBC website:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-32100711
The County Cookafun Final took place at Tytherington Village Hall on Saturday 11th April. All the finalists worked really hard and it was great to see the girls working well in their teams. The standard of all the food produced throughout the day was fantastic and the judges certainly had a very difficult job. However, after much tasting and deliberation, they managed to reach a decision. The winners were: 1st Henbury Rainbows 175th Bristol Brownies 2nd Filton Guides 1st Bristol West Senior Section Libby Hunt – Bristol South Division Judith McCollum – Thornbury Trefoil Guild Good luck to all of our winners in the Region Final which takes place at Cookafest in July. For more photos, please go to our County website: http://www.girlguidingbsg.org.uk/index.php/news/301-cooafun-final-the-results.html
NEX does Shaun the Sheep
Our Senior Section have, along with Somerset North, been invited to join with Avon Explorer Scouts and Scout Network for their NEX does Shaun the Sheep Challenge Event on Saturday 18th July. The Challenge will be for teams of 4-6 to race to as many Shaun the Sheep sculptures as they can from 9am - 6pm, taking team photos at each one. There will then be a post-challenge BBQ and silent disco at Northcote Scout HQ, ending at 10pm. The entry fee is £10 per person as long as you book before 30th June. Booking is done online: http://goo.gl/EgtHrg Teams are also required to raise sponsorship which will go to The Grand Appeal. Further details as and when confirmed will be posted on our County website, and also on the event Facebook
The official opening took place at 3pm, with the Chief Guide cutting the ribbon and unveiling the plaque. To round off a fabulous day, the Friends of Briarlands served up a lovely cream tea to everyone. The Chief Guide later tweeted “Thank you for a super afternoon. I loved seeing Brooks Lodge. It’s a fab facility for everyone to enjoy. Congratulations!”
Three years of hard work and fundraising was celebrated on Saturday 25th April with the Official Opening of Brooks Lodge by the Chief Guide, Gill Slocombe. To celebrate the occasion, over 100 girls from all sections and all Divisions took part in various activities at Briarlands, such as hula-hooping, science experiments, face painting, treasure hunt, making smores and campfire singing. Organisations who had made significant contributions to our fundraising were invited to the event, and were given guided tours of our fabulous new facility as well as watching all the girls have fun!
