Both Brownies and Guides started the term preparing models for their ‘Rollestonians through the Ages’ display for the Heritage weekend. They learnt a lot about costumes as well as team working. The Brownies made a Guide Horseshoe and a Brownie Circle of girls wearing uniforms from the last 80 years. Quite appropriate as Guiding started in Rolleston 80 years ago.

The Guides worked very hard to complete the well dressing, a unit design of a picnic at sunset under a harvest moon. They were all delighted with their efforts especially as most of them had not done it before.

Then a few weeks of normal meetings before the Christmas activities started. “Go For It” challenges included their views on animal testing with posters and a vote on everyone’s opinions; a photo pet show and the Guides telling funny stories about their pets; tasting Banana Smoothies, Minty foot baths and a Healthy Eating quiz.

Two Guides went to Chester for a weekend in October as part of their Baden Powell Challenge having already held a Ready Steady Cook Challenge and made a collection of toys and books for the Children’s ward of the Hospital.

The Active Kids Vouchers parachute arrived from Sainsbury’s and has been very popular with both Brownies and Guides. It just about fits in the Church Room!

The Brownies also enjoyed dressing up in the old uniforms that were borrowed for the Heritage Weekend, finger painting, making bats for Halloween and two games evenings.

By now the Brownie and Guide “Angels in Advent” should be hanging in the Church. The Brownies and Guides have enjoyed designing their Angels for it. I have made sure that the Guide Angel’s mobile phone and MP3 player are switched off!

With Christmas approaching the girls will be making decorations and partying and the Guides will be delivering goodies to elderly single people in the village. To raise funds for future Baden Powell weekends, the Guides will be joining Stretton Guides to Bag Pack at Sainsbury’s on 20th December.

Delia Wyers (Guide Guider) Tel 813405

The summer term began with frantic preparations for the Rolleston Carnival, the Guide May Fair and Community Day. The Roaring Twenties Brownies and the Swinging Sixties Guides were well rewarded for all their efforts and looked splendid despite the rain.

The Brownies have done more craft than usual and had two parties; a Charleston party when they wore their Carnival costumes and invited their families to join them and an end of term party. Many thanks for all the Sainsbury’s vouchers collected by the parents. We were given enough to get our own parachute. The Brownies really enjoyed the parachute games organised by the Baden Powell Guides in the spring term.

This term the Guides have been rather peripatetic with three weeks at the school, two weeks at the Scout H.Q and a footpath walk finishing at Brook Hollows where we saw the new cygnets and enjoyed chocolate ice cream, before meeting back at the Church room after half term.

Several Brownies joined the Guides canoeing at Manor Park Sailing Club at Kings Bromley on what must have been the wettest evening of the whole term. However, as on Carnival Day, they were all still smiling at the end! One of the newest Brownies, just seven, became the youngest Brownie to canoe at Kings Bromley.

With the forthcoming Heritage weekend in September, the Guides spent one evening designing a well dressing and two evenings making models for the ‘Rolleston Through the Ages’ display.

A seven-a-side football team made up of Guides from Stretton and Rolleston competed at Shobnall Leisure Centre. We came third but everyone had fun and we lent one player to make up Stapenhill’s team. The two Young Leaders made a Powerpoint Presentation, ‘A Year in the Lives of Rolleston Guides’ at the Burton Division AGM as part of their Chief Guide’s Award.

Two Guides will be taking part in the County Baden Powell Challenge weekend at Chester in October and Unit fundraising included a sponsored litter pick around Rolleston. We can report that the village is very tidy. We collected 2.5kg of litter mostly made up of cans. Unfortunately, because of school activities we did not have enough groups to cover Knowles Hill, Brookside, Station Road and Meadow View.

On the last evening of term the Guides, Brownies and their families enjoyed the challenge of getting lost at the Maize Maze at Postern House Farm at Tatenhill, followed by a Promise Ceremony.

2007 has been a special year for Scouting and Guiding. One of our Young Leaders attended the Scout Centenary camp in Essex, Staffordshire Guiding celebrated its 90th anniversary with a fun day at Alton Towers and Rolleston is celebrating 80 years of Guiding. We would be very grateful for any memorabilia (photos, uniform, badges, certificates etc) for the Heritage Weekend display.

After an action packed year, very many thanks to all the Guiders, Young Leaders, Unit Helpers and parents for all their help and support.

Delia Wyers (Guide Guider).

As usual the Brownies seem to have made lots of things. Valentine’s Day cards, Mother’s Day cards and Bookmarks as part of the Booklovers Badge; Easter baskets to hold eggs and chicks and origami boats to use in a team race across the hall. They entered a Pancake Race team and also enjoyed eating pancakes at a meeting. Several unusually sunny and warm evenings have been spent playing games outside, one of which was used to see who could play in the Brownie five-a-side football tournament later on in the summer term. Two of the Baden Powell Challenge Guides came one evening to play parachute games as well as other games and they will have been on a second evening after the Carnival to show the Brownies how to make peppermint creams and to tell them about what they do at Guides. In preparation for the Carnival the girls spent one evening learning and enjoying the Charleston and this will be incorporated into the Dancer Badge later in the term. 

Because the Guides are encouraged to organise their own activities they always seem to take part in a lot more activities. After practising tossing pancakes for one evening they took part in the Pancake Race. They didn’t win but enjoyed taking part and didn’t slip over. They took part in a selection of “Go For It’s”; Animal Active, Be Constructive, Chocolate (always a favourite!) and Showtime. Following on from the “Watch It Challenge” last year, all the girls are well on their way to getting their Showtime Badge.

Jason Gardner and White Watch from the Fire Station made several visits followed by a visit to the Fire Station. They learnt lots about their own and others’ safety, how hoax phone calls can be traced and all gained the Fire Safety Badge. In the first round of the County Fire Safety competition, they lost by just one point to Winshill Guides.

There has not been a lot of time for making things this term but origami boxes filled with pot pourri were well received as Mother’s day gifts and at Easter they decorated chocolate eggs with funny faces.

Five girls and a Unit Helper went to Nottingham to see the Women’s F A football final in May. By the time you read this, the Carnival and the Guiding May Fair at the Orchard at Tatenhill will be over and the Guides will be looking forward to Community Day, a County Guide association Day at Alton Towers, the seven-a-side Guide football tournament, Bell Boating at Kings Bromley Sailing Club, visiting Tutbury Castle and getting lost in the Maize Maze at Tatenhill. 

Brownies and families are invited to join the Guides for the last two activities and older Brownies to go bell boating. 

Hopefully the Guides will be back at the Church Room after a term using the School halls for which we were extremely grateful. Very many thanks to Mr Bateman and the caretakers. We can now all turn our thoughts towards preparing for the Heritage Weekend in September. It seems a long way off but the display and the well dressing must all be organised before the end of term.

Delia Wyers, Guide Guider.

Apologies for no report in the last Rollestonian. My email must still be somewhere in the ether!

Some of the Guides and Brownies started the autumn term by joining in the Harvest Festival Service at the Methodist Chapel. Since then the Brownies have made very elegant masks (the sort used at masked balls rather than the Halloween variety), bead bugs and friendship bracelets. They demonstrated their artistic talents by decorating biscuits and using autumn leaves to make leaf art designs. They tried apple bobbing quite successfully and no one except one of the Young Leaders got too wet. As usual they have played lots of games and the mild weather enabled several evenings outside. With darker nights they have made Bonfire Night chalk pictures, lots of Christmas activities and craft work.

As usual, the Guides organised their own Go For It challenges, ‘Teamwork’ including a talent competition and ‘Parties’ with a Film Star theme. Baden Powell challenges included hand massage, dance routines and meditation. They have several other activities in the pipeline including parties and a relaxation session. The group had a very creative and enjoyable evening trying out stage make up under the expert guidance of Donna, Jane and their model Jean from ‘Melodramatics’. Thanks to them we ended up with an amazing variety of unrecognisable witches. The last activity of the ‘Watch It’ challenge took place in January with a visit behind the scenes before watching the Melodramatics production of Guys and Dolls. 

On October 7th, twelve Guides, Young Leaders and Leaders joined the Burton Division trip to the Big Gig at Wembley Arena. It was a long day and the concert was very noisy but the girls thoroughly enjoyed seeing their favourite singers and groups.

At the end of November we joined Stapenhill Guides and Rangers for a night walk at Rosliston Forestry Centre. As well as playing hide and seek in the dark the Guides discovered how tricky it is to follow a map. We are planning another night walk around Rolleston soon.

Just before Christmas the Guides were very busy preparing for the FOJORPS Fair and to deliver mince pies to elderly, single people in the village. They also had a fun-packed evening making cards and decorations, decorating little cakes and playing Christmas games. 

As we cannot use the Church Room this term we are at the Junior School until Easter. We are concentrating on Fire Safety with visits from Burton fire-fighters and visits to the Fire Station; the first round of the County Fire Safety competition is on March 7th.2007 promises to be hectic with Division activities to celebrate 90 years of Guiding in Burton, a seven-a-side football competition, a water sports activity day at Kings Bromley and a Division camp as well as all the usual village activities to join in. We shall be practising for the Pancake Race immediately after half term.

Delia Wyers (tel. 813405)

Correspondence

Rolleston Girl Guides
c/o The Rollestonian

It must have been one of the worst nights of the year, weather-wise.

But for me one of the best nights when the Rolleston Girl Guides thought not of their own comfort but of delivering mince pies and Christmas Greetings to elderly people in the village.

Thank you very much Guides
Val Beeson

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Last updated: 22 December 2007