 |
|
After Half Term both Units spent three weeks making decorations for their Advent trees. The Brownies telling the Ukrainian folktale, The Spiders’ Christmas’ made almost too many colourful spiders to find room on the tree! Spiders danced on metallic drums, around gingerbread men and admired themselves in baubles and some abseiled down the tinsel web. The Guides made crowds of Chinese people and ten colourful suns, nine being shot down by the Chinese warrior Houyi. ‘The Last Sun’ a Chinese myth tells how the people missed the Sun’s warmth and were pleased when a cockerel’s song persuaded the last sun to return to the sky. Now we decorate our trees with tinsel and the cockerel sings at dawn! The Sainsbury’s Active Kids equipment arrived as well as a surprise bonus box. Many thanks everyone who collected vouchers for us. Collecting for this year has already started. As usual the girls took part in the Remembrance Parade. Over the remaining weeks of the term we collected about 150 items for the YMCA Food Bank Appeal. We hoped that a volunteer would talk to the Guides about their work but this had to be postponed until this term.
Sticky Fingers helped the Brownies with pottery craft work, but plans to make Owl brooches will be completed this term. On the last evening Father Christmas and an elf helper visited the Scout H Q to bring presents for the Brownies during their party. Plans for this term include completing the Crime Prevention Badge and have another party for St Valentine’s Day.
The Guides had a Promise evening, a foody craft evening and made Christmas cards but ran out of time to complete their Baden Powell talks. On the last evening they delivered mince pies and homemade chocolates to 24 elderly people living alone in the village. The recipients really appreciated seeing the girls and the gesture and we’d like to thank the parents who accompanied the Guides. If you know of any eligible recipients, please let us know and we can add them to our list. This term we’ll have to catch up with Go for Its and Baden Powell challenges. The Guides are also planning Board Games, sewing craft and a talent show. For Thinking Day (the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden Powell) the Guides are having a sleepover at Brook House and the Brownies an activity afternoon. Vanessa has handed in her Queen’s Guide folder and presented her work to the County Commissioner and Queen’s Guide advisor and is waiting for HQ to confirm that she has achieved the award.
2017 marks the Staffordshire Guiding Centenary and there will be a Challenge to complete each month with a special badge at the end of the year and an event at Staffordshire Showground in the summer. The County Capture the History Team would be pleased to hear from anyone who has memories, photos or memorabilia of their time in Staffordshire Guiding units. Their email is county.admin@girlguidingstaffordshire.org.uk
Guides are almost full. We could squeeze one or two more into the OGS, but Brownies are quite depleted as so many have now joined Guides. To enable the girls to have more fun we need more Brownies aged between seven and ten years old. They do not have to live in Rolleston.
Delia Wyers
Last updated: 5 March 2017