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[What is Girlguiding] [Guiding in Action] [County Information] [Divisions] [ Centenary] [Go!] [Activity Ideas] [Guestbook] [Gloucestershire Login Page] [Home] [Change the World] [Centenary Launch Parties] GIRLGUIDING GLOUCESTERSHIRE IS CHANGING THE WORLD The following units have sent reports of their efforts (click the links to read about what they did)
Girls from 4th Cirencester
Brownies, 1st Siddington Guides and 7th Cirencester Guides along with
their leaders and young leaders completed the Sing for change project.
We learnt the songs in our own units and
had fun doing so. Along with learning the songs ready for our performance we
did lots of different water based activities like, Go For it with a splash,
Carrying buckest of water for long distances just as girls in africa would
have to do and the Brownies have also completed their Water Safety Badge
being tested at the waterpark by staff at Waterland.
With all the build up and raising awareness of
the importance of water in our lives and how girls our age have to collect
it each day we then got to performance week. We all joined together on
Tuesday 16 th June at Cirencester Open Air Pool which our Guiders had booked
just for us. We chose this as we decided a we wanted a bit of an out of the
ordinary venue (which included the theme of water). We all got in the pool
and performed our songs to our parents, it was a great evening and the
parents thought we were great. After we had performed our songs with some
duets in one song from Brownies, Guides and Senior Section, we were allowed
to spend the rest of the evening in the pool. The lifeguards even gave us
some big floats to play with and 1 girl made her promise in the pool. Once
all of our sponsor money is collected in we hope to have raised about £300.
We have already got over £200.
Hope this shows what fun we had with this joint
venture. I do have lots of photos so please mail me back if you would like
some.
The Brownies also completed the kidscape
bullying project last Autumn and 1st Siddington Guides carried out the
Island Cafe Project just before Easter
1st Westonbirt Guides have finished their challenges. Each patrol did something different, so we supported WWF-UK, Crisis, Girlguiding Island territories and Woodland Trust. We had an Island Café, sponsored walk, a visit from a chiropodist, games and activities. The girls who chose the Woodland Trust had a difficult time because we didn't start till this term, so it was too late to plant trees, but they learned a lot about the trees in Westonbirt grounds. Helen Price, Guide Guider. Back to top 36th Cheltenham Guides chose to support 1) The Mental Health Foundation with its jewellery-based friendship challenges. We each pulled a name out of the hat and made that person a piece of jewellery, we took part in quizzes about friendship and bullying and made jewelled greetings cards and fridge magnets to sell. 2) Crisis with its foot based challenges. We made 'smelly socks' (baby sized socks filled with lavender), sock purses (brightly coloured toddler socks in which to keep coins or a mobile phone). We also made house shaped money boxes to colllect small change for the homeless. We played games involving using our feet and ended with a foot pamper session. We had a stall at Deer Park Friends' Day and made £30 and sold the remaining items with refreshments at a parents' meeting
With Crisis we enjoyed using the pack to find out
about homelessness through a quiz, drama and a pamper evening to do with our
feet. Throughout we collected socks which could then be provided at the
Crisis shelters over Christmas.
Then we started working on Save the Children. We
learned about the work of Save The Children, which included a visit by the
Area Manager of Save The Children. We looked at how a shop runs, pracised
using a till, how to sort donated clothes into what can and cannot be used and
also how to price up items. Then on Easter Saturday we took over the
Cheltenham Shop for 2 hours. We had to sort donations, price items for the
shop, stock the shelves and work the till. We took over £76 in 2 hours which
apparantly was good. We did not realise how demanding running a shop can be.
33rd Cheltenham (Emmanuel) Rainbows
The first project we decided to do was the ‘Asthma Trigger Happy’ challenge, because we have a number of Rainbows in the Unit who have asthma. We found the Asthma UK resource very helpful and informative. The girls (and leaders) enjoyed the games and other activities, and learnt the ‘Trigger Song’ and what the various ‘triggers’ are. One Rainbow, with very bad asthma, brought her inhalers etc, and explained it all very clearly to the other Rainbows, telling them how asthma affects her life, and what they can do to help anyone with asthma. We raised £55 for Asthma UK by selling handmade crosses at Easter (which had no connection with asthma!) The Rainbows were very pleased with their Asthma Trigger Happy badges.
33rd Cheltenham (Emmanuel) Rainbows and Brownies
1st Sedbury Rainbows Forest South We took part in two of the challenges : In the autumn of 2008 we used the Woodland Trust project as part of our theme. First we made seed collecting bags and then we collected seeds around our meeting place, looked at pictures and posters to identify them and then planted the conkers and acorns. Each Rainbow took home a pot and some have now grown into small trees. We made posters to encourage people to use the Christmas Card recycling at Tesco and the girls put them up at their schools. We were unsuccessful in collecting numbers of cards recycled but most girls managed to get their family’s cards to the recycling station. We hope in the future to plant out our small trees when they have achieved a decent size. The Parish Council may allow us to plant them on our local Recreation Ground. In spring 2009 the Rainbows listened to the activities and ideas for the other projects open to them. They wanted to help African children and like our Brownie Pack they chose Ubuntu, the Book Aid project. We started by doing lots of craft activities and learning a little about life in Africa - we looked at the globe and found the countries in the project. We made flags for Malawi , Kenya, Uganda and Zambia , ribbon shakers and tried African dancing to Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the African Children’s choir. We also made masks, and printed cotton bags with African inspired potato print patterns. We made glove puppets of African animals and dressing dollies – designing dresses for the dolly who was based on Handa in the book Handa’s Surprise.
We talked about raising funds and looked at the story of a book going to Africa , we decided on a reading tent and book swap and then a book sale to sell the left over books. We made bookmarks using used postage stamps (some African ones) and the Book Aid logo to sell at our book sale. I also wrote a Book Quiz for adults which we are still selling. We held our book swap and reading tent at our meeting place and although we had no extra children some parents and grandparents came along and swapped books and bought quizzes. The following Saturday we had a table with the Brownies at our local hall’s fundraising day and some Rainbows and Brownies came along. We sold books, bookmarks and quizzes and so far our combined total for the swap, quiz and sale is £100.
I hope that the girls now appreciate how lucky they are – we talked about how an African child would be very lucky to own just one book and yet they have access to many books at home, school or the local library. Most of them did bring in books for the book swap – though some of them I think are “book poor” themselves due to lack of interest on the parents’part. We maybe didn’t do a huge lot to change the world but so far we have raised (with the Brownies) enough money to send about seventy books to Africa . The girls have enjoyed the projects and so have the leaders, the craft ideas were very good and there was potential for development too. I lived in Zambia for three years and taught in a mixed school (50% Zambian and 50% expat) there so the project meant a lot to me personally as I know how much education is valued by the African people. Changing the world has been a wonderful idea and if there were more time it would be good to choose another for the Autumn term.
Liz McBride Back to top
After discussing the projects, the Pack held
a ballot (official voting forms and locked black box to post them
into!)Two projects were chosen:-
Two projects were chosen:-
Asthma UK £39.30 was raised for with a sponsored dust;
Marie Curie Mini Pots of Care.
Brownies planted daffodil bulbs for Mothering Sunday and designed
pot wrappers which were judged at a fund raising coffee
evening.
£107.06 was raised from the sale of cakes,
biscuits and an assortment of handbags donated by a local
warehouse - no girl can ever have too many handbags.
Janet Unit Guider Back to top We want to say a huge 'Thank-You' both to the GirlGuiding UK team who devised the Change the World Challenge and the Railway Children Charity staff who put together such an excellent activity pack; it has formed the basis of a different and extremely exciting term. When the Brownies chose the Railway Children's Power of Dreams Challenge, I was initially surprised (I expected them to choose to support an animal or conservation charity). Having printed off the activity pack over Christmas, I became concerned that the issues discussed in the challenge would be difficult to work through with the girls. I need not have worried; we started with a couple of weeks introducing the subject and the Charity and completing some lovely crafts (Dream catchers and Door Hangers). That allowed the Brownies to articulate some of their ambitions and dreams - several of which we were able to deliver as part of the term's programme. From three fund raising events we raised £147.00, which will be winging its way to the charity shortly. All that remains is to reward the girls with their Change the World badges, which I will order tomorrow. What a super way to start our Centenary year. I hope other units have got as much out of it as we have and wish all the partner charities good luck with their work. A full report of the Unit's activities can be read at this link Helen Wheatley Back to top
7th Cheltenham Brownies - Change the World Challenge Last November the Brownies decided to Help the Hospice for their
challenge and the next decision was whether to find out about and support an
Adult hospice or a children’s hospice. After a secret vote we had a majority
vote for children so we contacted Mike
from the Gloucestershire Support group of Acorns Children’s Hospice. He came
along to a meeting to tell the girls about the hospice and showed a view
pictures. Everyone then made put together a collecting box in the shape of a
house and took it home to start using. We also started doing the activities in the pack provided to cover Live,
Love and Let go. Over a couple of weeks we painted flower pots and planted
crocus bulbs. Great fun and rather
messy. They went home to be cared for and the next term we made gift tags so
that they could be given to someone we love. For the third part we made and
decorated candle holders from clay (messy again). We left them a week to dry and
then put in candles which we lit and had a quiet time to remember someone we had
lost. Although sometimes the discussions were a little sad all the girls and
leaders enjoyed these activities. For the final part of our challenge we decided to hold a fundraising
fair. The stalls sold cakes made by the girls and leaders, as well as handmade
cards, hair clips and ties, fridge magnates and coaters. We also had a book
stall and bric-a-brac stall.. There were games and competitions going on as
well. The ‘Guess the name of the doll’ was won by Mike from Acorns. The
girls decided the prices and manned the stall and at the end helped to count the
money. We were please to have taken £155. (Click the pictures below for a closer look at our efforts)
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