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A BEVERLEY Brownie pack, which is celebrating its 80th birthday today, is facing the threat of closure if it cannot find extra support soon.
The Fourth Beverley St Mary’s Brownie pack is one of only two or three who have continuously met throughout the last 80 years.
But it has now issued an urgent plea for a new assistant guider - someone who can offer consistent and regular help to the current team of leaders - or close.
Christine Milburn, division commissioner and Guide guider, said: “It is a very thriving pack and meets on Tuesday evenings. In fact, it is the pack where I and my sister enrolled as Brownies.
“As a member of the Fairy’s Six, I spent three happy years on the start of my Guiding journey, which has continued for more than 50 years, so it is very important to me to see the pack continue to flourish.”
Across the UK there are around 48,000 girls on the waiting-to-join list for Brownies, which is not viable with the decreasing levels of adult support available.
Brownies is much more than a girls-only youth club, providing participants with valuable life lessons and new skills, something which the St Mary’s pack is keen to continue.
Michelle Brumfield of the Beverley Division added: “I became involved with Guiding because the unit in the village where I live was going to close as the Brown Owl was stepping down.
“I have two daughters and had first-hand experience of how much my older daughter had gained from being a Brownie and wanted daughter number two to enjoy the same experiences.
“Together with two of my friends (who also had daughters of the same age) we took charge of the unit and between us planned the programme. All three of us had strengths in different areas.”
And it is not just the girls who get to have fun, but the assistant guiders are also able to develop talents which they may not be able to day-to-day, whilst enriching their own social lives.
“One of us was very sporty so, when it came to the summer term, we put her expertise to good use and spent as much time as we could teaching the girls sports such as rounders and kwik cricket and going on nature trails and exploring our local environment,” continued Michelle.
“We managed to incorporate many badges and challenges along the way, so the Brownies were constantly engaged in unusual activities such as pond-dipping and orienteering.”
If the lure of the great outdoors does not appeal, then there is plenty of help needed indoors.
“Another member of the team was very arty, so her enthusiasm was put to the test helping Brownies design gifts for Mother’s and Father’s day, Easter and Christmas cards, in fact anything which involved sticking, gluing, cutting and lots and lots of glitter,” Michelle added.
“We also had great fun encouraging the drama queens among our girls by staging our own version of ‘X-Factor’.
“Obviously, girls who played a musical instrument or danced came into their own, but others were involved by telling their favourite jokes or selling tickets, so the whole production became one big team effort.”
And not forgetting herself: “The team would not be complete without the organised one, the one who loves filling in forms, spreadsheets and anything to do with accounts.”
Support is offered along every step on the journey to becoming a Guider; it is thoroughably enjoyable and rewarding work and many take pride in the knowledge that they are helping to shape the girls’ futures.
If you would like to lend a helping hand in any of the packs in the division (Beverley, Leconfield, Cherry Burton, Walkington, Tickton), please contact Christine on 01482 863558 or email christine@99milburn.karoo.co.uk
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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