Region Chief Commissioner for Girlguiding South West England, Carole Pennington, took the opportunity to introduce herself and her 3 deputies to Island members of Girlguiding over the weekend.
Island dignitaries and members of the Island’s business community attended the first of 2 events at a reception held at Lakeside Park Hotel. Here Carole gave a short presentation informing the attendees of what Girlguiding has to offer the wider community and how it operates.
Girlguiding helps girls and young women achieve transferable skills like self-reliance and team work and promotes lifetime benefits. Employers in particular value such skills on an applicant’s CVs.
Guests to Saturday’s event included the Island’s High Sheriff Robin Courage MBE; Vice Chairman of the Isle of Wight Council Cllr Lora Peacey-Wilcox; Mayor of Ryde Henry Adams; Mayor of Sandown Raj Patel; President of Girlguiding SW England Ruth Sara; President of Girlguding IW Patricia Partridge and Girlguiding IW Commissioners Shirley Saunders and Lesley Clifford.
On Sunday over 250 members and friends of Girlguiding SW England Region enjoyed a roadshow at Monkey Haven near Newport. Several groups travelled from the mainland, some spending the weekend on the Island.
Following presentations by Carole and her deputies Liz Brown, Sarah French and Diane Bouault, guests were free to roam the whole site of Monkey Haven and sample refreshments in Xhabu’s Tea Room. There were special activities for all the young people attending as well as free goody food bags.
Leia Sparling, a Brownie from 8th Ryde said:
“It was really exciting to see all the monkeys and birds. I liked the Meerkats the best and doing the activities but it is always fun with the Brownies. I like Brownie Camp the best but I love going every week.”
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Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and members of the Senior Section as well as all the other guests were able to see the various primates on show including Gibbons, Grivets, Capuchins, Macaques, Langurs and Lemurs.
There were photo opportunities galore and in addition the Girlguiding SW England Region video team, complete with drone, were on hand to record the day’s celebrations and put the Island on the map.
