Hundreds of Girlguiding Isle of Wight members attended an all Island camp on the outskirts of Ryde over the weekend.
Island Commissioners Shirley Saunders and Lesley Clifford – and all the members of Girlguiding Isle of Wight – invited several local dignitaries to visit the 2019 camp, which was held at Urban Saints near Seaview.
The venue proved to be perfect with plenty of room for tents, a welcoming house with a swimming pool, grassy games areas and woodland.
Visitors included Isle of Wight Council Chairman George Cameron; Mayor Michael Lilley; Councillor John Hobart and President of Girlguiding Isle of Wight, Gioia Minghella-Giddens. All enjoyed seeing the various areas of activities and speaking with the leaders and girls. Gioia Minghella-Giddens said that this was a wonderful opportunity for the Girlguiding members to get out into the countryside whilst learning new skills and having a lot of fun.
Island Rangers (members aged 14+) and Guides (aged 10-14) were camping over the 3 days/2 nights, whilst the Brownies (aged 7-10) enjoyed sleepovers on the Friday and Saturday nights as well as daytime activities. The Rainbows (aged 5-7) attended from noon on Saturday afternoon making the most of a sunny afternoon in the big outdoors.
There were plenty of exciting activities for everyone to join in including campfire lighting and toasting marshmallows, making boats from tree bark, recognising tree species, den building, painting with mud and camping skills.
Leaders were on hand to help with activities and some of the Rangers ran the activities for the younger members.
With a theme of ‘Four Elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water’ all the activities were based on the environment and science sections of Girlguiding’s New Programme.
Lesley Clifford commented:
“How great it is to enable girls from across the Island to join together for this All Island Camp giving them a chance to meet with girls from other areas of the Island other than their own”.
Shirley Saunders added:
“All the volunteer leaders have given up their time over this weekend to enable the girls to experience a large camp on the Island. Everyone has had a wonderful time and it is fun to have outdoor activities”.
10-year-old Annabel Barber, a member of Newport Guides, said:
“Making the slime and swimming were really fun and it was my first time sleeping in a tent. I shared with four others from Newport and before the night in camp we sang my favourite songs around the camp-fire.”
This event was organised by a team of Girlguiding IW leaders and other leaders, helpers and volunteers provided support for all the activities.
