At the recent Annual Review for Girlguiding Greater London West, which covers the boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton, two leaders were presented with their 40 year long service awards.

Christine Wicks, County Commissioner had secretly arranged for Anne Hudson, Region Chief Commissioner to present the award to Liz Smith before Christine herself was also surprised to receive the same award!

This was one of Anne’s last official duties as Chief Commissioner before handing over the reins to Pip McKerrow, who also attended the Review.

Over 100 Leaders were joined by the Mayors of Merton and Sutton who were invited to present Jack Petchey awards to 3 girls who had not been able to receive their awards at the official ceremony earlier in the year. Slide presentations were also made by two girls who had been on trips to South Africa and to Egypt respectively through Guiding who both talked very enthusiastically about their experiences.

Girlguiding UK is the UK’s largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women, with around 530,000 members and recognised volunteers. Over a third of girls and young women (aged 7-21) in the UK are involved in guiding, or have been in the past and almost half of all the women in the UK have been involved in guiding at some stage in their lives.

At Girlguiding UK we seek to give girls a voice and provide a unique, girl-only space where they feel comfortable just being themselves. Our members, challenged by a girl-led programme that extends beyond badges, enjoy a spectrum of activities from international travel and outdoor adventure to pop-concerts and community action.

Girlguiding UK, part of a worldwide Movement of approximately 10 million girls and young women in 145 countries, celebrated its Centenary in 2010. Registered Charity No 306016 www.girlguiding.org.uk Based on information supplied by Steve Wicks.