Guides climb mountain for centenary (From Sutton Guardian)

Guides climb mountain for centenary

12:15am Monday 31st May 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share

From community correspondent Steve Wicks: More than 250 Brownies , Guides and their Leaders from Cheam Division covering Worcester Park, Worcester Park and Old Malden, Cheam and Cheam Park Farm Districts combined to scale a climbing tower this weekend and climbed 3132 metres, 3 times the height of Mount Snowden and almost as high as the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

‘The event was to celebrate Guiding’s centenary where every member is challenged to have a ‘Mountain top Moment’ and this just seemed so appropriate’ said camp leader Christine Donovan.

We had 15 Brownies and 94 Guides camping with 24 leaders for the whole weekend and on Saturday 107 Brownies and 25 of their leaders visited by coach.

As well as climbing, the girls also enjoyed many other activities including African drumming and various ‘100’ challenges.

Celebrity ex-BBC weather presenter Helen Young also visited the camp and made a successful climb of the tower adding a further 10 metres to the total height climbed.

The guiding movement began in 1909 when a small group of young women gate crashed the Boy Scout rally at Crystal Palace Park in London and lobbied Robert Baden-Powell for ‘something for the girls’. The Centenary is an opportunity to celebrate the impact that the organisation has made on the lives of girls and young women and how modern guiding continues to support over half a million members around the UK. Locally, girls take part in activities such as camps and adventure holidays, international travel, community action.

For more information on how to join Girlguiding UK, go to www.girlguiding.org.uk, or call 0800 1 69 59 01

• Print
• Email
• Share