Rosie's Garden Party Speech
I am delighted to be welcoming so many of you here on this glorious afternoon to Hautbois, our very own residential centre, at the heart of Guiding in Anglia and a special welcome to Liz, Chief Guide, the other Chief Commissioners and invited guests.
We're 100 years old and we're having a party! 
But what does it really mean for us, in Guiding, to be 100 years old? What are we actually celebrating? We are celebrating women!!! Us!!!! Our journey from the very beginning to this party here today.
It's been a very special journey, full of challenges and surprises, twists and turns, and in many ways its the story of women in the 20th century. 100 years ago women were restless and ready for change.
Imagine being a girl growing up 100 years ago. Your life would have been very different from a girl's today. Your prospects were very limited - to marry young, stay home and raise a family. You wouldn't have had much education and had to dress and behave at all times with decorum. Not allowed to run, or even to hurry, nor swim, ride a bike, or even raise your arms above your head! Girls had to look on while their brothers had all the fun.
Naturally there were girls who wanted to speak out and challenge society's rules and gender conventions. When BP started the Scout movement, no wonder they wanted to join in too! They saw their chance at the Crystal Palace rally in 1909 and went for it. We owe so much to those brave girls who challenged BP - and luckily for them and for us, he listened. No wonder they flocked to the girl only space eventually provided for them in the Guides, where they could run and raise their arms as high as they liked!
In this space girls could and still can be comfortable just being themselves.
Right from the beginning in Guiding the girls decided what activities to do. Back in 1909 they wanted adventure - the freedom to camp under the stars and explore the countryside, to challenge themselves and venture into the unknown, and they still do! Look at what they are doing during this Centenary year! There is so much more on offer, there's a huge range of other things they can do. It's different for each girl and it's their choice.
But the challenges faced by the girls back in 1909 as they set about fulfilling their dreams were enormous. Take camping: at that time it was generally considered far too dangerous unless the camp was held under a solid roof, but the girls and their leaders were intrepid! Wearing long skirts, they walked miles to the campsite with their kit in a trek cart, and learned to cook from scratch on a wood fire. Now all girls have the opportunity to camp as a regular part of the programme; they can go off back packing on expeditions at home and abroad, with the minimum of kit and a trangia to cook their food. They can have all the adventure and excitement they want.
During the First World War, women saw a need and moved right in, learning the skills and giving service to their country at a time of great need. That ethos of service was built into Guiding right at the beginning and is still there today. After the war the movement spread, and now we have a worldwide movement with approx. 250 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts changing lives and working together to build a better world.
Of course, girls couldn't do it on their own. They needed the adults supporting them and those women had their own battles to fight in society.
In 1909 women certainly wouldn't have just voted in a General Election. It was the suffragettes at the turn of the century that really made the difference. I am sure Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters would have been Guides if the movement had existed then. The girls that had been the early Guides grew up and women did eventually get the vote, but they didn't stop there.
During the Second World War women took on all sorts of new roles, and for the first time many gained some financial independence. This was addictive - having earned money themselves they no longer wanted to be dependent on their husbands and didn't want to stop. Women wanted to renegotiate the old order of family, wife and mother. They wanted democracy in the home, and at work they wanted equal rights, equal opportunities and equal pay. They wanted education. They were on a roll and weren't stopping!
Even when I was born just after the war women were still fighting for rights we take completely for granted now. In the fifties those women that had jobs were mainly teachers, nurses or secretaries, with nothing like the choice on offer now. In the sixties, when I was at university, came the second wave of feminism; the contraceptive pill had been developed and at last women could decide whether or not to have a family. Life was really exciting then and things were moving apace, but even in the late seventies, having my family I was faced with only 3 months maternity leave, inadequate child care provision and no part time option at work, so I felt I had no choice but to give up work for a while to look after them. Money was tight and some doors closed for ever. How things have changed!
And now some say we have it all (though perhaps not the equal pay).
But it was there in Guiding all the time, right from the beginning. Guiding doors were open, Guiding gave women a purpose, and the equal rights and opportunities and decision making they craved, and on their terms.
Guiding provided an outlet for all those women struggling to gain their proper place in society, with skills, talents and above all time to give to the movement and to the girls. Now that women are fully liberated and integrated into the workplace it can be more difficult to find the time to volunteer for Guiding, but those that do, gain new skills, friendships and opportunities at home and abroad that without Guiding they would never have had.
And so we are celebrating all of you!
Thank you for everything that you do for Guiding, however you do it. Yes we are, and always have been a girl led organisation, but without you, our Leaders, there to make it happen, their dreams would never come true. You are superwomen. Without you, none of us would be here today!
Because our lives and those of the girls are intertwined. We are not school teachers or commanding officers - who, as BP said, are both doomed to failure; Guide leaders have to be more like an older sister or friend. We have to be prepared to play the game too; to get wet, laugh, make mistakes and learn from them, leading by example rather than merely pointing the way.
As we enter our second century we stand in a very different place from the pioneers. There will always be that restlessness and desire to move forward because Guiding is driven by girls and women, constantly evaluating and reshaping itself, keeping relevant and in tune with their changing lives. We don't know where it is taking us, but we must be prepared to seize opportunities that come along and be bold enough to walk through open doors into previously uncharted territory.
I was once privileged to meet a lady called Nellie Bowyer who was 100 years old. She was a vice president for Cambs East, and had been in Guiding all her life. She attributed the secret of her longevity to mixing with young people all her life. So that is what we are celebrating - a worldwide organisation for girls and young women in which we share their fun, help them overcome their concerns, and see them grow and develop into caring responsible citizens. What a huge privilege! And along the way, we grow as well, gain confidence, new skills and allow ourselves to have fun and be the person we truly are. We are indeed lucky. And maybe, as a result, like Nellie, we will also live to be a 100.
Rosie Spencer
Chief Commissioner