Out and about
This month it has been great to be out and about across the region, catching up with old friends and making new ones. I have been fortunate enough to spend time with members from across all our sections and our Trefoil Guild over the last few weeks. It’s great to see guiding flourish and offer fabulous opportunities for our girls to take part in. On Easter Saturday, I attended an exhibition at Stow Maries, Aerodrome in Essex which documents guiding history in Essex NE area. This in particular. recognizes the important role guiding played during the war years. It was an honour to open the exhibition and fascinating to read that a local unit in the Clacton area, was formed in 1909 , meaning that this group of girls and women were amongst the first to be members! If you’re in the area, it is well worth a visit, it will be there until the end of October. They also have a varied programme which girls can take part, further details can be found upon their website. www.stowmaries.org.uk
At this event, our region standard came with me and had its first outing since the pandemic. It was also out again the following weekend, as I attended the Trefoil Guild AGM in Grantham (having already been to meet Commissioners in the Lincs South earlier in the day). It was good to meet Trefoil Guild members from far and wide, including the National Chair Eileen, who had travelled from Scotland. However, I discovered Eileen’s roots in guiding do stem from our region, as she was a County Commissioner in Essex many years ago. The guest speakers were three inspirational women, who were the first and indeed the only female group motorcycle riders to ride to the base camp to see Everest. These three individuals talked about the camaraderie and strength that was evident throughout their adventure. They certainly had many obstacles to overcome, the weather was some of the wettest monsoon rain the area had experienced for some time. One of them talked about her time in Brownies and Guides and spoke about how this instilled the value, that girls can achieve anything!
Last weekend, I also went to see a small local guiding and scouting performance known as GASP, it was great to see so many Rainbows taking part with the confidence. They had to sing and dance on the stage for members of the audience. It was also amazing to see guiding and scouting working together in partnership, which enables this show to continue, which is a fantastic achievement for this local area. It’s amazing what we can achieve when we work together and offer such a variety of experiences for our members.
For adult members, we have lots of opportunities that you can take part in across our region, please check out our vacancies and contact me if you wish to discuss anything further. There are lots of opportunities, lots of adventures, where you can share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others. We can all be an inspiration and keep guiding moving forward together.
As always, take care and keep smiling,
Tracy
Welcome to another month with our wellbeing theme ‘our bodies, our life’ focusing on our physical selves. With our getting out in the Spring weather, warm and sunny, windy and wet or otherwise, do we ever, for example, think about how our bodies function in different temperatures? Are we a hot weather lizard or a cooler weather frog? And how much time do you spend sitting down rather than on your feet?
As I write this I notice today is ‘On Your Feet Day’ and although by the time this is made public the day will have passed, you might find some of their tips useful to balance your work life. I am at my standing desk this morning but will be sitting down later. They encourage standing time and time sitting throughout your day. You may have that movement built into your day, for example, if you are a teacher, but if not, why not check out their site here: https://onyourfeetday.com/
For those of you who have active interests like guiding or running, you might find this a fascinating article from Michael Mosley, with his new ‘Just One Thing’ series and giving us a completely new angle on that root vegetable that stains our chopping board pink, the humble beetroot.
We can also pick up all sorts of ideas for our lives as volunteers from the Girlguiding programme; have you seen any of the UMAs that the Rangers use? From using body language to influence others positively ‘Resist this’, to harnessing the power of non-verbal language and improving how to work well in teams ‘Don’t say it, display it’.
In ‘Resist this’ the aim of the activity is to filter out the influence of others around you, to go with your ‘gut’ reaction, as making independent decisions within a group can be difficult. It describes an interactive game that involves physical expression, like jumping into a circle or jumping out. It aims to help with listening skills, trusting your instincts and resisting the influence of others.
With ‘Don’t say it, display it’ the activity aims to look at low and high-power poses and how they can affect conflict. It explores body language by trying it out to harness a relaxed and assertive physical experience ready to handle pressure and conflict situations. Talking about how it feels helps incorporate an understanding of how we communicate non-verbally.
There are lots of similar activities for all levels, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers.
Wishing you all an energetic month, setting an example and holding the space for your unit, embodying your interest in and dedication to your girls and to Girlguiding.