Anglia’s Pyjama Party

The biggest event in Girlguiding Anglia history, Anglia’s Pyjama Party:

On World Thinking Day 2025, Anglia’s Pyjama Party brought together 21,000 girls and leaders for the largest event ever held in Girlguiding Anglia. This fantastic celebration united members across the region for a day of fun, friendship, and guiding spirit. This event went national, bringing together our members from across the UK, including Scotland, Liverpool, and Swansea, highlighting the incredible scale and reach of our community.

The idea for the pyjama party started as a way to make sleepovers more accessible for leaders while providing an exciting and structured experience for girls. What began as a simple concept soon took on a life of its own, growing into an 18-month project led by a dedicated team of volunteers. Their passion and hard work transformed it into a true guiding celebration, giving leaders the flexibility to shape their event, whether hosting a day of activities from the provided packs or organising a sleepover at a venue of their choice.

The pyjama party was timed to celebrate World Thinking Day, which commemorates the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, the founders of the guiding movement. This year’s theme, Our Story, provided the opportunity to look at the 8 stories that connect guiding across the world that form part of the guiding tradition. These stories, originating from different countries including Japan and Sweden, were included within the activity packs along with activity cards relating to each story. These activities included a mixture of songs, crafts and cooking.

To make the event more special, we also curated packs for girls and leaders which included a toothbrush, badge, teddy t-shirt and bookmark for girls and a toothbrush, badge and teabag for leaders. Additionally, there were downloadable resources such as recipes, colouring sheets and lyrics on our website to make the event planning as easy as possible for leaders.

With the event planning finalised and all orders closed, the next step was packing. To streamline the process, the staff team worked hard in the weeks leading up to the scheduled packing weekend, preparing as many orders as possible. Then, over the course of 2 days, more than 20 volunteers and staff gathered at the Girlguiding Anglia region office to complete the rest, packing over 400 orders!

On the day of the pyjama party event, units from across the region joined together virtually for a live promise renewal on our YouTube channel. This special moment captured the spirit of Girlguiding, allowing everyone who participated to renew their guiding promise on a historic day.

Many districts embraced the spirit of the event by hosting exciting sleepovers:

• Girlguiding Freebridge Lynn District gathered 140 Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Rangers, and volunteers at Alive Lynnsport for a night filled with fun, friendship, and inspiration.
• King’s Lynn North District slept over at Hootz House in Pensthorpe Nature Reserve.
• 35 girls from all sections travelled to Chigwell Row, where they read guiding stories from different countries, completed themed crafts, coloured flags, and learnt new songs and games from around the world.

One of the most heartwarming aspects of the event was hearing from former Girlguiding members who wanted to be part of Anglia’s Pyjama Party. Barbara Keep, a resident of St John’s Care Home Trust, read the Brownie story from our activity pack, and a local unit is now planning a visit to hear more about her inspiring guiding journey. Having dedicated much of her life to Girlguiding, it was a privilege to include her in the celebration.

From exciting activities to inspiring discussions, the event truly embodied the spirit of Girlguiding – friendship, adventure, and a sense of belonging.

Claire Course, deputy chief commissioner of Girlguiding Anglia, said:

Never did we expect such a huge response to what began as a small idea, but I am so proud that we are all giving girls the opportunity to experience a night away with their guiding friends, and learning new games, songs, and crafts from different countries.

 

As we look back on this event, we celebrate its success but also the incredible effort of the volunteers who made it possible. The pyjama party demonstrated the power of coming together, dreaming big, and embracing the values that make guiding so special.