On Saturday 8th of June we ran our craft station at St James Church fete in Harvington. We were joined by 10 Guides and a Ranger and they were all such brilliant representatives of Girlguiding. We told lots of people how fantastic guiding is and, as it was 'The Big Help Out' weekend, we tried to inspire some new volunteers. The girls took turns to lead our two craft activities, give out leaflets and collect people's favourite guiding memories for our memory board. All of the girls impressed us with their confidence, postivity and politeness. They are the best representatives of what we do and we couldn't be prouder of how they conducted themselves. It is always so wonderful to see the opportunities guiding gives for girls to grow their confidence! A special shout our to Ellie and Tamsin who yet again helped us with event pack up. 

On Friday afternoon, Harvington Guide leaders arrived at Blackwell adventure ready to set up camp. Eagerly, the Guides arrived at about 6pm and before long we were all set up! Our first activity was an obstacle course. It was great fun, even if some Guides needed pushing through the tunnel as it was so steep! The girls particularly enjoyed the tyre swing at the end of the course. When we got back to camp we had hot chocolates and cupcakes in a circle and talked about all of the exciting plans of the weekend... 'when are we going swimming?!' being a recurring question. Soon it hit 10pm and it was time for bed, now try telling that to 13 VERY excited Guides. Eventually the talking died down and camp was quiet. 

Saturday morning was an early one, at least for Leader Jessica and two very keen Guides. They were up from 5:50, had hot chocolates and were playing Uno by 7am. From 7 more Guides started to get up and join us with some craft activities. A light shower moved breakfast into the gazebo but it was enjoyed by all and soon it was time to go and meet the 3 Guides who were joining us for the day. The group split in 2 for our first activities: Archery and Orienteering. It was great fun finding all of the stamps and the competitive spirit was high! A little more rain caused orienteering group 1 to shelter in the gazebo and do some more crafting. After a drink and snack, it was time for the groups to swap. Archery was lots of fun and we even got to try and pop balloons on the target, which Jessica and 2 Guides succeeded at! 

We went back to camp for our 'Subway' style lunch. We also made a 'candy salad' and took some time resting. Next, we had a whole unit game of rounders where team A emerged victorious! Everyone then got pool ready and it was FINALLY time to go swimming! We had the lovely pool to ourselves and lots of toys to play with. It was so much fun, the sun shone for us and some girls even enjoyed a little sunbathing. After freezing showers and drying off, we had some more resting, games and exploring. Dinner was pasta with jelly for dessert. After dinner, we got ready for a campfire! We sand lots of songs and had so much fun around the fire. A big thanks to some of our Guides who got up and shared their own campfire songs with us. 

Sadly, it was then time for our day visitors to leave us. The fun wasn't over yet for our campers, who sang all the way back to the tents. Everyone then headed to bed and (I think!) had a bit of an earlier night, which was probably aided by such a full day of tiring activities. 

On Sunday morning, we had lots of very sleepy Guides. All of the leaders were up first and the girls actually needed to be woken up from 7:45am. We had pancakes, which took a long time to cook in the breeze, with a VERY healthy selection of toppings... syrup, nutella AND sugar being a fan favourite!

After packing up the contents if our tents, we set off for the zip wire. We had so much fun and everyone not only had a go but loved it! The dual wires were great for racing each other down! As we walked back to drop off our helmets and harnesses, the girls were asked what their favourite moment of the weekend was: the zipwire and swimming were clear winners! 

We had a final snack, packed all of the tents away and talked more about the weekend and our overall top guiding moments of the year. It was then time for a promise circle and badges, as parents started to arrive. We had so much fun and cannot wait to do it all again next year!

Our Guides and Rangers represented Girlguiding in Harvington beautifully at this years Remembrance service at St James church. We met outside the village hall at 10am, before walking together down to the church. All of the girls were exceptionally smart and their conduct throughout the morning reflected this too. Rangers Lily and Sophie read wonderfully as part of the service. Ranger Tamsin beared the flag and did a fantastic job at remebering lots of instructions! Our oldest member Elaina (Ranger) and our youngest Katie (Guide) had the responsibility of laying our wreath and it was lovely to see them share this important moment. Everyone's attitude impressed both the leaders and members of the community. It was a morning to be very proud of our girls. Well done Guides and Rangers!