Will she?  Won’t she?  Questions I’m asking myself actually, as I try to decide if I can build up the courage to travel across the Manchester Ship Canal on a zip wire!  If you fancy travelling between the Imperial War Museum North and the Lowry suspended in a sling, visit the Region website about our Up High event.  It will certainly be an exhilarating start to the weekend!

However, I’ve a few more travels to tell you about before we get to that.

When I left British shores the day after my last post it was warm and sunny, and after two weeks travelling to Singapore, Sri Lanka and Dubai, I was very surprised to return to the UK to find snow and hailstorms were the dominant weather conditions at home! 

The Summer Term always provides an array of opportunities for me to travel across the Region.  Not only is it Annual Review season, but people also start to venture outside to hold events and participate in trainings.  I love to visit County events because it gives me a chance to meet many more of our adult members and often, some younger ones too.

I was in Macclesfield early in April for Cheshire Border’s Annual Review.  Another very successful year for Sue Taylor and her team was illustrated by lively presentations from girls from every section – the Rainbows talking about their event stole the show!  It was good to see representatives from local businesses and Local Authorities in attendance too; ensuring our messages about the opportunities we offer to girls and young women are spread even wider.

We held our first training weekend for In4mers and their Coordinators at Guy’s Farm near Lancaster earlier in April.  There were some exceptional young women at this event and we want to make sure that they are given every opportunity to develop their skills and share their expertise, so look up your nearest In4mers and get them to come to your units to provide excellent programme activities.

Last Thursday I accompanied our new Region President, Suzie Reynolds, to Cumbria South’s Annual Event.  The venue was the brand new Furness College in Barrow where the students did us proud with a splendid buffet meal (and I spotted one of them wearing her badge tab!).  Listening to Barb Littlewood talk about their highly successful WOW event last year reminded me what a brilliant opportunity it had been for all ages to camp and live together beside Lake Windermere.  Young women also told us about their international adventures and over 200 years of service to Girlguiding Cumbria South was recognised in presentations.  A great evening!

A quick dash up to Edinburgh on Friday to give the after dinner talk at Girlguiding Scotland’s County Commissioners’ Conference finished off my week and meant I’d journeyed over 800 miles since Monday – lucky I love to travel!

I’m ending on a sad note this month.  Before travelling up to Cumbria I attended the funeral of a dear guiding friend in Leigh.  Anne Thompson had held Region appointments, was a Senior Section Leader and had been the President of Lancashire South County.  One of my best memories of her was, when we were both Senior Section Advisers, attending a conference at Sheffield University where we both took part in an Arts event that included parading through Sheffield Town Centre dressed as clowns!  Anne was a true Guide.  She worked tirelessly to support the girls and young women in her care and ensure that they were offered the best opportunities.  She was respected by all who knew her, a measure of which was reflected in the packed church in Leigh for her funeral service.  We shall miss her and we are grateful for everything she did for Girlguiding UK.

Well, the next few weeks see me visiting several more Annual Events, so perhaps I’ll see you there!

Sue Lomas

I have spent a lot of time with County Commissioners over the past couple of weeks and I do want to say what a fantastic job they do across North West England.  Although I believe it is one of the most rewarding jobs in guiding, it is also undoubtedly one of the most challenging.

Mel Price, County Commissioner of Manchester must have been really proud of the three leaders she took to the urban Garden Party held in Manchester to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  It was great that our volunteers were recognised for their contribution to Manchester life and that Girlguiding UK was represented at such a prestigious event.  Caroline Starkey and I were lucky enough to join them for the occasion which was held at Manchester Central last Friday afternoon.  The exhibition space had been decorated with huge red and white striped gazebos and topiary birds, and the floor was covered in green carpet to give the impression that we were in a garden.   We were treated to a buffet lunch and then entertained by bouncing rabbits, talking plant pots and flowers on stilts!  The Queen arrived looking weary after her long day in Salford and Manchester, but as she moved around the room talking to various groups she managed to give everyone a glimpse of her radiant smile.  Prince Philip was on form, as he talked and joked with the guests.  The royal couple then spent a few minutes watching displays by children from the city before leaving to rousing cheers and clapping.  Oh, and she was wearing a lovely delicate pink coat with a beautiful matching hat – immaculate as usual!

I spent last weekend with our County Commissioners and their Assistants as they attended the National County Commissioners’ Conference in Birmingham.   The meeting was very much centred on ‘Growing Guiding’ and we were given lots of opportunities to share our ideas and plans to make Girlguiding UK ‘where more girls want to be’.  Plans for the Brownie Centenary in 2014 were also revealed and you will be hearing more about that soon through your counties as we start to think about possible Region, County and more local celebrations. 

There were also some County Commissioners who attended Advisers’ Day in March.  We’ve had some really good feedback from this event.   I always enjoy the opportunity of being able to share the vision of guiding with leaders from across the Region who are so important in making it happen.  Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the whole day as I had to rush off to Edinburgh for a meeting of the National Executive.  It’s at these meetings that I get the chance to meet up with the other Region and Country Chief Commissioners and there’s a good opportunity to share experiences and new ideas.

Wednesday saw me attending Wirral’s Annual Meeting where we said goodbye to Sue Dutton as County Commissioner and welcomed Linda Smallthwaite into the post for five years.  Sue has done a great job leading Girlguiding Wirral through the Centenary and beyond, but she would be the first to say the job has not been without its challenges.  However, she has used the network of County Commissioners across the Region to support her and to share and develop her ideas.  That’s what is so great about guiding; there is a huge pool of skills and support for us to draw on, to develop new ideas or to overcome seemingly huge difficulties.

So, although there have been one or two national press articles in the past couple of weeks that have tried to portray us in a less than favourable light, I know that it is the local messages that we give through the great unit meetings that we run and the amazing opportunities that we provide for the girls that really tell people what we are about.  Parents, carers and other partners who know and understand what we do are amazed and impressed by our volunteers.  Our reputation is sound and we need to continue to ensure that is the case.  County Commissioners lead their county teams to support and develop all our leaders to provide good guiding across the Region and they’re doing a great job.  So let’s say ‘hooray for County Commissioners and thanks for all they do’.

Sue Lomas

What great news about our membership numbers!  As I’m sure you’ve read, Girlguiding UK increased its membership by one member every hour last year and Girlguiding North West England is proud to have helped with this increase.  Girls across the Region are choosing guiding as the place they want to be because they know they can try out lots of new things, take part in a range of activities and just be themselves with their friends.  And it’s the 7,000+ adult volunteers across the Region who make that happen!  I enjoyed putting those points across to listeners across Manchester on Monday in conversation with Alan Beswick on his radio show (though I do wish you couldn’t use the latest technology to listen to it back – too many ‘erms’ from my liking!). 

I’ve had such an exciting few days!  Last Sunday we held our first Region Annual Review for several years – informally it was known as ‘The Red Party’ because we were celebrating 40 years since becoming a Region.  County Commissioners and a range of guests from both inside and outside guiding took afternoon tea together at the Barton Grange Hotel near Preston.  We reviewed the past year through talks about activities and events that had taken place; Vanessa Nokes spoke about our Morocco project, Hannah Lawrenson and Abbey Hewitt about Guystonbury (an outdoor pop concert in Lancashire North West) and  we also heard from Laura Carmichael about what it means to be a Leader in guiding.  I was delighted to present Sue Taylor with one of our new Region Thank You badges for her work in organising the Commonwealth Chief Commissioners’ Conference at Waddow last summer, and Girlguiding Thanks Badges to external partners who helped us at ‘A Grand Day Out’.  Alison Paterson, from Pleasure Beach Blackpool, agreed to be an Ambassador for us and Dawn Neary, the organiser of ‘A Grand Day Out’ also received a Region Thank You badge.

Anne Holt has come to the end of her term of office as our President and I was proud to present her with a Region Chief Commissioner’s brooch.  Anne has been outstanding in the role and I know those of you who meet her know how passionate she is about what we do.  Our new President, Suzie Reynolds, was welcomed into post and I know she is looking forward to meeting members across the Region over the next five years.  Suzie is a former High Sheriff of Lancashire and a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire.  She works full time in the leisure industry promoting her home, Leighton Hall, near Carnforth.  She shares our enthusiasm for the work of Girlguiding UK and I am looking forward to working with her to support and promote Girlguiding North West England.  The afternoon closed with Helen Maw singing a beautiful song that reminded us of the wide range of young women we have supported and encouraged over the past year.

On Thursday we had a visit from the Chief Guide.  She came to see the Region Office and meet the office staff, as well as discuss the new initiatives we are promoting and the challenges we have in delivering the vision of Girlguiding UK.  Gill listened to our comments with understanding and complimented us on the work we are doing to support Girlguiding North West England.  She also assured us that she would take our comments back to CHQ so that we could all share in helping to make things even better.

On Friday night I had a very positive meeting with a County Executive Committee.  They are reviewing their structure and have agreed that the way forward is to rationalise the number of Divisions and Districts, both to streamline communication and reduce the number of Commissioners they need in the County. 

This was followed by a quick trip to Gilwell Park (Scout headquarters in Epping Forest) at the weekend for a meeting about Growing Guiding; returning on Monday before attending a Youth United Meeting in the evening.  Just a normal week, really!

I’m really looking forward to meeting nearly 200 members at Advisers’ Day on Saturday.  This will be another chance to share all the good ideas and activities that are taking place across the Region.

Best wishes

Sue

I have just finished packing away the Christmas decorations and putting them back in the loft.  Each year we vow to sort out the ever-increasing range of baubles, tinsel and festive figures, but each year they all get bundled back in with a few additions and a promise to sort them next year!  So much of what we do as a family at Christmas is based on tradition -  the turkey for Christmas dinner, the nativity scene made by my daughter’s childminder (she’s 25!); her stocking at the end of the bed.  Traditions make us feel safe, remind us of happy times past and are easily recognised by all who take part, but they can also make us inflexible and leave no room for new ideas and can be irrelevant to the younger people involved. 

We must be careful that traditions that have grown up in our guiding, whether in units or at district, division or county level, aren’t outstaying their welcome and are perceived as ‘old-fashioned’ by girls and young women who are joining as new members.  In a world where time is such a precious commodity, we must be careful to provide activities and run meetings that are relevant to the participants and provide the best use of our time to promote exciting and fulfilling programmes for our young members. 

This year should see the replacement of our beautiful, old headquarters by a brand new fit-for-purpose building in Preston East.  The Region Team will continue to support counties and their leaders with relevant training and events that showcase our strengths and share our good ideas.  We will develop our working with outside partners to enable their professional expertise to support and promote the work we do – I think you will be delighted with some of the things we have planned.

The best news of the New Year so far, is that we have increased our membership by more than 6% over the past twelve months.  Thank you for all you are doing to make sure that Go! reflects our true membership and let’s hope the figures on 22nd February reveal an even greater increase.

In a year which is expected to be a difficult one financially, I am more than convinced that the fun and friendship we provide every week through our range of activities and events give real value for money and will remain popular with girls of all ages.

I hope your year starts well, wherever you are guiding in North West England.

Best wishes

Sue Lomas

Well, what a day!  Way back in January, on a chilly, rainy day the Executive approved the idea of an event to celebrate our Ruby anniversary at Blackpool Pleasure Beach; and on a chilly, rainy day in October we celebrated!!  But weather didn’t daunt us – everywhere I looked the 9,000 members who attended on the day were laughing and screaming with excitement, and that included the leaders and the Trefoil Guild.  The Ice Show, especially produced for us by Amanda Thompson, was a fabulous event which the skaters performed as enthusiastically the sixth time as they did the first!  And who would have thought a road tunnel could have looked just like a disco?  The dance workshop leaders, especially Anthony Johns, were amazing and hopefully, the decision about the World Record will be through soon.  My thanks go to Dawn Neary and her team and Caroline Starkey and all the Region Office staff as well as everyone at the Pleasure Beach, particularly Alison Paterson, who made such an effort to provide us with a unique experience.  But especially I want to thank all the leaders who gave up their Saturday to give our girls and young women such a fantastic day – one which they could only do because they are guides.  It was wonderful to see our flag flying all day over the Park too and to receive so many positive comments from members of the public. 

The day finished with an amazing event at the Sandcastle Water Park for over 300 Senior Section members.  They had exclusive use of the pool and were treated to ghost stories before sleeping on the terraces above the pool.  Many thanks to Jane Kelly and Chris Champion and their teams for making it a memorable event for our young women. 

Sometimes we are concerned that the press and the media don’t pick up our stories and help to promote us.  I think this sort of event, where we are working with partners and have a high profile in the community provide us with just as much important PR.  That is why I have spent a few days recently, attending events that will promote what we do to people outside our organisation – small businesses in the North West, other uniformed organisations and the Lord Lieutenancy, to name a few.  Don’t forget that any positive conversation you have with people outside Girlguiding means they then have information that they can pass on in other circles.  Word of mouth is a very important way to spread our good news!

Sue Lomas

The summer is often the time when we choose to hold big events at District, Division or County level, to bring together girls and leaders so that they can be part of the bigger experience that is Girlguiding UK. I too managed to visit several big events this summer and met a huge number of members not only from Girlguiding UK but also from our sister organisations all over the world.

I was privileged to attend the Commonwealth Chief Commissioners’ Conference, held at Waddow in July. Lead volunteers from over 30 countries in the Commonwealth came together to discuss the issues and challenges that their organisations face and share their ideas for the future. Sue Taylor, County Commissioner for Cheshire Border co-ordinated the event superbly and with the help of volunteers from the local county, Lancashire East, the Commissioners were able to spend one evening visiting units in their meeting places. Another highlight of the conference was the visit of HRH the Countess of Wessex who joined in with some of the activities and stayed for afternoon tea.

We were able to hold our Region Executive Committee meeting at Waddow on the Saturday of the conference and our County Commissioners were able to meet leaders from across the world as well as the new Chief Guide, Gill Slocombe, who was attending the conference.

Immediately following the Commonwealth Chief Commissioners’ Conference, everyone boarded a coach and set off for Edinburgh to attend the World Conference of the World Association of Girl Guide and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). I was lucky enough to attend the opening ceremony which was held at the Edinburgh Indoor Climbing Centre and included an address by Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond. Girls from all over danced and sang and climbed to create a lively event and not being one to miss an opportunity, I followed in their footsteps.

One of the reasons I love this role is because of the huge variety of opportunities it gives me to meet a whole range of volunteers, girls and young women in a wide range of interesting places. A snapshot of my life goes something like this:

SUNDAY – Two Queen’s Guides from Sefton invited me to their presentation at Scarisbrick Campsite near Southport. Leaders and other adults who had supported them through the Award together with a group of proud parents and other family members listened to the range of activities and challenges they had completed to achieve this prestigious award. Then we all had tea prepared by the Queen’s Guides’ Ranger Unit. Yummy!

MONDAY – Called into the Region Office to check that all is going well with our preparations for various Region events. Our GOLD trip to Morocco is leaving shortly and there are a few last minute arrangements to be made with the International Advisers Michelle and Sue. Some cheques need signing for expenses to be paid and there are long service awards to be signed. I check my diary with Caroline, the Region Manager and we finalise the agenda for the Guiding Development Meeting.

Monday evening is a beautiful sunny one and I thoroughly enjoy the scenery on my drive to meet the County Commissioner for Cumbria North at a motorway service station on the M6! Cheryl and I discuss the priorities she has for taking the county forward and we have some of the best fish and chips I have ever tasted!

TUESDAY – First stop is my local country park. My own District are holding an event to unveil a carved heron that they commissioned for the Centenary (they knew they were a bit late!). It also provides me with an opportunity to present Barbara Smith with a Region Chief Commissioner’s Award. Barbara has been my mentor in guiding since I came to the North West 30 years ago and I was delighted to take her by surprise with this award for all her hard work and support for guiding in Warrington. Then it’s hot-foot to Greater Manchester West’s Annual Review to present the long service awards. I am always so impressed to hear about the huge number and range of events our volunteers arrange for our girls and being able to thank so many volunteers personally is really important to me. This is followed by a superb buffet. (Can you see a theme developing here?)

WEDNESDAY – It’s the early train to London for our National Executive meeting followed on

THURSDAY – by a meeting of the Country and Region Chief Commissioners who discuss ways that we can make operating the policy and strategy of Girlguiding UK work for volunteers at all levels. A late train delivers me home where my husband has my tea waiting!

FRIDAY – Time for some work on the day job, visiting a Secure Children’s Home on the other side of the Pennines. Back in time to visit a guide unit in Preston to hear three girls make their Promise. Under Rachel’s guidance this unit has grown so much that it has had to split into two and meet on two separate nights. A group of leaders support the meetings on whichever night they can attend. This is flexible guiding in action. When asked what they thought the best thing about guiding is, the first answer was ‘there aren’t any boys’!! Our girl-only space works for so many of our members.

SATURDAY – It’s the Guiding Development meeting. This is the group, under Jacky’s guidance, that discusses everything to do with what happens in a unit on a particular night. How well are the leaders trained? Is the programme fun and challenging? What events should we put on? What qualifications can we help adults to gain? It’s a key meeting that gives us the chance to share good ideas from counties across the Region.

Not every week is as busy as this, of course, but it gives you a flavour of the sort of variety of work this role entails and I’m really enjoying it!

Keep checking for my next instalment which links a school in India, royalty, abseiling and of course, food!!

Sue Lomas

Well, what an exciting weekend! I have just returned from London where we celebrated the end of Liz Burnley’s term of office and inaugurated the new Chief Guide, Gill Slocombe.

Liz chose to have a ‘pub quiz’ evening with current and past members of Council and the Executive to raise money for a Motor Neurone Disease charity. The event took place at CHQ and we even had beer mats with Liz’s picture on them! There were rounds on events during Liz’s term of office and one called ‘What the Brownies think of the Chief Guide’. Some Brownies thought that Liz lived in a sort of castle, that the term of office of a Chief Guide was about 86 years and that her favourite food was jerk chicken or pizza. In a team that had several North West members, I am pleased to tell you that we won the quiz and I am now the proud owner of a red and sparkly Rainbow purse!

At the beginning of May I had my own exciting trip to Japan. My daughter lives out there and we travelled out to see her for a couple of weeks. I am always fascinated by the completely different cultural experience of Japan, even though this was my fifth visit. We travelled up to the northern island of Hokkaido for a few days this time, which was cold and rainy, but we saw no sign of the recent tragedy. The Japanese in their own way have begun the rebuilding of their lives and towns and are just getting on with it.

Anne Holt and I have been busy visiting county celebrations and annual events. It is always so interesting to find out what everyone has been doing in the Region and I am always amazed by the range of events and activities leaders manage to provide for the girls. You can see how much they enjoy them from the happy faces that smile out of the screen!

I hope you have all heard about the Ruby Celebration event we are holding on October 8th in Blackpool. We have arranged a special day that is only available to Girlguiding North West England members and besides having an hour to ourselves in the Pleasure Beach, we will also be watching a special ice show and participating in dance workshops. An event not to be missed – further details are available at http://www.girlguidingnwe.org.uk/blackpool.php

I hope everyone has an exciting programme planned for the summer. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to get outdoors and take part in new and adventurous activities – and don’t forget to do the Ruby Challenge

http://www.girlguidingnwe.org.uk/docs/NWE_ruby_outdoor_challenge.pdf

Have a great summer everyone and I’ll see you in Blackpool.

Sue Lomas

When I agreed to take on the role, I didn’t realise that it would involve so many varied and enjoyable activities – but it’s not without its challenges either.

I suppose the most exciting event that I have been involved with recently has been the election of the new Chief Guide. I chose to second Gill Slocombe as a candidate for the post and as you will probably know, she was successfully voted into the role in February. I will be sorry to say ‘goodbye’ to Liz Burnley as our Chief Guide in May – she has been an exceptional leader in the period of preparation for the Centenary and during our celebration year. However, Gill brings a different set of experiences and skills to the job, so I am looking forward to working with her too.

Last weekend a team of trainers from the Region put on two Commissioner Conferences in Preston and in Lowton, near Leigh. More than 180 Commissioners attended the two days and they spent their time in sessions to support them in their roles. Commissioners are key people in our structure. They are the local team leaders who ensure that new leaders are made welcome and that established leaders are supported to give our girls and young women a fantastic time!

Our next big event is ‘Forward Focus’ at Waddow. This is an event for young members from across the Region to get together to discuss how they might get more involved in the management and leadership of Girlguiding in North West England and in their counties. (If you are aged 16-26 and fancy joining us, please see the advert elsewhere on this website).

The closing date for our Region Arts Day is fast approaching, so if you haven’t booked your place yet and want to come, please contact the Region Office as soon as possible.

You may be aware that this year is our Region’s 40th birthday! We hope that you have seen our new Ruby Challenge on the website. This is open to everyone so please do get involved. We also hope to see you at our Ruby Celebrations in October – keep your eye on the website for more details which will be coming soon.

The new team at the Region Office will ensure that this new website is kept up to date. We want to offer lots of new opportunities and resources to our members to help make their jobs easier, so keep checking back to see what’s new.

Have a great time in your guiding wherever you are and if you’re one of our volunteers, thanks for everything you do for Girlguiding North West England.

Sue Lomas