Central Division

This has been a busy year for Central Division. The girls have gained a variety of badges, been on camps and pack holidays, enjoyed parties and trips away from the meeting place. It has also been a year of change in Central Division. In April Moira, our Division Commissioner, was appointed County Commissioner. We wish her well in her new role.

Houston
2nd Brownies
• Trip to weavers cottage as part of Culture Badge
• Pack Holiday - involved in "Thinking Day on the Air " as part of Communicators Badge.
• Also did Health Heart and First Aid Badges
• Took part in "Don't be a bully - be my Friend " Challenge and had super Friendship party to finish the session

4th Brownies
• Mamma Mia Pack Holiday
• Brownies achieved lots of Badges including Healthy Heart , world Guiding and Culture … this also included a visit to Weavers Cottage
All Brownies enjoyed a visit to the Panto at Paisley Arts Centre, the Guides went to panto in Glasgow … the District had a great Thinking Day Money Market Celebration and had an end of session event at XSCAPE.

Johnstone and Elderslie
* Guide indoor & outdoor holidays at South Newton
* Brownie Pack Holidays at South Newton & 1st Elderslie Brownies summer holiday was at Gartocharn this year (Thanks to Jane Hay for coming out & escorting us up the Dumpling!), water sports on Loch Lomond were enjoyed by all.
* District Thinking Day celebrations were in St Paul's Church, Johnstone where the girls participated in the service & had a party in the hall in the afternoon.
* 7 Guiders attended County weekend at Netherurd
* 1st Elderslie Guides ( & District Guiders) cycled round Millport to raise money fro Asthma UK as part of Changing the World challenges.
* Guiders' Night Out at the end of the session with various long service badges presented.
* Various Units attended Centenary Launch Party in Lagoon (girls from Elderslie Brownies & Guides were participating in singing & dancing - well done Mhairi, Mhairi & Robyn).
* Leadership qualification completed by Wendy McGregor & Sarah Cooper
* Camper's Licence passed by Joanne Munro and First Aid (indoor) by Wendy McGregor and Sarah Cooper
* Changing the World challenges completed by many Units (including Save the Children, Asthma UK, Woodland Trust, Kidscape & WWF)
* Adventure 100 badges completed by girls from 1st Elderslie Brownies & Guides who had a joint weekend with the theme of 100 years of Guiding.

Kilbarchan
• During the course of the last year, Girlguiding in Kilbarchan and Howwood has enjoyed an exciting programme put together by its enthusiastic leaders. The highlights include
• Pack Holiday to Largs
• Sleepovers in the Guide Centre
• Planting bowls of bulbs for the ladies in a local care home
• Visit to open air cinema in George Square followed by pizza
• Swimming at the Lagoon
• Camp at Culzean
• Visit to stables
• Outdoor activities at Castle Semple Loch
• Sponsoring a dog
• Completing the Asthma Challenge
• Raising £500 for St Vincent’s Hospice and the same for our Guide Centre from a bag pack at Marks and Spencers.
There have also been many interest badges gained and challengescompleted as part of the more structured aims of the Guiding programme. We are delighted that four of our Rainbow leaders have completed their overnight training modules – congratulations to all of them

Kilmacolm
• CIN fashion show raised over £900 . Celebrated St Andrews (ceildh)
• Burns night, Chinese New Year, Thinking day.
• Comic Relief non-stop disco raised over £500
• Entered crafts in Kilmacolm Agricultural Show in May won a few certificates.
• Supported the County Challenge and walked to Millport end of May (hope to get badges soon ) Fire Safety badge and went to Greenock Fire Station in June.
• Finished with a Hawaiian BBQ at end of term plus Brownie camp in August

Many thanks to the Guiders who give of their time, week by week, throughout the year.

Janet Roddick
Acting Division Commissioner

Greenock Division

Greenock Division Change The World!
Several units in the Division took part in Girlguiding UK’s Centenary project - “Changing the World”, raising funds and awareness for many different charities. These included The National Deaf Children’s Society with 12th Greenock Brownies and Mary’s Meals with Cloch Trefoil Guild. The 20th A Greenock Brownies chose two charities, Click Asthma and CAMFED and managed to help with their community garden at the same time by holding a sponsored tidy-up! 27th Greenock Guides chose to support our local Ardgowan Hospice and Water Aid and WWF with 6th Greenock Guides and this resulted in their adoption of a panda called Ju Sheung. 5th Gourock Guides chosen charity was “Save the Children. After raising money for the charity, the Guides were challenged by Save the Children to come up with a number of statements for inclusion in the Save the Children Manifesto and out of twelve submitted, three were chosen for the final document. These statements from the guides, along with another nine, were made up into a Charter and this was presented to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was discussed by Barack Obama and the other G20 Leaders during the G20 Summit. During a trip to London thirty-three members of their unit visited many of the sites, enjoyed visits to the theatre and had a picnic in glorious sunshine in St James’s Park. The highlight of the trip was when they were invited inside No.10 Downing Street and met Maggie Darling, wife of Chancellor Alistair Darling. Mrs Darling spent some time talking with the Guides about their trip to London and their work for the Save the Children’s Charter for the G20 Leaders. She then gave the Guides a tour of the house and the girls were able to sit around the table where the G20 Leaders were served dinner during the G20 conference.
27th Greenock Guides also visited London when they were lucky enough to receive tickets for the Guard of Honour at the Trooping of the Colour, Queen’s Birthday Celebration in London. Nine guides, one ranger guide and three guiders travelled to London to take their place in the guard of honour. After lunch the girls went on the London Eye, visited 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square before heading to Oxford Street for shopping!
The Division Challenge last session was based on an enterprise theme. Each guide unit was given £5 and challenged to increase their capital. The winning team was Wemyss Bay Guides whose grand total was £72. The girls topped this up to £100 which they donated to Lilybank School, Port Glasgow. Look out Alan Sugar – you may soon have new apprentices!
Greenock Town Hall was packed as members and guests gathered to celebrate Thinking Day. The theme of the celebration was “Belonging” and everyone present must have felt a huge sense of belonging as the Colour Party marched into the Town Hall to the sound of the bagpipes played by Guider Wilma Carroll. The celebration was led by Guider Liz Crumlish, who soon had everyone on their feet dancing and singing along with the fantastic Guide choir wonderfully tutored by Lynda Thompson. Liz spoke of how every unit is preparing to “Change the World” by supporting one of the 19 charities chosen to mark the centenary year. Last year’s charity, Water Aid, received huge support from the Division and a presentation showed the enormous amount of equipment that had been bought with the £1,750 donated. The theme of “Belonging” continued as everyone stood to renew the Guide Promise led by 12th Greenock Brownies who had learned to sign the words. Three Guides led us in prayer by reading from the Bible and the celebration ended with the beautiful voice of soloist Joanna Mitchell singing “As We Go Now - Into The Future Together”.
Many Units had a variety of fundraising events last year ranging from bag packing to coffee mornings or evenings, we had family nights, fun nights and karaoke nights! Cloch Trefoil Guild have also been filling Smartie Tubes with twenty pence coins for the Guide Initiative Fund.
2nd Gourock Guides along with Guides from 1st and 4th Gourock came together to experience a taste of Paris. They had a full day at Disneyland Paris and after being elevated to the top of the Eiffel Tower, enjoying a leisurely cruise on the Seinne and experienced the atmosphere of shopping on the Champs Elysee.

5th Gourock Guide Unit spent their summer camp at Catterburn, Dunbartonshire where the guides enjoyed canoeing at Loch Lomond, swimming at Helensburgh and crate climbing and fencing at the scout camp at Auchengillan.
The 20thA Greenock Brownies enjoyed a pack holiday at Gartocharn. The weekend began with a Hallowe’en party as the girls arrived in costume to find a quartet of scary Guiders waiting for them!
2nd Gourock Brownies also travelled to Gartocharn and met up with 201st Glasgow Brownies for a pack holiday. As well as making friends from another County, the girls spent their time making lots of crafts. The rain, wind and snow failed to keep the girls in or to dampen their spirits. They even managed a paddle in Loch Lomond.
Guides from 27th Greenock travelled to Inverness to join the Guide and Scout Camp, Cally Rally 2008. The girls enjoyed many activities including off-road driving and wall climbing. They also had a fantastic time at PGL Dalguise, Perthshire, over the Easter weekend.
Lylehill Ranger Guides enjoyed a trip to Edinburgh to see Mary Poppins.
1st Wemyss Bay Guides had a great camp at South Newton. The theme of the camp was Mardi Gras and the girls decorated masks which are traditionally used during the festival.
39th Greenock Brownies were all Oscar winners at their pack holiday at South Newton when their chosen theme was Hollywood. Everyone had a chance to try their hands at directing, filming, acting, sound effects and using the clapper board. The girls also earned badges for wall climbing.
Guides from Greenock Division took part in their first Girlguiding World Thinking Day on the Air. The event was organised by 5th Gourock Guider & Amateur Radio Operator Eunice Lynch, and members of Greenock District Scouts Amateur Radio Club who provided the equipment for the weekend. Two Guides from Eunice’s Guide Company (Kathryn McBride and Jenna Sinclair) were operating the radio for part of the time as part of their Foundation Course to become an Amateur Radio Operator. The Guides sent Thinking Day Greetings to other Guides all over UK and Canada, with 20 countries all over the world being contacted. Most exciting contact made was with Keith McCann from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The girls have now completed their qualification and have got their own call signs.
Parties and trips to Fun World featured throughout the year, including our Division’s visit to celebrate the Rainbow’s 21st birthday when 110 Rainbows and leaders descended on Fun World. Lots of laughter could be heard as the girls climbed and slid their way up, down and through all the equipment. The only time they were reasonably quiet was when they were enjoying juice, crisps and a piece of their special Birthday Cake. Cloch Trefoil Guild also celebrated their 21st birthday with a party this year –although it was not at Fun World!
We celebrated throughout the year with trips to the Gang Show, television studios and pantomime.
St. Andrew’s night and Burns’ Night themed evenings were also popular.
1st Wemyss Bay Guides went to Edinburgh Zoo where six girls received their Baden Powell Awards from Scottish Chief Commissioner Dinah Faulds. 23rd Greenock also went to Edinburgh Zoo where the girls all had a great time. After the trip, three of the Brownies spent their first night under canvas when they joined Inverkip Guides at South Newton.
Congratulations to the two Guides who were selected to represented Scotland at international events. Kathryn McBride travelled to Denmark and Rachel Adamson will travel to Australia at the end of this year.
Congratulations also go to Katy Boyle, a Young Leader with 12th Greenock Guides who has been selected to swim in the Special Olympics next year.
We are also very proud of all the girls who have completed their Baden Powell Awards, well done girls!
Numerous badges were earned throughout the year and craft activities varied from Easter baskets to environmentally friendly Christmas wreaths!
My thanks go to all the leaders who spend so many hours providing varied and exciting activities for all the girls in our Division, they are a dedicated group of ladies! Thanks also to the members of the executive for their continued enthusiasm and support.

Christine McLachlan
Division Commissioner

Paisley Division

We’ve had a bit of a mixed bag this year. Our two units which we reopened at the start of the session are doing great. Both have numbers in double figures which is good for a new unit starting up. A few units are struggling a bit for numbers both in girls and leaders but we always seem to manage and hopefully this will pick up.

The 9thA Brownies in Laigh Kirk have been suspended this year. Fiona Easdon is moving down south and it’s just a wee tad too far to travel for Brownies, however hopefully Fiona will be able to fit into a unit where she will be living and we wish her all the best in her new job and town. We hope the guiders will be able to move into another unit to help out there.

The 59th Brownies celebrated their 20th Birthday this year. This was the last new Brownie Unit in Paisley.

The girls have been taking part in various activities over the past year. At this time of year the first biggie event for us is Hallowe’en and we have to party! Christmas saw us having parties, off to see the panto and a general good time.

We have had lots of pack holidays and camps over the year. Not forgetting the PAGGS camp which was hosted by Paisley and held in Edinburgh. An enjoyable and unforgettable time was had by all.

Cath Moore who is the guider with Sandyford guides started a Flower Club for brownies and guides around this time last year. We have a regular 12 girls and one or two newer girls too. The girls decided to call the club the Rose Petals and this is a registered junior club. The girls make a floral arrangement along with a craft each month at their meeting. At the end of October they are setting off to Perth for a flower club show and competition and by the time we read this we may have a winner in our midst. We still have space for more members.

We are now into our centenary year and the celebrations have begun. Paisley hosted the county opening ceremony and we have events arranged for all age groups for over the coming year. When visiting units we are beginning to see a sea of pink polo shirts as everyone is getting into atmosphere of the centenary.

In finishing off, I would like to thank all of Paisley Division Executive and guiders alike for the work put in both at units and preparation taken to make guiding in Paisley happen.

Jane Biggley
Division Commissioner



Renfrew Division

Finishing off our Spring 2008 and certainly not ones for lying down and having a quiet time, Renfrew Brownies and Guide Units held a Charity Concert in aid if CHAS in June which completed their year doing what we do best, helping others. The night raised £300 for the Charity.
At the end of our Summer session we were sad to lose our South Newton Representative Bruce Steven. Bruce felt that it was time for him to take a step back from his duties and enjoy his retirement and we wish him well. Sue Graham has kindly agreed to take on the role on behalf of Renfrew Division and I am sure she will be a great asset to the Committee.
With an ever increasing number of Units and members, it was decided that Cardonald should be divide into two separate Districts to be known as “Cardonald South” with Sheila Young as District Commissioner and “Cardonald North” with Evelyn Smith returning to her previous role as District Commissioner. This was a difficult decision to make but has worked out well and allows both Districts to continue to grow. Cardonald South have already increased their numbers with a new Rainbow Unit which has proved very popular.
Having packed away sleeping bags and tents after pack holidays and guide camps I was delighted to receive an invitation to visit “Bonaly” our PAGGS camp and had a great day with glorious sunshine, just the way I like to think of camping. Thank you to everyone who helped organise this magnificent event.
I wondered how we were ever going to keep up with all the great work during the next year and it wasn’t too long before our Summer was over and our truly enthusiastic Guiders were getting together to plan the forthcoming year in an exciting way for everyone to enjoy.
“Change the World” was a challenge set for the approaching Centenary year beginning in September 2009. The Challenge had to be completed prior to the beginning of our celebrations and a number of Units took part. There were nineteen topics to choose from with the most popular topics appearing to be bullying, asthma and WWF. This was a wonderful way for the girls to raise awareness of their chosen topic and also to help them express how they felt about subjects such as bullying. In an Erskine Guide unit, only one girl in the unit had not been affected in some way by bullying so it was useful to be able to talk about it out in the open and to let the girls know what it felt like from “both sides of the fence”. Such subjects bring Guiding into the 21st Century and are an important learning curve for many of the Guiders who perhaps have no experience in this area but are aware that it may have an effect on the girls at some point in their life either at school, in a future work place or within the Unit itself. Raising awareness of animal welfare such as WWF encourages the girls to look at the world we live in and how to preserve it for future generations.
The new District of Cardonald South decided to get together and work as a group to help promote guiding in the community. All Units worked on the same “Change the World Challenge” and organising a sponsored walk over the Erskine Bridge ending with a picnic with everyone from Rainbows to Guiders taking part. Later in the year, the Guides and their Leaders were to cycle round Millport so walking the Bridge was an easy challenge for them.
With the Olympics having taken place in August 2008, many Units throughout the Division thought it would be a good idea to incorporate this into the programme. Bishopton were first off the mark with their take on this great event and the Brownies played games involving sporting activities and had their own version of an Olympic award ceremony. A great fun filled way to welcome new members and show what a great time you can have while looking after yourself by keeping fit. Bishopton Guides planned a trip to Ingliston Equastrian Centre – perhaps in an effort to find some budding horsewomen among their girls. Continuing with the theme of healthy living Renfrew Guides paid a visit to Xscape.
Cardonald girls make regular trips to the Big Gig and did so again this year with an exciting trip to see the stars. Everyone always has such a good time going to this and the girls look forward to it each year.
Hallowe’en parties were all too quickly followed by Christmas parties and the highlight of the year the Christmas Panto with units visiting theatres in Paisley, Glasgow and Erskine. Everyone had a great time.
After a very successful Thinking Day Service in February 2008, the Division Executive decided to encourage Units and Districts to have their own celebrations and hopefully have an extra special event for our Centenary in February 2010. With this in mind, many of the Districts got together in different ways. The girls working on their Baden Powell in Erskine District arranged an International themed evening and all the Units got together for the first time in a while with both girls and Leaders celebrating in style. Blythswood District held a service for the Units in Inchinnan Parish Church.
The best “Coffee Morning” in the Division was held in February at the Community Centre in Bishopton. This is always a great success and everyone puts in a lot of work and effort into raising funds for both the District and the Units individually.
When a Young Leader wanted to make a trip to Romania, it was her own District of Inchinnan that helped to fund the trip so that she could carry out her voluntary work. Receiving their Mr Men and Little Miss goodies after doing the Children's Marathon Challenge, Inchinnan Brownies raised £698, £350 was sent to Children with Leukemia and the rest retained for Brownie funds.
It has been a busy year so far and by the end of February, members are looking forward to their pack holidays and camps as well as the County Camp towards the end of May in preparation for “Bonaly”.
We’ve had Teddy Bear picnics, High School Musical and now we have had a Centenary Bear travel all the way to the top of Ben Nevis along with its proud owner who made the trip for charity. Well done Sheila. How far do you think you could take your Centenary Bear?
Everyone wanted to get away in the Spring and there were trips to the Sea Life Centre for the Rainbows, pack holiday for the Brownies, Guide camps and PGL.
Towards the beginning of the summer, Karen McIntyre, a Guider for many years in Blythswood District was awarded a Certificate of Commendation. Sadly Karen died shortly after receiving the award and our thoughts are with her family. Maureen Tunnicliffe also from Blythswood and who in the past has had many roles in guiding also received recognition of our work with the organisation. Linda Mitchell, a Brownie Guider in Bishopton for many years decided to retire. Linda contributed to guiding locally in many ways and her input will be sorely missed. I would like to wish Linda all the best for the future on behalf of the Division.
The Division Executive have been busy looking at ways for everyone to join in the Centenary Celebrations and with this in mind, we have arranged a number of trips throughout the coming year. We hope that all our girls will join in and help to make this special year the best it can be.

Maureen Buchanan
Division Commissioner