Burgess Hill Brownie troop goes from ‘strength to strength’

The 3rd Burgess Hill Brownies have continued with their weekly activities since the first lockdown, enjoying a fun and varied Girlguiding programme.

Helen Lewis, joint leader alongside Natalie D’Silva, said: “During the school holidays we carried on Zooming but focused on playing games with the girls (and their families), firm favourites being bingo and the girls going on scavenger hunts around their houses.

“We have been joined by some amazing special guests on our journey this past year.

“Our first VIP was Juliet Smith, who was High Sheriff of East Sussex from 2015 to 2016, and in 2016 was made Deputy Lieutenant of the county, who we hosted on our Remembrance Day evening.

“She was vice-president of the Ditchling and area branch of the Royal British Legion, serving under the presidency of Dame Vera Lynn.

“We hosted Juliet on our Remembrance Day evening.

“Our girls asked many thoughtful questions and learned enormous amounts of information and facts from Juliet, including about the time spent with the Queen.

“She impressed our Brownies greatly, they still talk about this night with fond memories.

“Our next guest was the assistant chief guide, Emma Guthrie, who joined our call all the way from Edinburgh.”

“It was an honour to have such a high ranking guider with us and we really enjoyed our evening with her.”

Upcoming guests include Colin McFarlin, waste prevention advisor for West Sussex County Council and Sally Kettle, the troop’s regional Girlguiding ambassador, who is an adventurer and ocean rower.

Helen said: “Our girls always make us proud, but especially when we have guests join us.

“They ask pertinent questions, have beautiful manners and always make them laugh.

“We are lucky to have such wonderful young ladies in our unit.”

Helen said there have been challenges to their work.

She said: “The usual activities that we would do, such as camping, singing, unit activities and six activities are incredibly hard to replicate virtually.

“We make regular deliveries to our girls to ensure that we can do as much as possible with them during our meetings.

“Despite these restrictions they have managed to earn around 200 badges between 15 girls, which is very impressive.

“One of our Brownies won a local Guiding competition to design a ‘lockdown badge’.

“We now have this badge proudly displayed on our camp blankets and uniforms.”

To find out more, visit www.facebook.com/3rdBHBrownies