Girlguiding Sussex Central county returned again to the South of England Showground, Ardingly to hold their annual Awards Evening on Monday 30th June.
Caroline Hitchcock, current Chair of Awards and Wendy Colson, County Commissioner welcomed members of the county, recipients’ families and friends together with invited guests, who included: Lady Emma Barnard, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex; Rachael Fisher, CEO of Blackland Farm Activity Centre together with Mark Sinclair and Nic Taylor, Co-Owners; Matt Pike, representing West Sussex Scouts and Bev Boakes, Girlguiding Sussex East County Commissioner as well as various local mayors & councillors; Girlguiding ambassadors and the guest speaker, Lexie Chadd, Paramedic with the London Ambulance Service.
Due to the unprecedented numbers of award recipients in 2024, this is the first of two award celebrations for the county with younger members – Rainbows and Brownies looking forward to their Gold celebration in September.
Over 40 young people & volunteers received, certificates and awards.
These included 19 Guides from Burgess Hill, Crawley, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Parkminster, South Down and Worth divisions. who received their Programme Gold Awards; the highest award given in each age group for completing all the appropriate clauses in their respective programmes.
Recognition was also given in various other categories;
Lexi Pellett (East Grinstead division) received a Hero Award from county President, Clare Brittain. Since early 2024, Lexi has supported a young visitor to her Brownie unit who has complex health requirements and has continued to be a true friend to her, attending Brownies when she herself has moved up to Guides.
Ava Poppy Finch, Evie-Rose Ball, Lauren Mangudi, Jeevika Senthil & Isabelle Grant (Crawley & Haywards Heath divisions), received their Commonwealth Award; which is an award for Guides. It is achieved by completing a variety of challenges associated with the Commonwealth. The girls spoke about their achievements and Evie-Rose played a piece of music on her clarinet which she had also played to residents at a local Retirement Home during her community service clause.
India Belfield (Horsham division), achieved her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.
Esther Armstrong, Jessica Corbin, Clara Lewis, Megan Mottram & Isla Pannett (Burgess Hill & Worth divisions) received their Young Leadership certificates.
Amy Hill (leader, Crawley division) and India Belfield (Horsham division) were presented with their Queen’s Guide Awards by Lady Emma Barnard, Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex. This is the highest award in Girlguiding and typically takes several years to complete. One of the sections and challenges includes community action work, Amy served meals in a homeless shelter and undertook a Food Bank donation drive, whilst India volunteered with Cocos Foundation’s clothing campaign and supported their initiatives in South Africa.
Long Service Awards for adult volunteers across the county, from 50 years of service, to 40 years & 30 years were recognised.
Surprise presentations were made to five volunteers; Amy Hill (Leader & Peer Educator, Crawley division), Carol Pembrey (Chair of Sussex Central county Trefoil Guild), Bev Boakes (County Commissioner for Girlguiding Sussex East county), Janet Templeman (county Leadership Co-Ordinator) & Ann Tucker (Leader, East Grinstead division) for their continued commitment and support with recent programmes and events in 2024 and 2025. The Good Service Brooch which is given in recognition of excellent service which has made a difference within Girlguiding Sussex Central county was awarded to Dawn Batchelor & Lynne Thomas (both Leaders, South Down division).
Wendy concluded the evening by thanking Lexie for her inspiring presentation. Lexie had told the audience how her journey through Girlguiding has helped give her the confidence to follow her dream of becoming a paramedic. She explained how through hard work, determination & pushing the boundaries she finally achieved her ambition proving that ‘Girls Can Do Anything.’ Finally, Wendy thanked Caroline & her team for organising the event.
We’re over 300,000 girls from 4 to 18 who come together to laugh, learn, explore and have adventures. We’re over 70,000 volunteers who make guiding happen by giving our time, talents, enthusiasm and care for girls. We’re 25,000 local groups having fun and exploring activities
We’re her first night away, weekend camping adventures, summer music festivals, emails to her MP about the things she cares about. We’re the badges she collects to capture the journey she’s chosen – anything from mindfulness to rock-climbing to crafting to coding. We’re a powerful collective voice – by girls, for girls – changing the world for the better. We help all girls know they can do anything. We’re Girlguiding.
For further information go to
https://www.girlguidingsussexcentralcounty.com/
https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/
https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved/
Janet Samuel
Girlguiding Sussex Central
County Marketing and Communication Chair
All photographs taken by Helen Corbin
