Trefoil News January/February 2014 Issue No: 621

Published by: Irish Girl Guides, Trefoil House, 27 Pembroke Park, Dublin 4. Printed by: Richardson and Watts, 36 Thornville Park, Raheny, Dublin 5.

The Editorial Team of Trefoil News reserves the right to edit material submitted. Publications Officer: Katherine Ryan. Contact : [email protected]

Message from the Chief Commissioner/Pathways to Leadership/Editorial Page 1 Message from the International Commissioner/ Intro to World Thinking Day Page 2 MDG 2 - GAT Pack Activities Page 3 How to celebrate World Thinking Day/World Thinking Day Fund Page 4 World Thinking Day Ceremony Pages 5-7 Noticeboard Page 8 Stitch’s Diary Page 9 NPT Update, Dates for your Diary Page 10 Executive News Page 11 Programme Review / Update from Finance Committee Page 12 Who’s Who in IGG - International Committee Page 13 Membership Committee Page 14 Translating for Parents Pinterest / Linkedin / QR Codes Page 15 Public Relations Pages 16-17 How to get into your local paper, don’t forget about a-WEAR-ness Day and a glimpse at the entries for the PR Competition Memories, Memories Pages 18-19 A look back at the history of Brownie Branch for their Centenary year. Interview with Peggy Allbut and Hazel Shiel Out and About Pages 20-26 Ladybirds Pages 27-30 Includes some great World Thinking Day themed activities focussed on MDG 2 and some fun crafts for Valentine’s Day. Brownies Pages 31-34 Includes the Brownies Brilliant Birthday Centenary Challenge for all Branches, some interesting World Thinking Day activities and two pages of Valentine’s Day ideas. Guides Pages 35-39 Includes a Promise and Law Refresher, fun World Thinking Day games, a reminder about the Lord and Lady Baden Powell badges and some fun ideas to get your girls started on their Communicator badge. Senior Branch Pages 40-41 Includes some ideas to inspire you about MDG 2 - “The Girl Effect” and “Being a Good Role Model” International Pages 42-52 Includes Travellers Tales, The Academy 2013, WAGGGS European Conference, World Scout Moot 2013, World Centre Experience Stories and lots of other interesting, upcoming International Opportunities, including an opportunity to lead a CIGA contingent on a service project to Sangam.

Inserts: A-WEAR-NESS Day Poster

A Word from our Chief...

Dear Fellow Leader, Welcome to a New Year and to your Internaonal Edion of Trefoil News. I do hope you all had a good holiday season and that whatever your circumstances, you were able to welcome 2014 with hope and opmism. Every year it amazes me how we give so much thought to the days, the food, the acvies and plans for the short me between Christmas and New Year. So this year, I am pung my focus on the days between New Year and Christmas!

At the last Execuve Commiee meeng of 2013, I shared this poem with my fellow commiee members and it’s a wish I have for all our Leaders and Unit Helpers in 2014:

“You give your best to the world of Girl Guides, Your "promise" upholds with a strong sense of pride. As a Leader, on a commiƩee, or as one who consults, You are ever concerned to get the best results. A problem or two may arise here and there Not one goes unconquered because you care. So consider my thanks, it's a small compensaƟon For all the hours you give, for your dedicaƟon.”

As World Thinking Day approaches, it is good to be reminded of the global organisaon we are a part of. Having sister-Guides and Girl Scouts in 144 other countries really is heartening and this internaonal aspect is one of the things that differenates us from other youth organisaons. It’s wonderful to think there are 10 million of us around the world all trying to make the world a lile beer – imagine that’s twice the populaon of Ireland! I hope you enjoy the acvies and programme ideas in this edion which aim to help the girls learn more about this world in which we are a part.

Yours in Guiding, Helen Please feel free to contact me by emailing [email protected]

Hello and welcome to this year’s International Pathways to Leadership — Áine Foley edition of Trefoil News. It’s packed full of

Leadership... When I think of leadership it screams a International stories, games and activities for thousands words, I think of amazing people - world, World Thinking Day and of course our World Thinking Day Ceremony. sporting and political leaders. People that you never think you could live up to - it's like they are running in a different There may be some terms and abbreviations world race. But in fact we are all taking on a leadership used in this issue that you might not be familiar role by just being a part of the Irish Girl Guides. We as with so here's a quick glossary: Leaders are changing the world one step at a time without even realising. WAGGGS — World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts One great Leader, Michelle Obama, blossomed and WOSM — World Organisation of the Scout bloomed as a Leader in Girl Scouts and says that as a Movement volunteer 'you can show girls that anything is possible and CIGA—Council of Irish Guiding Associations you can inspire them to dream bigger and go further than MDGs—Millennium Development Goals they ever even imagined'. That is the power of positive leadership. One of the examples I have of showing Please email me at any time with ideas for leadership is when I was captain of a dance squad, I had Trefoil News and possible content . If you’ve to delegate work, encourage my team members and make enjoyed doing something with sure everyone was content and happy for our final your girls, it’s likely that other Units would enjoy it too — so performance. let us hear about it. Email 'Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality '-Warren Bennis. your ideas or pictures to [email protected] You are not born a Leader but can gain it, it takes quality to be that Leader, the one who not just has authority, but uses it to influence others in a positive way. Thanks for reading. Áine Foley – Newbridge Senior Branch Katherine Ryan, Editor

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 1

Message from the International Commissioner

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to this 2014 International Edition of Trefoil News.

My name is Lorna Finnegan and I have recently been elected International Commissioner. I have been involved in IGG since I joined as a Brownie in Drogheda many years ago and the International aspect of the organisation was always something that interested me. From learning songs and games from different countries, checking out the different uniforms on the posters in our Guide hall, meeting International visitors at Guide camps and travelling to various camps and events as a Ranger and eventually as a Leader. All of my former Leaders sowed that seed of International Guiding within me and for that I will be eternally gratefully. I would challenge each of you to consider how you sow the seed of our wonderful International movement within each of your girls, one of whom will grow up one day to become a future International Commissioner…

In 2014 WAGGGS reminds us that “Education opens doors for all boys and girls.” Despite progress, an estimated 250 million children of primary school age lack basic reading, writing and numeracy skills, whether in school or not. All the money you donate to the Thinking Day fund will help fund projects to combat educational disadvantage in some of the WAGGGS focus countries this year – Egypt, Bangladesh, Armenia, St Vincent and Grenadines, and Benin

This past year we have had IGG members travel to the Americas, Africa, Asia & Europe. As we speak there are groups of IGG members attending events in Sangam and New Zealand! Some of these events are years in the planning, it’s never too early to start thinking about your first or next International event. The Girl Guiding Ulster Xplore Camp in Castle Saunderson, Co Cavan (2014), our own Explorer Belt next summer (2015) or the next Roverway in France (2016), check out the opportunities later on in this edition and keep your eyes on the website and Facebook pages for even more events! Your International committee are only too willing to help you take those first steps to realising your International dream. Find out who your current committee members are on the Who’s Who page.

I look forward to meeting more of you at our Go Global event to be held later in the Spring, watch out for further details in the March edition of Trefoil News and in the weekly emails.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hard working members of the International Committee, and in particular Jemma Lee for all her support and assistance over the past few months.

Wishing you all the best for the coming year

Yours in Guiding Lorna Finnegan International Commissioner

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself” ~ John Dewey

WORLD THINKING DAY

Every year on 22 February Girl Guides and Girl Scouts globally celebrate World Thinking Day. Together Girl Guides and Girl Scouts give thanks and show appreciation for the international friendship they find in our movement and raise money to help grow and share the movement with more girls and young women around the world.

Thinking Day started in 1926, the date February 22nd was selected because it is the mutual birthday of Robert Baden Powell the founder of the Boy Scout movement and his wife Olave, who served as the World Chief Guide. This day each year gives us the opportunity to celebrate that we are one in ten million members of the biggest global family and to think of those less fortunate.

We hope you enjoy our World Thinking Day ceremony and all the appropriately themed activities in this issue. Have a Happy World Thinking Day.

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Please use the GAT Pack MDG 2 chapter to find MDG 2 - GAT Pack Activities other appropriate activities to teach your Did you know? girls about World Thinking ♦ Currently there are more than 100 million children of primary school age not in school. Day’s theme for this year.

♦ More than one in four adults worldwide cannot read or write, two-thirds of whom are women. You will also find lots of ♦ A single year of primary school increases the wages people earn later in life by 5-15 per cent themed activities in your for boys and girls. Branch pages.

What is Needed to go to School?

AIM To make the girls think about the basics needed to enable a child, particularly those from less well-off communities or less developed countries, to go to school. TIME 20/30 Minutes WHAT YOU NEED Word Search below WHAT TO DO Give each girl a copy of the word search to complete.

The word search could lead to a discussion with the girls about school and what they hope to achieve and to a comparison with children in other countries who are less fortunate. Use the stories below to prompt a discussion while the girls complete their word searches.

Story 1: Twelve year old Grace lives with her father Joseph and her sister Michelle in Zimbabwe. They collect plastic and glass bottles from the rubbish dumps around Harare where they live. It can take them up to three days to gather enough to sell in the local market to raise the money they need to survive. The girls’ mother left them four years ago so they have worked with their father ever since, not only foraging for bottles but doing the housework as well. Zimbabwe is one of the few places where they have to pay to go to school and, as they barely make enough money to survive, they cannot go to school. Grace is desperate to go to school and dreams of becoming a hairdresser.

Story 2: Christine, who is 14 years old, lives in a camp for displaced people in Haiti since the earthquake destroyed her home. She had to miss school for three months following the earthquake and although her text books and notebooks are tattered, she is determined to become a doctor. Her 15 year old brother Jean Renee has had to leave school and go to work in a garage as her mother could not afford to keep all of her three children in school. Jean Renee hopes to be a mechanic and the youngest sister Afenyoose, aged 9, would love to go to school but must stay at home because it is too expensive and her mother had to decide which of her three children she could afford to pay for.

B V I E P W X M S L I P U P WORD SEARCH Y U K A W C Q O K C M V P I BUILDING BOOKS F D I S T E P E N C I L N M TEACHER P C S L A H J L I F D P O I TABLE A C B N D L I K B Q J N P K CHAIR TOILET P H C H A I V R T U E D Z R PAPER E N K O H E N E P Y W M U E PENCIL R C J D C U L G B P A F M H PEN

PUPILS A U M N S I I A R T T L J C WATER M U B O O K S D G O E O W A

MONEY P N E Z E W P I L D R I D E

D Y Y X Y N M B U E L B A T

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 3

HOW TO CELEBRATE WORLD THINKING DAY....

Celebrate World Thinking Day by taking part in a World Thinking Day ceremony and collecting for the World Thinking Day fund. Each year World Thinking Day has a theme. Since 2009 World Thinking Day has been themed on an MDG, offering girls and young women the opportunity to join together to take action on issues affecting our world. The theme for 2013 is MDG 2 “Education opens doors for all girls and boys” At the seventh World Conference in Poland in 1932 a delegate suggested that Girl Guides and Girl Scouts should give a penny for their thoughts. This was the start of the World Thinking Day Fund being established. The fund was to be used wherever the need was greatest. The sum of one penny or its equivalent is symbolic today as member organisations are asked to contribute what they can to this fund.

Money collected helps promote Guiding in countries less fortunate. Supporting underprivileged areas of communities, it can help with Leader training, encourage International exchange and support a wide variety of programmes, e.g. some that deal with malnutrition and illiteracy.

This year WAGGGS has identified five countries in particular, one from each Guiding Region that will showcase MDG 2. The five focus countries will be: Egypt, Bangladesh, Armenia, St Vincent and Grenadines, and Benin

The focus countries will receive grants from the World Thinking Day Fund which they will put toward action projects based on MDG 2 in their countries. It is hoped that, by supporting these countries, WAGGGS will be able to demonstrate how Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting has a long term practical and beneficial impact on communities that people live in.

Pencil-Shaped Money Box — World Thinking Day Ceremony

As this year’s theme for World Thinking Day ceremony is “Education opens doors for all girls and boys” we suggest that you make pencil shaped money boxes with your girls. You can make these in numerous ways. You could start with a kitchen roll tube, a Pringles tube (or even a Smarties tube if you want to make small thin pencils.) You can start with any cylinder object that you think each girl might be able to bring in. Existing cylinder shapes will only need a base and cone for the top — so skip the first step below.

To make boxes from scratch you will need: Yellow/PinkWhite/Black Card, Glue, Sellotape, Scissors,

♦ Roll a full size piece of yellow card to make a tube. Secure the tube with glue or sellotape. ♦ If you are using card, you will need to make a base. Cut out a circle and secure to the bottom of your tube. ♦ Stick a black or pink strip around the bottom of your tube to be the top/rubber of your pencil. ♦ Now take some orange/cream card and twirl into a cone. ♦ Remember to colour in the tip of your cone whatever colour your pencil is! You can draw lines up the length of your pencil tube too if you like or add other decorations. ♦ Trim the bottom of your cone to fit your tube. Glue cone in place along the edge. ♦ Make a coin slit in your cone. ♦ Challenge the girls to fill their pencil-shaped money box with coins and remind them to bring them in for the World Thinking Day ceremony.

Why not check out: WAGGGS World Thinking Day Acvity Pack 2014 which is available to download at www.worldthinkingday.org/en/acvies10

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World Thinking Day Ceremony

This year the theme of World Thinking Day is “Education opens doors for girls and boys”. Our ceremony will celebrate the importance of education in three parts, each one leading into the next:

Education helps I can be anything I am special I want to be if I me to develop and unique. my specialness dream big and and be my best... work hard!

We have provided you with a choice of songs to sing, stories and quotes to read, activities to try and video clips that you can watch online, under the three headings. Every Unit is different so pick the ones that suit your girls the best!

Reading: Right now somebody · wants to tell you how much they care. · wants to share their dreams with you. I am special (You could read this aloud by assigning one · wants to hold you in their arms. and unique. line to every girl in your Unit) · wants YOU to hold them in your arms. Right now somebody: · treasures your spirit. · is very proud of you. · wishes they could STOP time because of you. Song: I am Special · is thinking of you. · praises God for your friendship and love. (to the tune of "Frere Jacques") · is caring about you. · can't wait to see you. I am special, I am special, · misses you. · loves you for who you are. Look at me, you will see, · wants to talk to you. · loves the way you make them feel. Someone very special, someone · wants to be with you. · wants to be with you. very special, · hopes you aren't in trouble. · wants you to know they are there for you. It is me, it is me. · is thankful for the support you have provided. · is glad that you're his/her friend. · wants to hold your hand. · wants to be your friend. Reading: Glad to Be Me! · hopes everything turns out all right. · stayed up all night thinking about you. Sometimes I wish I was someone · wants you to be happy. · is alive because of you. else, but mostly I’m glad I’m ME! · wants you to find him/her. · is wishing that you noticed him We all have our likes and · is celebrating your successes. · is wishing that you noticed him/her. · wants to give you a gift. differences as everyone can see. · wants to get to know you better. · thinks that you ARE a gift. · wants to be near you. Some of us like to hurry, · hopes you're not too cold, or too hot. · misses your advice/guidance. some like to take our time. · wants to hug you. · has faith in you. Some spend all their money, · loves you. · trusts you. some save each dime. · admires your strength. · needs you to send them a letter Some are good at English; · is thinking of you and smiling. · needs your support. some are good at maths. · wants to be your shoulder to cry on. · needs you to have faith in them. Some of us like showers, · wants to go out with you and have a lot of fun. · will cry when they read this. some prefer the bath. · thinks the world of you. · needs you to let them be your friend. Some of us are quiet; · wants to protect you. · hears a song that reminds them of you. some of us are loud. · would do anything for you. Some of us like to be alone; · wants to be forgiven. some of us like a crowd. · is grateful for your forgiveness. Some of us are tall; · wants to laugh with you. some of us are short. · remembers you and wishes that you were there. · values your advice. Some like to play an instrument, some like to play a sport. Some of us are black or brown, Play the video and some of us are white. What I Am by Will.I.Am Some of us leave the light on (Performed with when we go to bed at night. Sesame Street characters All of us are special as everyone – can be found on can see, YouTube or scan the You like you, and I like you, but code to the left) also I like ME!

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 5

Activity: It's what's inside that counts (By Wendy Baker)

Materials needed (per person): Small square of fabric, elastic band, small rock, shell and feather.

Hand out square of material (about the size of your palm). “The world we live in is a material world. But it is not the things we buy, or wear or what we look like that counts. It's what is on the inside that matters most.”

Hand out the rocks —“The rock represents the earth. In our busy lives, whether at school or work, with our friends, or in our families, we need a solid base to build on. As Leaders and girls, we help to give each other this solid base.” I am special and unique Hand out the shells — “The shell represents the water. All living things need water; all things on ACTIVITY land; all things in the air; all things in the water. Through Guiding and in other parts of our lives, we explore the flowing currents of our faith.”

Hand out the feathers — “The feathers represent the air. What we do and say can build up or hurt others. Our words are like the wind -- you do not see them, but you see their effects.”

Now wrap these things inside the material and tie it up with an elastic band.

Education helps Remember - IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS! me to develop my specialness Reading: Take Time and be my best... Take time to work, It is the price of success. Reading: This Is The Beginning Of A Brand New Day Take time to think, This is the beginning of a brand new day. It is the source of power. I can waste it or use it for good. Take time to read, What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day It is the foundation of knowledge. of my life for it. Take time to give to others, When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving It will bring you happiness. in its place Take time to love, What I have traded for it. It is the sacrament of life. I want it to be gain, not loss -- good, not evil -- success, not Take time to dream, failure -- so that I shall never regret the price I paid for today. It hitches the soul to the stars. Take time to laugh, Activity: My Best It lightens the highway to eternal life. Each girl draws around her hands on one sheet of paper – for Take time to plan, younger girls they can do this in pairs and draw around each And you will have time for all the rest. other’s hands. From Jo-Anne Wood

Ask the girls to think of one thing that they do in school which Reading: May I is helping them to be the best they can be and write or draw it May I grow in character and ability as I grow in size. in their left hand. May I be honest with myself and others in what I do and say. May I always honour my parents, my elders and my leaders. Then encourage them to think of one thing they can do to May I develop high moral principles and the courage to live by achieve their best in school and write or draw it in their right them. hand. May I strive for health in body, mind and spirit. May I always respect the rights of others. Thought: Build a better world May I set a good example so that others may enjoy and profit "Your task - from my company. To build a better world", God said. May I give honest effort to my work. I answered, "How? May I learn things that will help me make life better for every The world is such a large, vast place, living thing in God's beautiful world. So complicated now. And I so small and useless am, Activity: Books and Reading There's nothing I can do." Ask girls to bring in some of their favourite books from home God in all His wisdom said, or from the library and explain why they like these stories. "Just build a better you." What did they learn from the stories? Discuss why learning to read is important. What would it be like if they couldn’t read?

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World Thinking Day I can be anything Reading/video: Oh The Places Money Collection I want to be if I You Go… by Dr. Seuss dream big and This is a popular children’s book which you can take turns to read The girls will have made their work hard! pencil money boxes a few together, but there are videos of it weeks before the ceremony. At being read aloud available online if you prefer. this point ask them all to pick up their money boxes and remind Activity: Who will I be? them what the World Thinking Ask the girls who they hope to be when they are older. Song: Can a Woman? Day fund is for and where their Younger members might like to draw pictures of women Tune: She’ll be comin’ round the money is going (see page 4) in different careers and roles e.g. doctor, President, mountain

mother, firefighter, teacher etc. Sketch out the outline of a Older members can brainstorm a list of careers and life Can a woman fly an airplane? school on the floor – this can be goals and discuss what they would have to do to achieve Yes, she can, yes she can! done on big sheets of paper, their goals. Will they need to study hard and go to col- Can a woman build a building? with chalk, or using masking lege? Does their dream cost a lot of money? Will they Yes, she can, yes she can! tape. need to travel to succeed? Can a woman fight a fire?

Can a woman change a tyre? Ask the girls to step forward Can a woman lead a choir? one by one and place their pen- Play the video Yes she can, yes she can! cil inside the school. Depending We Can Be Anything -

on how many money boxes Apl.de.ap Can a woman be a lawyer? your group has, they can use (- can be found on Yes, she can, yes she can! the pencils to mark out the out- YouTube or scan the code Can a woman fix an engine? line, or lay them within the to the left) Yes, she can, yes she can! shape like bricks. Can a woman be a drummer?

Can a woman be a plumber? As they lay their pencil in the Can she play ball in the summer? school, ask them to say one Final thought: Yes, she can, yes she can! thing which they hope their This situation for girls around the world not in money will help to achieve. This school can and must be changed. Together, the Can a woman be a doctor? way the girls will understand 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Yes, she can, yes she can! that they are part of a global worldwide can help raise awareness and Can a woman drive a tractor? movement and they are helping ensure that every girl has the right to learning Yes, she can, yes she can! to make a difference in the so that she can fulfil her potential. Can a woman lead a nation? world. Can she run a TV station? Can she head a corporation? Yes, she can, yes she can! MDG 2 - FACTSHEET Did you know…? Some facts that can be used to help them realize how lucky they are to be Just you wait until we're older able to be educated. Then you'll see! Then you'll see!! • 66 million girls are out of school globally (UNESCO). That's even more girls than all the We'll be women in tomorrow's girls in Canada, Mexico and the United States combined! History, History! • There are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary school. (Education First) That's As we grow up through the years approximately the number of all school-age girls in the United States. We'll sing out loud and clear • In some places, there are 90 students to one teacher. (Global Campaign for Education) Can we start the process here? • A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5. (UNESCO) Yes, we can, yes we can! • A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult. (The World Bank) • Even though K-12 school is free in the United States, almost one in every seven US adults World Thinking Day cannot read. (U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Literacy) • Money Collection Girls with 8 years of education are 4 times less likely to be married as children. (National Academies Press) Please send your World • 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year. That's 38,000 girls today. (UNFPA) Thinking Day donations • Despite progress, an estimated 250 million children of primary school age lack basic to World Thinking Day, reading, writing and numeracy skills, whether in school or not. Irish Girl Guides, • Globally, 123 million youth (aged 15 to 24) lack basic reading and writing skills; 61 per cent 27 Pembroke Park, of them are young women. (MDG Report 2013). Dublin 4.

Every cent you give will go towards the World Thinking Day fund, which will help increase Cheques should be made the attendance and provision of school facilities for girls worldwide. payable to Irish Girl Guides World Thinking Day Fund. Trefoil News January/February 2014 Thank Page You! 7

Millmount Guides preparing for an orienteering trip with Notice Board Stitch. For more Out and About photos, see page 20 The Cottage in Enniskerry has Notice Board been closed since November for refurbishment. There was a delay starting this refurbishment due to the Fire and Disability Officers from Wicklow Co. Council having to approve the plans prior to commencement, in order to qualify for the relevant certificates upon completion of the work.

We hope that the build will be finished by the time you are reading this in January (no unforeseen problems coming to light) and that after painting etc. we should be ready to open for bookings again in late Jan./early Feb. This is the position to date. On completion of the work and the resumption of taking bookings, a notice will be Send us your best Easter placed In the Leaders’ Weekly Email. So please, Themed photo from keep an eye out. previous years (or stage

Maureen Dillon—Irish Girl Guides President one) to get on the cover of Email: [email protected] March’s Trefoil News!

WARRANT PINS CENSUS 2014

Attention all Leaders Every Unit Leader will have received a Census 2014 Pack this week. This is to be As you know there are two warrant pins available completed during Census Week for each Branch – Assistant Leader pin and full commencing 20th January 2014. Leader pin.

All Leaders with full Leader warrant are When you complete your Census entitled to wear full warrant pin. information please return it with the relevant membership fees to your District Since most Units work as Commissioner by 31st January. (If you do a team - if all Leaders not have a District Commissioner, please have achieved their full return to your Regional Commissioner). warrant they are all Thank you in advance for your help. entitled to wear full warrant pin regardless of whether or not they are Centenary the ‘Leader-in-charge.’ Challenge Badge for all Branches to celebrate Brownies’ Birthday pg 31

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Stitch’s Diary

Hello Everyone,

I visited the Ovens Ladybirds, Brownies & Guides in Cork on September 28th. It was my first time there. And wasn't it the All Ireland Hurling final that day? Just as well I was wearing my red and white scarf.

First I visited the Bridevalley Ladybirds. They began the meeting by inviting me to join with them in singing the Ladybird song. They told me all about what they do at their meetings. Then we played Ring a Ring a Rosie. They took lots of photos to remember my visit.

Two of the Ladybirds then brought me to the Barnagore Brownies. They made me feel very welcome. Each Brownie in turn in the circle gave me a huge hug .Some of the girls had met me already in May in National Office, when they travelled there for the National Quiz Final. I remember they got runners up prize.

Some of the Brownies were working on recycling as part of their footprint so first we had a talk about recycling. Then we went outside to the Recycling Centre. Everyone had either some paper, plastic bottles or drinks cans etc. for the recycling bins. One Brownie lifted me up to put some plastic in the bin. I was so excited to help.

Next I visited the Barnagore Guide Unit. They were thrilled to see me. They were very busy making bags out of paper. It looked quite difficult, but they showed me how to make one. The bags are so useful. The Guides were very friendly.

Then the Ladybirds, Brownies and Guides got together and we all had a huge campfire. Each Unit in turn choose their favourite song. Everyone joined in. It was brilliant. I love singing. I also loved meeting all the Ladybirds, Brownies and Guides and their Leaders. Thanks to them all.

If Stitch has been to visit your Unit; you can order this great Stitch button Lots of love, badge from the Distribution Centre for each of your girls. Stitch XXX Now only 0.50c

If you’d like me to come and visit your Unit or go with you on your camp or holiday, please contact my Mammy Egle at 01-6683898 or email her at [email protected]

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 9

NPT UPDATE - A meeng of the Naonal Programme and Training Commiee was held at Naonal Office on November 16th 2013. Here are some of the decisions made at that meeng.

Learning Leadership Training Guide Branch This took place at the same time as Senior Branch weekend, Guide Branch would like to remind all Leaders who with some joint activities. Twenty participants have signed up participated in a Fun Day in the Autumn to order the badges to this year long project, run with the support of Léargas and for their Guides. the European Youth in Action fund. International Branch Day 2014 • Aisling O’Halloran attended the Overtures Network Branch Day will take place on February 8th; applications meeting in Vienna. closed on December 6th. • Aisling Claffey attended the Be The Change event in Leaders cannot change sessions once they have applied, as Sangam. this causes difficulties for Trainers. • Anne Hyland was selected to attend the Gifts of Change New Year’s event in Sangam. Voices Against Violence Curriculum • Adele Mealey, Clare Sheridan and Jemma Lee IGG launched this new WAGGGS curriculum at a training day on November attended the Academy in Belgium. 30th. There will also be short trainings on The final of the international quiz went ahead and was a the curriculum and campaign at Branch great success! Day. ATOC Congratulations to Jennifer Quinn who is a new Outdoor Brownie Centenary Advisor in North West Region. Brownie Branch are very excited to be celebrating their 100th birthday in 2014! Celebrations include a badge for all IGG It was discussed whether Young Leaders should be allowed members, a Challenge Pack and a big day out in Dublin Zoo to attend pre-Warrant trainings. It was noted that it is part of for all the Brownies! the Gold Leadership Certificate in the Senior Branch programme to start working towards your Warrant. It was Dove “Free Being Me” Programme confirmed that YLs under 18 years of age should not attend Jenny Gannon attended a training on this new programme in Code of Ethics trainings but there is no problem with Pax Lodge. The new curriculum will be available in January. attending the other compulsory modules. It is about body confidence and will run worldwide. Grant Secretary Hazel Convery’s term of office as REPORTS Grant Secretary is finished, everyone thanked her sincerely for all of her Ladybird Branch support and hard work during her Ladybird Branch have developed a fun badge which can be time on NPT. She will be missed! given out for participation in outings, etc. They are on sale in the Distribution Centre.

Dates for Your Diary

1st New Year’s Day 8th Branch Day 8th International Women's Day 11th Executive Committee 8th SB 18th Birthday

Meeting March 17th St. Patrick's Day 14th Valentine’s Day January

20th IGG Census Week February 20th International Day of 22nd World Thinking Day Happiness 31st Submit your Census National Programme and Training forms to your District Guiding Dates are Commissioner Committee Meeting in italics!

24th A-WEAR-Ness Day

Page 10 Trefoil News January/February 2014

EXECUTIVE NEWS The Executive Committee of the Irish Girl Guides meets to discuss policy issues and to ensure the smooth running of the organisation for all its members. Here are some of the decisions made at the October and November Executive Committee meetings.

Congratulations: Pinterest Congratulations were expressed to Thérèse Joyce who was The Executive Committee was given permission to set up an elected as Chairman of Finance Committee IGG Pinterest page, which is basically an online notice board. This was given and it was agreed that a disclaimer re Congratulations were expressed to Anne-Marie Slevin who plagiarism would need to be included. was elected as Regional Commissioner of West and Central Midlands Region and to Ruth Hughes who was re-elected as LinkedIn Chairman of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) It was proposed that an IGG profile on LinkedIn, a social Committee for a second term of office. networking website for people in professional occupations, be created. There is no cost involved and it would create PR for Governance Code for Community, Voluntary and the organisation. The Executive Committee gave their Charitable Organisations approval to this suggestion and it was stated that it is The Governance Code Signup Sheet was signed by the Chief important that our page reflects the skills gained by being a Commissioner and the CEO confirming that IGG is committed Leader in IGG. to the standards outlined in the principles and will review our organisational practice against the recommended actions for Weekly email each principle every year. This will be displayed publicly and The Communications Officer asked the Executive Committee emailed to [email protected] for a decision as to whether or not members of Senior Branch should receive the weekly email. This was agreed. Guiding Principles for Fundraising The Resolution regarding the Statement of Guiding Principles Presentation for Fundraising was considered and approved by the A presentation was made to Margaret Dunne on behalf of the Executive Committee and signed by the Chief Commissioner Executive Committee as Margaret had completed her current and the Chairman of Finance. It will be put up on the IGG term of office on Executive after many years of service. website. It was agreed that practical steps will be developed Margaret was thanked for all the work she has done for IGG to ensure that IGG is doing its best to comply with these in the many roles she has taken on at national level. Principles e.g. putting a notice in Trefoil News. World Conference 2014 Programme Review IGG’s delegates at the 35th World Conference being held in After consideration, the Executive Committee agreed that the Hong Kong in July 2014 will be Helen Concannon, Chief current age bands should be reviewed. Consideration was Commissioner and Lorna Finnegan, International given as to the best time to undertake this survey, the Commissioner. Amanda O’Sullivan, Assistant Chief answers to which should be available by January 2014 in Commissioner was elected as substitute should either Helen order for the Programme Review ad-hoc committee to finalise or Lorna be unable to attend. the programme for the different Branches. Claire Colfer, IGG Chairman of Constitutions and member of It was agreed that Senior Branch members and adult Leaders the WAGGGS Constitutions Committee, will also be attending should be surveyed and that an enclosure would be included the World Conference at which she will have the role of with the November/December edition of Trefoil News. An Procedural Coordinator. online survey via Survey Monkey will also be set up in conjunction with this. Targets 2014 The Executive Committee formally approved IGG’s Targets It was agreed that the survey would be completed before for 2014. Christmas and analysed in January 2014. The results will be brought to the January 2014 Executive Committee meeting Future meetings for consideration and approval. As requested by the Finance Committee, Executive reduced the number of meetings next year to save money. This means CIGA Committee for 2014 that the forthcoming dates for Executive are 11th January and The Executive Committee gave its approval to the following 5th April 2104 IGG members being on the CIGA Committee for 2014:- Marian Hanratty (Deputy Chairman); Lorna Finnegan, Council Meeting of IGG 2014 International Commissioner; Margaret Wynne and Ann The Council meeting will take place on 12th April 2014 in Walton with Nuala Cooke acting as Treasurer. Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, Dublin which is the same day as the Brownie Centenary celebrations in the Zoo. Special Needs Grant: Forthcoming Dates for Executive: This grant has been renamed Financial Assistance Grant for 11th January 2014 & 5th April 2014 Units.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 11

Programme Review

Development of New Programme

We have been extremely busy working behind the scenes to develop the new programme for the Irish Girl Guides that will bring each girl on a journey whether they be in Ladybirds, Brownies, Guides and/or Senior Branch.

Of course, it is a bit like climbing Everest for us and so we have decided to ‘check in’ in each issue of Trefoil News to keep you updated and to call for support as needed.

AT THE MOMENT WE REALLY NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN DRAW !

We have lots of ideas for images to liven up the design of the new programme. If you can draw or have graphic design ability, and are willing to come to our rescue, can you please email us at [email protected]

In the next issue we will have a more detailed update. Please do keep cheering us on, and join us in reaching the summit.

We hope that the new programme will open doors for all. Thank you, from all of us on the Programme Review Steering Group

MEMBERSHIP FEES

Happy New Year to all from the Finance Committee. Congratulations and thank you to each and every Leader, staff member and committee who (by valiant effort) have helped control our costs. As a result we are delighted to announce that there will be no increase in membership fees in 2015!

We do anticipate a further reduction in our Government grants but are confident that by:

• very careful managing of costs, for example we saved €1,128 by renegotiating our photocopier contract in National Office • taking full advantage of the limited funding still available and the continuing good will of all of us,

the programme we deliver to the girls will not be lessened in any way. We may have to cut back in some discretionary areas of our budget but we will not compromise on the quality of the service IGG gives or the support available to you, the Leader.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK EVERYONE!

Page 12 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Each month, we will be featuring a profile of a committee so that you, the Leader, will get to know who’s who on committees and maybe find a committee you may be interested in joining. It’s nice to put a face with the name and also to know who’s representing your Region on a national level.

The International committee try to promote all International aspects of Guiding to our members. Perhaps some of you took part in our International table quiz recently? We also run events like the Go Global day and the Timpeall an Domhain competition to help inspire your next adventures! For the adult Leaders we provide training to help them prepare to take groups abroad through our International Permit training. During the year we advertise international events from camps to seminars for young girls and adult Leaders to take part in and we work with the selected participants to make sure they are prepared to attend the event. We want each and every one of you to feel part of the 10 million members of WAGGGS worldwide whether through activities in your meetings or travels overseas.

Lorna Finnegan—International Commissioner Sandra Byrne - Eastern Region I’ve come a long way from a Brownie in St Peters Pack I have been involved in Guiding since I was a young and a Guide in Boyne Valley Guide Company to where Brownie in Clondalkin many years ago. I was a Guide I am today! In the past I have been a Guide & Senior and a Leader in Rathfarnham and moved to Branch Leader in three IGG regions. I was previously Greystones in 1986 where I have been a Leader Chairman of the Senior Branch Committee and had since. I enjoy the outdoors and have travelled to the pleasure of leading Senior Branch groups on Czech Republic, Austria and France with my Unit in Explorer Belt, Roverweek & Roverway events. recent years. I enjoy meeting people and have made many friends in Guiding over the years. I am also a member of the Working as a secondary school teacher I get to combine my National Memorial Cottage ad hoc committee and involved in love of travelling with plenty of time for travelling! For over 10 the renovation project currently being undertaken. years I’ve also worked part time as a Tour Guide leading groups of up to 50 people on trips across Europe. I love Marie Boner - WCM Representative helping people see the world in new and exciting ways and I Brownie Leader in Galway for 12 years. I had never hope to share that with all of you in the coming months and been involved in Guides before but joined as the Unit years. was going to close down but I am so glad I did and still enjoy being a Leader. Clare Sheridan - Assistant International All IGG Units in Barna, Galway work very closely Commissioner together. Brownie Leaders have both International I have been involved in Guiding since I joined Brownies at and camping qualifications. I travel abroad every two years the age of 8/9. I am now a Ranger Leader in Lucan and with the Sí Gaoith Guides and have so far visited Our Chalet, have previously been a Leader with Brownies and Guides Croatia and the Czech republic. Looking forward to our next too. I love the International aspect of Guiding and first trip hopefully in 2015. joined the committee as Senior Branch Rep in 2010.

Louise Hennessy — Treasurer Niamh Teeling—North Eastern Representative I've been a member of IGG for around 15 years. I'm I am a member of Senior Branch and have been in an assistant Leader for Rivervalley Ladybirds and Senior Guiding for over 10 years. Being on the International Branch out in Swords. committee is a great way of touching base with IGG I have been on many trips in Guiding including trips abroad amongst my busy life as a Trinity student. I have and international camps like CAMP 101 and trips to England represented IGG abroad on a number of occasions, and Germany. I am also in the final year of my Business and have gotten to know the do's and don'ts when course so hopefully that will help with my new role on the travelling. It's a fantastic experience to go on an committee! international camp, so feel free to contact me if you have any questions :) Shona Kirkpatrick—Secretary Theresa McCarthy - Committee Member My main role is to take the minutes at the committee I am delighted to be one of the International Team. I meetings! I have been involved in Guiding since I was have been a member of IGG since joining as a a Brownie aged 6. I was a Guide, a Ranger, a Young Guide. I am a Girl Guide Leader with St Peters Girl Leader and was captain of Sandford Guides for 15 Guides in Bandon. I am a Trainer and C.O. I work years. I have two small children aged 2 1/2 (Lia) and with the HSE and enjoy family time and amateur 1 (Rhys), so have taken a step back from the week to week dramatics. element of Guiding for a while but love that I can stay involved through the international committee. I plan on getting involved again once Lia starts Ladybirds!

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 13

Membership Committee

Translating for Parents

The last Census, published in 2008, recorded that there are over 420,000 non-Irish Nationals living in Ireland, or roughly 10% of our population. The boom years, 2001-2006, saw the biggest increase in migrants coming to Ireland, particularly from European countries.

The biggest populations living in Ireland are:

UK 112,000 Polish 63,000 Lithuanians 24,500 Latvians 13,000 Nigerians 16,300 Chinese12,000 American 12,000 German 10,000

Most Units across Ireland probably have girls that were not born in Ireland, or maybe not born to Irish parents. Although we take it for granted that the girls speak English, it’s worth bearing in mind that their parents may not. Children learn languages faster than There are plenty of websites adults, and may very well be the ones translating notes sent home each week about that help translate text for free: fees, trips away, enrolment ceremonies etc. www.babelfish.com If you can, try adding in translations for any girls or parents who may not have www.translate.google.com English as their first language, particularly if there are important details that need to www.collinsdictionary.com/translator be highlighted. www.freetranslation.com

Polish Example When using translation sites keep sentences/phrases short and simple for a more accurate translation.

Specific Phrases in Polish

Giving girls confidence dając dziewczyny zaufanie

Fun. Friendship. Learning. Outdoors. English: Zabawa. Przyjaźń. Nauka. na zewnątrz. The Irish Girl Guides is a uniquely girl-only, youth-driven, active and dynamic organisation. It offers a varied and exciting programme for girls and young The Irish Girl Guides has four different age women aged 5-26, and opportunities for Leaders of all ages. brackets: In an all-female organisation, the girls are free to progress and express Irlandzkie Girl Guides ma cztery różne themselves in a comfortable setting. They enjoy the activities as they can ‘just przedziałach wiekowych: be girls’ without any pressures and learn to be themselves in a safe environment while learning the skills that will one day help them to be are girls aged responsible citizens and adults. są dziewczynki w wieku Polish: Irlandzkie Girl Guides jest wyjątkowo tylko dziewczyna, młodzieży-driven, And from the age of 18 onwards, you can be a aktywna i dynamiczna organizacja. Oferuje on urozmaicone i ekscytujący Leader with the Irish Girl Guides. program dla dziewcząt i młodych kobiet w wieku od 5-26, i szans dla Liderów I od 18 lat wzwyż, możesz być liderem z irlan- dzkimi Girl Guides. w każdym wieku. W organizacji kobiet, dziewczyny mogą swobodnie rozwijać i wyrażać się w komfortowych warunkach. Cieszą działania, ponieważ mogą If you would be interested in joining our "być tylko dziewczyny" bez jakichkolwiek nacisków i uczyć się sami w Brownie group, contact bezpiecznym środowisku, w trakcie nauki umiejętności, które pewnego dnia Jeśli byłbyś zainteresowany dołączeniem do pomoga im być odpowiedzialnymi obywatelami i dorośli. naszego Brownie grupę, skontaktuj się z

Page 14 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Pinterest is an online tool for collecting and organising the things that inspire you. It's kind of like having a scrapbook in the sky or on your computer that you can put or "pin" things on. You can create your own pages and add ideas to them e.g. a games page, recipes, badges, songs, crafts, international ideas, camping gadgets, and on and on - the list is endless. Pinterest started three years ago and already there are reportedly 70 million users. Interestingly, 80% of its users are women.

Irish Girl Guides has created a Pinterest page where you can copy ideas from or pin things you find on other pages. To create your own account go to www.pinterest.com and follow the instructions.

Pinterest is free to use and we want to provide Leaders with a way of sharing ideas and resources and programme ideas. Try it out and let us know how you get on. Our page is pinterest.com/IrishGirlGuides

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with 225 million members in over 200 countries around the globe. It is a little like Facebook except that it’s for professionals and is at the border where the social world meets the business world. It helps to connect friends, partners, and people you know with business opportunities and marketing options. Some job applications now don't ask for CVs but instead ask for your LinkedIn profile so they can check out all your details there.

Volunteering with Irish Girl Guides gives you the opportunity to develop important skills which you can use in your personal and professional life. Working with a Unit is both a leadership role and a team position and enables you to improve group work skills. Planning meetings shows your management skills and running interesting educational weekly programmes is an example of your ability to set targets, plan events and meet deadlines. Running Day trips, Pack Holidays or Camps shows that you have budgeting, time-keeping and good organisational abilities.

It's important that you advertise that you have these skills through Guiding and showing that you volunteer indicates that you have a social conscience.

If you are on LinkedIn, please like the Irish Girl Guides page and mention IGG in your profile. And if you aren't on LinkedIn, have a look and see if its something you can use to promote yourself www.linkedin.com

QR Code which is short for Quick Response Code is a barcode which will directly link you to a website or data. You may have noticed them in the last Trefoil News or around on packaging and signs. If you have a phone with a camera, you can download an app called a QR scanner. When you use this app, you can put your camera over the barcode and it will bring you directly to a website or specific information. Look at Irish Girl Guides’ QR code on the back of the magazine and try it out. Once you start looking for them you will notice these barcodes in magazines, When you have downloaded papers and packaging. There is no cost to use the code and the idea is to speed up the QR scanner, why not try your access to information and to save you typing website addresses. it out on this mystery code...

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 15

Public relations How to get into the local papers!

How many positive and heart-warming stories do you see in national newspapers? Not many! The national media seem to thrive on depressing news items. Local papers, thankfully, are a totally different story. They’re usually delighted to receive positive stories and photos, which is good news for us! There’s no reason why IGG events and activities shouldn’t feature regularly in local media. But they won’t appear, of course, unless we tell them all the great things we’re up to!

Here are a few hints and tips on how to get into your local media:

Always incorporate PR into your planning! Lots of your events and activities will make good photo opportunities e.g. cake sales, international evenings, hikes, camps and taking part in local community events, like litter picks and St Patrick’s Day parades. Appoint a Leader to be photographer for the occasion. Photos taken on cameras are best but some photos taken on smartphones come out well too. You might like to invite the photographer on your local paper to the event – they’ll often be more than happy to come, depending on their schedule. But papers will often print good quality photos that are sent in afterwards too (send them in as soon as possible after the event).

Prepare a press release giving information about the event (making sure it answers the questions who, what, when, where and how) and ending with a two or three sentence quote. It is good if the release gets across the message that Guiding has an educational element to it, fostering teamwork, development of life-skills and responsible citizenship, as well as being a lot of fun! End the release by saying, “For further information see www.irishgirlguides.ie” This Year and give a contact telephone number (either National Office or name and number of a local Leader – with their permission, of course)! See page 54 of A-WEAR-ness Day the IGG Handbook for a sample press release. will be on Monday Email the press release to the editor or reporter of your local paper (s). 24th February Send it in the body of an email (rather than as an attachment) and attach (as midterm falls the week before) one or two good photos with captions. You should find the relevant email address (es) on the paper’s website. Give your email a catchy subject line Please wear your Uniform to school or to catch the journalist’s eye as they may receive hundreds of emails a day. work to raise awareness of the Irish Don’t send it to a general info@ email address. If you have trouble in finding Girl Guides. Even just your Neckers! out the correct email address, please contact Fiona Murdoch at National Office who has a full list of journalists’ contact details around the country. Remember to use all the PR tips on this page when sending photos of What happens if I just want to send a photo? It’s fine to send a A-wear-ness Day to your local papers. photo without a press release BUT do remember to accompany it with a caption giving the who, what, when and where information of the event. You can email it directly to the picture desk or to an editor/reporter or you might prefer to use the 2 mins 2 be in it form, which you can find in the Leader Resources section of the IGG website - http://www.irishgirlguides.ie/index.php/forms.

What makes a good photo? Photos which show a small, informal group of girls having fun, looking positive and involved in an activity are best. Good facial expressions are key! And remember that photos must only include girls and Leaders wearing new uniform and new logo. Always ensure parents have given permission for their girls’ photo and name to be sent to local papers by checking the Personal Registration Form.

What about radio? The rules for sending a press release to local radio are exactly the same as above (but you won’t be sending them any photos obviously). Only send a press release to local radio if you, or another Leader in your Unit, is happy to go on air! This shouldn’t be daunting … an interview on local radio is like having a conversation … in this case, about something you feel passionate about!

Don’t be afraid of your local media! They love to hear what is going on and it makes their job so much easier if we give them good stories and photos that they can use!

If you need any help/advice ask your regional PR rep or contact Fiona Murdoch, IGG Communications Officer at National Office - [email protected]. Tel: 085 8570565. Page 16 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Trip to Boland’s Meadow If your Brownies, Guides or Senior written by Claire Cooney – Guide Branch are thinking of writing an article to enter the PR competition to win Hello. My name is Claire Cooney and I am with the Blackthorn a Canon Camera—they have one week Girl Guides. I am writing about our brilliant trip to Boland’s left to email their entry to Meadow in Foynes. We also went with the Hawthorn Girl [email protected] Guides. We went on the 20th of October 2013.

We met up outside St. Nessans N.S. at five to twelve with all our Leaders Anne- Maria, Valerie, Sharon, Deirdre, Michelle and Hilda. At 12 o’clock we left and everybody waved goodbye. We would be back at around 7pm. From there on we went out on the bus. You would think that a 30 minute drive would have been boring but no. To hear that laughter, chattering and jokes was the best part of the deal.

When we arrived at around half 12 we went inside the kitchen, sat down and ate our lunches. After lunch all the patrols had Leaders so all the Leaders had to go up and see who was in their group. [ I was one of them and my group was the Oak group]. From there on we stayed in the kitchen to design pillow cases with Deirdre. It was great, with all those colours you’d think you were in a rainbow.

After art, we went to Sharon outside who was doing a bear hunt with us. We split into teams of 4 to hide laminated teddy bears. Then we had to hunt for them. We found 7 of them and the other team found 7 too. Only 1 off! We had to go and look for ours which we found easily enough and the other team had to look for theirs. Unfortunately one of their teddies went missing even though we searched. [Later we found out that he was found in a corner somewhere].

After that, we went on a small hike with Anne-Marie and Michelle. We walked through the forest and onto the pebbly beach. We were looking out onto the Shannon Estuary and it was beautiful. Anne-Marie then took photos of us with our backs to the estuary. Then we had the short walk back.

After that we went on obstacle courses with Hilda and Valerie. There were 4 obstacle courses and a zip line. We had a long walk down but it was worth it. I went on a swing thing with another girl and we couldn’t stop screaming. But then when we got off we were like 2 drunk people and I felt queasy. It was good fun. We each had a go on the zip line and once I went on backwards! It was really good. After the obstacle courses, we headed back up for our take-away. One of the Leaders had kindly gone out and bought us wedges and chicken nuggets from the nearest shop. Luckily I had recovered from my queasiness and tucked in straight away. There was loads left over so we weren’t going hungry. Then we had to clear up the halls, clean the toilets, clean the kitchen and porch. We finished that quickly as we knew after that we had some free time. We were given our free time and had to come back when the whistle blew. We all hurried down to the zip line and we each had goes. Some people lay down on the ground when the zip line came over them. [Not a good idea because your jumper gets dirty and you are in danger of getting hit].

I went up early and looked out to the river with another girl. It was beautiful because the sun was setting. We heard the whistle and went inside to pack up. When we had packed up we sang a few songs. Then Michelle took a few more photos of us and Sharon took photos of our beautiful pillow cases that had been kindly ironed by Michelle.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end so we had to go home. We got on the bus and said our last few goodbyes to Boland’s Meadow. We drove home with everyone tired but happy. The day had been great and the weather had been windy but the rain held off. We soon arrived back to St. Nessans N.S. We all departed from there and we all went home bursting with news about our fantastic day.

Here’s to Guiding. Long may it last.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 17

Memories, On the eve of the Brownie Centenary IGG Communications Officer Fiona Murdoch met with two Memories! of IGG’s oldest members to hear their memories of Brownies and all things Guiding …

Ever wondered what is the secret to a long and fulfilling life? Well, Guiding may well play a big part in maintaining physical and mental health, if Peggy Allbutt and Hazel Shiel are anything to go by.

Peggy turned 95 last September and Hazel is 93 this month [January]. Both are fit and well and looking forward to joining in the Brownies Brilliant Birthday bash at Dublin Zoo on 12th April.

Neither lady has ever looked back since joining Brownies at the age of seven or eight, Peggy joining Leeson Park in 1926 and Hazel becoming a member of Zion Brownies in 1928. IGG quickly took over their lives and neither has ever considered leaving what Hazel describes as the “fellowship” of Guiding.

Although they were in different Packs (only a couple of miles apart in South Dublin), their memories of Brownies are very similar. They remember the same opening and closing ceremonies at their weekly meetings and the sixes singing their songs. They enjoyed lots of activities, including singing and team games, but neither remembers doing any crafts or badges until they became Guides.

“I loved singing and games and dancing around while singing,” says Peggy. “And I loved team games, even just running up with a bean bag and back. Nobody did crafts In an interview at that time although we knitted, I think.” with Dilys Lindsay in 2007 (a copy of which is now held in National Office The Leaders seemed very old to them. “They were like our mothers, or older,” says archives) Peggy Allbutt said she had been Hazel, while Peggy remembers they seemed “old-fashioned” with each of them having asked at one point if she would allow her their hair tied up in a bun at the back (at that time IGG rules stated that hair had to be name go forward for Chief Commissioner. kept off the collar). She declined because she felt that whoever took on the job should have a “They must have been firm but they weren’t cross,” says Peggy. “They had a good way husband! “A lot would have been of managing us and we respected them, like you did your teachers in school.” expected of the Chief Commissioner, and she would have needed the support of a Peggy remembers one Brownie Leader lived on Pembroke Park (opposite where husband - meeting Government Ministers, Trefoil House is now located) and sometimes invited the girls to have a picnic in her making speeches etc. I would have hated that part of the job!” sitting room. “Now that was absolutely memorable because I suppose we had nice things to eat,” she says. She found parts of the World Conference in Finland “quite tedious and There was another Leader who lived in a big house on Clyde Road. “We went down boring” (having to listen to all the there one time and I remember she had white carpet on the sitting room floor and we translators etc.) but she thought the sat down and had a picnic!” entertainment was fantastic and a particular highlight was being asked to sit Hazel and Peggy both remember attending rallies with other Brownies, Guides and at Lady Baden Powell’s table for dinner Scouts in Lord Iveagh’s grounds (now Iveagh Gardens). “I remember in those days we (Peggy reckons she had a soft spot for had to wear a little straw hat as Brownies,” says Hazel, “And I remember sitting there Ireland). It was at that conference that she cross-legged and I bent my head back and the hat fell off!” had her first experience of skinny dipping - “all these elderly ladies stripping off Peggy, who remembers the hats being very uncomfortable and always rubbing the and running into the water”. Peggy back of the neck, has fond memories of the Iveagh rallies. “They were terrific couldn’t bring herself to join in! gatherings with a campfire, drill and everything,” she says. “We all marched around the sunken lawn; it was quite an impressive sight.”

There was no camping or weekends away for Brownies in those days but both ladies remember visits to Shaw’s Woods (now Bushy Park) in Terenure. The woods were part of the extensive grounds which belonged to Lady Shaw; two of her daughters were District Commissioners and were happy for local IGG members to use the woods for their activities, like treasure hunts and picnics.

It wasn’t until the girls progressed to Guides that they were allowed to undertake more adventurous activities there, including using sticks to make tracking signs and building campfires. “As Guides, we cooked meals on open fires but it wouldn’t have been anything very elaborate,” says Hazel. “We’d have cooked bananas and potatoes in the ashes – anything that would keep you going.

“Sausages on a stick were very high class!” Peggy adds.

Page 18 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Both thoroughly enjoyed Guides and the opportunities it offered, including travelling all over the country for captain ball matches and camps in Rush, North Dublin. However, Peggy did not give up on Brownies entirely as she was asked to be a ‘Pack Leader’. This meant helping out at Brownie meetings, being a “dogsbody”, as she describes it. She remembers having an extra stripe on her pocket, as a result. “I would just have handed around bean bags or done whatever needed doing,” she said. “I didn’t feel it was an honour but I felt it was a responsibility.”

This was to be the first rung on the ladder of leadership in IGG as Peggy went on to become a lieutenant in Leeson Park Guides, then Captain, before taking on the roles of District Commissioner and Divisional Commissioner. “I enjoyed being a Guide Leader,” she says. “I think I should have been a teacher, you see, to fulfil that sort of need. I enjoyed the children: I enjoyed watching when they came in as little mice and then seeing how they developed characters of their own.”

Hazel also took on leadership roles, first as a Leader in Zion Guides and then, after she married, helping out in Rathfarnham Brownies when her daughters enrolled there. When the Pack became so big it had to split, she took on the role of Brown Owl for one of the packs. A number of years later she was asked to return to Zion Rangers as a Leader, a role she took on gladly. “The Rangers were a marvellous lot and I still have them as friends,” she says.

Hazel went on to become a Divisional Commissioner and Head of Rangers. She also held the position of Honorary General Secretary for a number of years in the 1960s – a role which involved attending Executive Committee meetings and noting the minutes (although someone else wrote them up). She remembers frequent meetings with Eileen Beatty, Chief Commissioner at the time, “to discuss anything and everything”.

Hazel and Peggy both remember spending a lot of time at the IGG cottage in Enniskerry, especially when they were Rangers. “That was during the war when there was nothing else going on,” says Peggy. “We’d go up on our bicycles, even just for an afternoon or evening. Patsy Dormer would play a hockey match in the afternoon and cycle up to the cottage in the evening; she didn’t think anything of it!”

Peggy remembers vividly the night of the North Strand bombing (30th May 1941). A number of them were staying at the cottage at the time and they heard the sound of the bombing. One girl literally shook with fear in her bed.

Hazel and Peggy share memories of international camps in the Curragh and in Blarney. They both helped with the catering at the latter camp. “I remember counting out prunes and I never drank so many cups of coffee in my life!” says Peggy. They also remember attending camps in Denmark and Sweden and both attended the World Conference in Finland in 1969. All these adventures, both at home and overseas, would never have happened if they hadn’t enrolled in Brownies in the 1920s and both ladies are curious to know what Brownie meetings are like these days. Hazel says she is plucking up the courage to ask the current Brown Owl of Zion if she could visit a Brownie meeting.

Leeson Park no longer operates, so there isn’t the option for Peggy to pay a return visit Hazel Shiel told but she would be curious to visit another Brownie meeting somewhere, if asked, “to see if Dilys Lindsay that she “thoroughly the same standards operate” (both ladies suspect they might be “horrified” at what goes enjoyed” the job as Hon Gen Sec as she on at meetings these days)! worked closely with Miss Eileen Beatty, who she described as “an inspirational What has kept Peggy and Hazel involved in Guiding all these years? “There was a great lady”. fellowship in Guiding,” says Hazel. “We’re old now – I never expected to see this age – Hazel’s admiration of Miss Beatty was very apparent throughout the interview; but the feelings [of fellowship] are still the same.” she said how much she learnt from her

“I really believed in the aims – they were so far-seeing,” says Peggy. “I still believe in the about the running of Executive, and that she regarded herself as only a “very aims.” honorary and very general” secretary.

Both ladies say one of the best aspects of Guiding is the Patrol system, which they She remembers often saying to Miss Beatty that “so and so” would make a believe is great for team-building. “It’s marvellous because no matter what you are doing, “smashing” Commissioner, but Miss B’s if you get a team together, people do what they can in a team,” says Hazel. “I had terrific reply was “Oh, she’s too young”! In respect for my Patrol Leader when I started Guides – I thought she was the bees’ knees, those days “unless you were old, you the cat’s pyjamas, the lot!” weren’t promoted”!

“There was so much training in the Patrol system, with the older ones looking after the younger ones,” agrees Peggy.

It was an honour and a privilege to spend an afternoon in the company of two IGG members who have personally experienced almost a century of Brownies and Guiding. Just before she put the kettle on, I asked Hazel what was the secret to a long life. Her answer? “Hard work and clean living.”

Hazel and Peggy are, without doubt, a credit to IGG – a living example of the numerous benefits of living a long life of Guiding. Life is for living! Peggy is still driving at 95 and Hazel is not afraid to try anything new. She couldn’t decide initially what kind of biscuits to bake for our get-together before realising that the obvious choice was, of course, Brownies! She’d Trefoilnever made News Brownies January/February before but that wasn’t 2014 going to stop her … and very yummy Brownies they were too! Page 19

OUT AND ABOUT

Cionn tSaile Brownies’ recent trip to the Guide cottage in Carrigrohane, Cork. Stitch also made a special guest appearance!

Dunshaughlin Brownies to the Rescue

On the 7th of October we had a superhero night to raise money for Juvenile Arthritis in Ireland. The night was to make awareness that over 1000 children in Ireland live with this condition.

We picked Arthritis Ireland as one of the girls in the Dunshaughlin Irish Girl Guide Unit lives with Arthritis and we wanted to support something close to our Unit.

The Brownies dress up as superheros. We asked them to recycle clothes from home and we had some funny ones, Underpants girl and scarf girl but our winner was Olivia Ngo who came as a Juvenile Arthritis doctor.

In total we raised €210 along with the support from the Dunshaughlin Ladybirds and Guides. The girls were all given 9 new Brownies and 2 new Leaders enrolled in Griffeen Jasper pins for their uniform which is the logo for Juvenile Arthritis. Valley Lucan Brownies (Photo by Tricia Gough)

Christine Daly - Brown Owl Dunshaughlin Brownies.

Have you been Out and About? Tell us about it [email protected]

Page 20 Trefoil News January/February 2014

OUT AND ABOUT

Navan Girl Guides had camped with Ballybay at the training camp and at CAMP 101, so when they were asked who they would like to meet up with for the Guide Fun Day in October, there was no hesitation 'Ballybay!'

Our Leader Anne contacted Sheila and Olwyn to see what we could do together? It was decided to meet in Rossmore Park, Co. Monaghan. The group enjoyed some team building games, a hike with map reading skills and a cookout making pitta bread pizzas but when we began to practice semaphore, the heavens opened! Being roughy-toughy Girl Guides, we kept calm and carried on! It was certainly a day to remember, everyone had a great time and new friendships were made. The two Units would like to meet up again soon, and maybe even go camping again....

A party of 19 Leaders and Senior Branchers from the Mid-West braved the elements as we took part in a hill walk in Darragh Hills Co Limerick. It was a fun filled day and for some it was their first time taking to the hills. Even though the rain was quite heavy at times it certainly didn't dampen our spirits.

We have named our hillwalking group The Rollin Ramblers and are looking forward to taking to the hills again shortly. We hope by organising these walks to encourage Leaders to have the confidence to take their girls out on similar adventures. Tracey Keays

If you took part in an outdoor fun activity on 19th October but did not apply for LOUGHCREW AND your Guide Fun day badges. Please get in CEALLA UNITS touch with Guide October Guide Fun Day Branch c/o National Office.

WCM Patrol Leaders’ Weekend

West & Central Midlands held a Patrol Leader training overnight in Esker outside Athenry, Co. Galway at the end of October.

The girls did teambuilding and Have you been communication activities as Out and About? well as learning more about Tell us about it working with patrols. They [email protected] also did a hike and cookout and we finished up with a Guide's Own.

Caroline Flanagan (District Commissioner)

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 21

OUT AND ABOUT Ardilaun Guides and Brownies enjoy National Science Week

The Ardilaun Guidesand Ardilaun Brownie Units each had a spectacular evening of science experiments last week to celebrate National Science Week. Dr. John Wenger of U.C.C.'s Department of Chemistry held the Guides and the Brownies enthralled with his enthusiastic approach to demonstrating modern scientific experiments including "frying" an egg, exploding "missiles", shrinking balloons and the favourite of all - chocolate chip ice cream made using liquid nitrogen, which all the girls thoroughly enjoyed. John explained the many chemical reactions that were used in each of the experiments. He also told them of the importance of mathematics in science and encouraged them - especially the secondary school Guides - to continue studying their maths. The practical experiments demonstrated the exciting outcomes of chemical reactions as shown by John to the Guides and Brownies.

Triogue Ladybirds and Leaders, from Portlaoise, made up Christmas Glenmore Brownies, Caherdavin, Hampers for SVP which is making fabulous gingerbread part of their community houses and taking part in some badge cupcake decoration.

It was Navan Girl Guides’ 5th birthday in October and they had a special party where they learnt from an expert, Whitney Farrelly, how to do theatrical make up.

Have you been Out and About? Tell us about it [email protected]

Page 22 Trefoil News January/February 2014

OUT AND ABOUT

North East Region Patrol Leaders’ Weekend

Stitch visited the Siamsa Brownies in Bandon on their last week-end before summer holidays. First she spent the night on a sleep over with everyone, played games from the Sangam box, and had a bar-b-q of hot dogs and s'mores . Next morning everyone dressed up in a sari including Stitch and had a great time doing a fashion show for all the parents.

After a rest! Stitch went on a walk with the-Guides and Soroptimists through Castle Bernard . At the end of the walk Stitch and Brownies had a lovely tea. The next day we planted red/ yellow/blue annuals in the Brownie flower bed and to finish Stitch and Brownies enjoyed ice- cream in aid of the Down Syndrome Association.

Jane Fleming

Blackwood Ladybirds, Have you been Portmarnock Out and About? learnt how to Tell us about it [email protected] make bobbles before Winter — what lovely beautiful hats!

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 23

OUT AND ABOUT

Ardfert Brownies enjoyed an evening recently learning all about Nigeria from Nigerian nave Kemi, helping them towards earning their cultural diversity badge.

KirsƟe Nowak, Leader

Bóin Dé is Bray Ladybirds mascot. Ladybirds take her home every week and bring her back with picture of the things she did at home.

In November, Kayna Kennedy took Bóin Dé home and Bóin Dé helped run a stall to raise money for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines as Kayna’s mum Jessaree is from the Philippians .

Kayna's grandma Sheila Kennedy was the Ladybird Leader for years and years and a Brown Owl before that.

Catriona Kelly Celbridge Ladybirds earned their "I Try, I Care” Badge this month. Each Ladybird donated a book or toy to our local St Vincent de Paul Shop on Celbridge Main Street. We visited the SVP Shop and made our donation and also a small presentation to the Staff and volunteers in appreciation of their work within our Community.

Celbridge Ladybirds sang Ladybird songs and Christmas Carols all the way, much to the Have you been delight of passers by. Our Ladybirds really Out and About? entered into the spirit of giving and sharing Tell us about it within their community. We will also be planting [email protected] some bulbs at our local church hall, in the near Lucan Ladybirds with Stitch in November. The future. We are very proud of Celbridge girls had a fun Irish dancing lesson from one of Ladybirds for their generosity of spirit. the local teachers and enjoyed a treat of tasty lollipops after their meeting ended. Sincere thanks to all at the SVP Shop, Celbridge for welcoming us.

Page 24 Trefoil News January/February 2014

OUT AND ABOUT Riverside Ladybirds trip to Carlow

Today we got on the train in Kilkenny. Our Mammys and Daddys waved as us when we were leaving the station. It was some people’s first time on the train but it wasn’t scary. We could sit with our friends and we had a table. The train goes very fast. We could see fields and sheep and people and houses and cars out the window. We went through a tunnel underneath the motorway and it was dark. We got off the train in Carlow and we waited until the man waved the green flag to tell the train driver to go on. We walked from the station to the George Bernard Shaw theatre. It wasn’t a long walk and we passed some schools.

The play we saw was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. The cat in the hat told the story and she spoke in rhymes. There were boys and girls wearing colourful clothes and they sang lots of songs. Some of the girls had big Jedward hair with a bow at the top. There was a little girl called Cindy-Lou and she wanted everyone to be nice to the Grinch. The Grinch was silly and hated Christmas and nobody liked him. After the interval there was the Grinch and Martha and the Mayor when they were little in school. The little Grinch gave little Martha a heart and everyone laughed at him. The teacher was very cross and mean to the little Grinch. His heart shrank two sizes too small when the other children laughed at him.

The big Mayor asked the big Martha to marry him. Cindy-Lou was very brave to go visit the Grinch and ask him to come to the town. When he came to the town he was mean and everyone was angry at Cindy-Lou. Cindy-Lou was crying. The Grinch dressed up as Santa Claus and stole everyone’s presents so that there would be no Christmas. Cindy-Lou’s Daddy told the people that presents didn’t matter because Christmas was about being nice and being friends. The Grinch heard that and his heart grew three sizes bigger. He came back to the town and gave everyone back their presents. The Mayor wanted the Garda to arrest the Grinch but the Grinch said he was sorry so the Garda said it was ok and he didn’t have to go to jail. Martha told the Mayor she didn’t want to marry him because she wanted to marry the Grinch instead. The Grinch was happy because he learned to share and care like we do in Ladybirds.

When we came out of the Theatre the moon was out and it was dark. We walked back to the train station. We wore high-vis jackets so that the cars would see us. At the train station we sang songs and told jokes when we waited for the train. The Young Leaders told us if we pressed a green button in the station the Grinch would come out so we didn’t go near it! The Grinch wasn’t scary because it was only a man dressed up but our Leader told us he was real! On the train we could see lots of Christmas lights on people’s houses. We like travelling on the train!!! Have you been Out and About? Tell us about it [email protected] Written by: Riverside Ladybirds themselves — Molly , Annabelle Maria, Lucy , Isabelle, Ruby, Niamh, Emma, Aoibh, Lucy, Lily, Emily, Aoibin, Natasha, Ellie. The trip was made possible because the Unit won a trip on the train with Iarnrod Eireann’s “Journey’s on Us” competition.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 25

OUT AND ABOUT

The Merlin Woods Ladybirds, Brownies and Guides joined the Carnmore Brownies who were carol singing at Dunnes Stores Briarhill in Galway We raised €268.03 in total!

Arkle Brownies, Ashbourne

Ballina Guides

Ardagh Units — Ladybirds, Brownies and Guides Have you been Out and About? Tell us about it [email protected]

Brosna Brownies

Page 26 Trefoil News January/February 2014

LADYBIRDS

A Happy New Year to you all. We look forward to another Guiding Year full of fun!

This year we have some exciting activity packs for you. For Mother’s Day in March, we will help all Units hold a “Mother and Daughter Tea Party” themed meeting and in April/May we have “Ladybirds in Bloom” which hopefully will see 2,000 sunflowers smiling at the sun. See you at Branch Day in Newbridge. Ladybird Branch

February has three important dates, 8th February Branch Day in Newbridge, 14th February Valentine’s day and 22nd February World thinking Day.

World Thinking Day is approaching and now is the time to think about our friends throughout the world. The See the GAT Indigo and Violet programme spots introduce the Ladybirds to our International Friends and our Irish Guiding pack page 21 family. for more Girls worldwide say “education opens doors for all girls and boys” is World Thinking Day theme 2014. This information theme is based on United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal 2, to achieve universal primary education, and is especially focused on making sure girls have access to education. on MDG2

Educating girls is one of the most powerful and effective ways to reduce global poverty.

Activity: My School Ladybirds draw a picture of their school and include the places they like best e.g., Classroom, playground, computer room etc. How are far away schools different from your own? What are some of the things you have at your school that other children may not ? Ireland Africa Activity: Story Time

AIM: To show the girls how difficult it would be to have no electricity. TIME: 30 minutes WHAT YOU NEED: Nothing

WHAT TO DO: Memory Solomon is seven years old and she lives in a country called Malawi. Malawi is in Africa and is a very poor country. This is what her life is like;-

I like schoo l— Before school I do chores — I sweep and fetch water I cook lunch for myself and my sisters. We take potatoes to school for lunch. We don’t have electricity at school. My favourite lesson is English, sometimes we all have to tidy and sweep the school. When school is over, I go back home and I help my parents on the farm. Sometimes I do the washing; sometimes I help my grandmother with her goats. We rarely eat eggs or milk or meat because they are so expensive. Sometimes I help with the cooking. My favourite meal is nsima (maize porridge) and potatoes. When my chores are finished I get together with my friends, I have nice friends. When it gets dark I do my homework, we don’t have electricity. I want a job when I finish school. I’d like to be a driver or a nurse. I need a good job so I can help my family get enough food.

Discuss – Imagine what it would be like to be in school or at home if you didn’t have electricity. Do you think it would be more difficult to do your homework?

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 27

LADYBIRDS

World Thinking Day is a great opportunity for Leaders to encourage their Ladybirds to think about children around the world and to celebrate the birthday of our founder Lord Baden-Powell.

• Did you know that we have over 10 million Guiding Friends throughout the world? • There are four special homes in difference countries that you share with these friends. • These are called World Centres and members can visit them.

The Indigo and Violet programme spots introduce the Ladybirds to our International Friends and our Irish Guiding Family. Using the info sheet – Ladybirds can learn about our friends in the World Centre countries.

Country - India Name – Bulbul Uniform – Blue dress, red neckerchief Promise - I shall try to be a good girl Flag – Orange on top, white with wheel and green on bottom. International Night World Centre – Sangam You can have an International evening at any time of year – here are some ideas: Country – Switzerland Name – Beaver ♦ Invite somebody from another Uniform – Troop neckerchief country to visit your meeting and Promise - With your help, I will happily do my best learn something about their culture. Flag - White Cross on red background World Centre – Our Chalet ♦ Taste International Foods -Lamingtons from Australia -Baguettes from France Country – Mexico -Tortillas from Mexico Name – Girasoles (Sunflowers) -Soda Bread from Ireland Uniform – White shirt, pink tunic and bright pink neckerchief -Pizza from Italy Promise – I promise to share and be a friend Flag – L to R , Green, white with eagle and red ♦ Do the International Badge World Centre – Our Cabaňa

Country – United Kingdom Name – Rainbows Uniform – Pale blue shirt with red sleeves and red pants Promise – I promise that I will do my best to love my God and to be kind and helpful World Centre – Pax Lodge

World Centre Jigsaw Game

Get the A4 Templates for the Jigsaw by visiting Print templates onto card – you may need www.irishgirlguides.ie/images/LBWCHeartJigsaw.pdf 2/3 copies for the group.

Using above info, colour in the World Centre Hearts Or scan the code below. Cut out the pieces and scatter around the hall Leader call out the parts, i.e. Mexico Flag, UK Rainbows etc. and first group to finish their World Centre Jigsaw wins.

Alternatively: You can divide the Unit into four groups and they can colour and complete their jigsaw and then have a show and tell session with what they have learned.

Page 28 Trefoil News January/February 2014

LADYBIRDS

Valentine’s Crafts Rainbow Necklaces

Materials: Coloured cardboard, string, hole puncher (glitter, stickers, etc. could be used too) What to do: • Cut the cardboard into circles, all of different sizes. Start with red as the biggest circle, orange as the second biggest circle and so on until you get to purple which should be the smallest circle. • Put the circles on top of each other and with a hole-puncher punch a hole through the cardboard circles. • Thread a piece of string through the circles and tie it at the end. Make sure there’s lots of room to get it over the head.

You could modify this to have a more Girl Guide feel by using the Guiding colours. (Red for Ladybirds, yellow for Brownies, blue for Guides, green for Senior Branch and purple for Leaders).

Celery Painting Valentine’s Day Cards

Materials: Celery, paint, cardboard, colours What to do: • Cut the celery so that you are left with the head (top) of it. • Pour the paint into little pots • Dip the celery into the paint and press on the cardboard • The result will look like roses and girls can draw plant stems or a vase to tie it together • Let the paint dry and write the message on the inside • Tip: If you do this at the beginning of the meeting, there should be more than enough time for the paint to dry.

Hearty Caterpillar

Materials: Paper, glue, scissors What to do: • Cut out lots of little heart shapes • Colour, where appropriate • Glue pieces together • To make the body, stack the smallest hearts one on top of another and glue together. Position so the hearts are all upside down. • Glue the heart with the face onto the top of the body so it's right side up. • If doing on a card or background, add the two tiny hearts over the head and draw a line to make the antenna. If not doing on a background, just skip the antenna.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 29

LADYBIRDS

Lollipop Valentine Print out flower templates on coloured card. Cut flowers out and decorate. Print out leaf templates on white card, cut out and colour green Poke hole in centre of flower and feed lollipop through the hole. Attach leaf to lollipop stick by folding the tab around the stick and glue together. Sign your name on the leaf and give your flower to someone you love..

Page 30 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Brownies

Welcome to our Brownie Centenary year! The year of our Brownies’ Brilliant Birthday. We at Brownie Branch hope you have your application for the Zoo Day in. If not there are still lots of activities this year for your Brownie Pack to take part in. You will see the new Centenary Badge curriculum below. This is a fun and easy badge to do with the girls to celebrate the centenary and it has something for all Branches!

You may also have enlisted in the Brownie Challenge which was in last month’s Trefoil News and will also be posted on the website and continues until June. We hope you liked your Centenary pack and are able to use some of the ideas for your Unit. Start taking photographs of your Brownies doing any activities but especially centenary activities as we hope to have a competition later in the year.

We look forward to meeting many of you at Branch Day and wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. Happy Brilliant Birthday to you our Brownie Leaders! Till next time Brownie Branch Centenary Challenges for ALL Branches (Badges will be available in Distribution Centres by end of January @ €1 each)

LADYBIRDS • Invite older Brownies to overnight at a camp or to visit a Do two of the following Guide camp for a day (younger Brownies) • Invite some Brownies to your Ladybird meeting to tell you • Guides attend a Brownie meeting to help with craft/games what happens at Brownies and to teach you Brownie Bells party • Close one of your Ladybird meetings with ‘Brownie Bells’ • Attend a District event to celebrate Brownies’ 100th • Try the Ladybird Craft on this page birthday. • Colour a picture to encourage other girls to join Ladybirds • Make a poster to encourage Brownies to join Guides and • Display pictures from a Brownie Unit present it to your local unit/s • Do one of the Guiding Challenges from the Brownie BROWNIES Challenge (see November/December Trefoil News page 26) • Display pictures from a Senior Branch Unit Do three of the following

• Do one of the Guiding Challenges from the Brownie Challenge (see November/December Trefoil News page 26) SENIOR BRANCH • Draw a poster to encourage Ladybirds to join Brownies and Do three of the following present to your nearest Ladybird Unit to be displayed • Run a fun meeting for your local Brownie Unit helping them • Create an animal badge (as in Centenary pack) to be to celebrate their special birthday. brought to the Zoo or swapped with another Unit • Organise a 'challenge 100' for all of your District to complete • Go on Brownies’ Brilliant Birthday Zoo trip - on a District day or at their meetings. • Celebrate Brownies’ Brilliant Birthday with a party or special • Run a fun campfire and try and sing 100 songs - do some event research to help you ;) • Invite some Ladybirds/Guides to your meeting or visit theirs • Help out at the Brownie Birthday Day in the zoo. and teach them ‘Brownie Bells’ • Create a poster in any means to encourage people to join • Display pictures from a Guide Unit any Branch of Guiding (Ladybirds,Brownies,Guides,Senior • Make/Create a piece of decorated cloth, measuring 50cm x Branch or as Leaders) - give to the appropriate Unit nearby 50cm, per Unit, to be displayed at the Zoo day. The cloth or hang in a local community centre should show the hand or footprints of each Brownie, and • Do one of the Guiding Challenges from the Brownie their signature. It should also show the name of the Unit. Challenge (see November/December Trefoil News page 26) (These must be sent to Martina Fox c/o National Office by • Run one of your Senior Branch meetings as a Brownie 1st March to have them displayed at the Zoo.) meeting – singing Brownie Bells, have a pow-wow etc.

GUIDES And of course, we would love to receive all your stories and Do three of the following photos of you completing the challenges throughout the next • Invite Brownies to a Guide craft night. year. Please send them onto [email protected] • Have Brownies attend a campfire or email [email protected]

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 31

Brownies

What is World Thinking Day? This year the Millennium Development Goal is MDG 2: World Thinking Day is a day of friendship, advocacy and Achieve universal primary education. Girls worldwide say fundraising for 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around “education opens doors for all girls and boys” the world. On 22 February each year, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world celebrate World Thinking Day by: DID YOU KNOW? • About 120 million children between the ages of six and 11 GROWING are out of school. Nearly three-quarters of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and 56 per cent SHARE YOUR SECRETS are girls. Split into pairs. Tell your partner a ‘secret’. This could be • 150 million children drop out of primary school before they your favourite colour or food. Get into small groups. have completed five years of education—the minimum Tell the group your partner’s ‘secret’. Does anyone share the required for achieving basic literacy. same likes or dislikes? • Only 37 out of 155 developing countries have achieved universal primary school completion. Currently there are more than 100 million children of primary school age not in SPEAKING OUT school. • More than one in four adults worldwide cannot read or SHOUT, SPEAK OUT GAME write and two-thirds are women. Divide into two teams. Each team stands in a group and • A single year of primary school increases the wages faces the other. people earn later in life by 5-15 per cent for boys and even One member of each team runs around to stand behind the more for girls. opposing team. Each team decides upon a film title, TV programme or song and on the count of three, both EDUCATION BINGO! teams shout out their titles together. The team-mate standing away from the group must guess Requirements: Bingo Cards with six school words/pictures the title. on a different card for each Six, pieces of card/buttons/ counters – a bundle for each Six Discussion: How did you decide on the best way to communicate with your team-mate Leader has a list of words /pictures. The Leader calls these out one at a time and if a Six has the picture/word they Unlucky Sevens cover it with a button Form a circle. Count up to ten with each person saying a The first Six to have all their pictures/words covered gets to number in turn then return to the number one and do it go to school – what do the other Sixes think of this, what all over again. BUT, if you are supposed to say ‘Seven’ you does this mean for their future, is this fair, discuss with your must keep quiet. As the counting grows around the circle, group. gradually speed up. You’ll find it’s harder not to say ‘Seven’. Suggested words/ pictures : pens/pencils, Books, School How does it feel when you’re not allowed to say what you Bag, Uniform, Blackboard, Teacher, School, Desk, chair, want? Do you feel left out of the group? School Crossing sign, Eraser, pencil sharpener, chalk, whiteboard, computer etc. TAKING THE LEAD BROWNIE SCHOOL WORDS

Requirements: A sheet of paper and a pencil for each TIPPING CHAIR GAME Brownie (or pair of Brownies / or Six – depending on how Make a circle of chairs which are placed very closely you want to play game) together, one per player. Everyone stands behind a chair

and tilts it forwards with one hand. Then everyone must Ask the Brownies to write the letters B R O W N I E S down move onto the next chair, using the same hand. Work your the side of their page and then for each letter to write down way around until you are back to your starting position. or draw some pictures (depending on age) relating to

School /Education. Discussion: How did you prevent the chairs from falling Afterwards have a general discussion of the availability of over? Did anyone take the lead in this game? these items around the world.

Page 32 Trefoil News January/February 2014

Brownies

Valentine’s Day Crafts Heart in Hand Valentine Cards

These Heart in Hand Valentine cards are very easy to make ….

Supplies needed:

♦ Pieces of construction paper or gift wrap (at least 2 different colours) ♦ A pencil and a marker ♦ Scissors ♦ Glue

What to do: ♦ Trace your handprint on construction paper. ♦ Carefully cut it out ♦ Cut out some red, pink or purple hearts - If you like, use a heart tem- plate and print it out to help you draw hearts. Pick the right size that fits inside your handprint. ♦ Glue a heart onto your handprint cut-out. ♦ Write a message to your Valentine. ♦ You now have nice Valentine card for a friend.

Wear your heart on your sleeve

and on your shirt -- with this little badge….

Supplies Needed: ♦ Felt ♦ Scissors ♦ Googly eyes ♦ Glitter ♦ Glue

What to do: ♦ Cut felt into heart shapes (about 2 inches tall and 1 inch wide). ♦ Decorate with googly eyes, smaller felt hearts, glitter, or whatever else tickles your fancy. ♦ Snip a slit in the middle of the heart large enough to fit over a button, then slip it on.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 33

Brownies

QUICK AND EASY Valentine’s BUTTERFLY

Take a piece of card. Fold card over— draw two wings on the folded side. Cut around your drawing, open out, you will have a butterfly.

Fold in half again, make two little nicks into the folded side of the butterfly i.e. the middle/body. These slits will allow your to put a lollipop there.

Add some decorations to wings (cut out shapes of paper, stickers, glitter, valentines hearts, special message), insert lollipop and then add some googly eyes to the top of the lollipop

Add a piece of tape to the back to keep the lollipop securely in place

C I T N A M O R T F C R Q I Z Z J S

B C H O F B M D X N R U O K Y D M X

O E C R Q U R T N D E I P S P A Y J

N A D L I A O T C S J S E I E T G F

E V O L C J C H R C K X E N D E N O

R D H P R T O R X A K O O R D E I P

L I K E O C C E E G E F K I P F R V

I K T I O E W D C I E H H M L F M P

X B I L P H M M B F K L T O C A N U

K E A S A I W T R T I P W W V U S Z

B T K P S E Z G Q H J E A R J Y K M

E H P I T C V B V E R W O R R A P S

H Y C A N D Y A U S I E J V F Z Z J ARROW CANDY CHOCOLATE CARD CUPID DATE FLOWERS FRIEND GIFT HAPPY HEART KISS LIKE LOVE POEM PRESENT RED RING ROMANTIC ROSE

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GUIDES Dear Leaders,

We wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR. In this edition we have games etc. to help with the international and World Thinking Day theme. We look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at Branch Day on the 8th February.

Guide Branch Promise and Law Refresher

Act out a situation when you could keep In the following situations discuss: How are the Guide Laws being your Promise and Law in these places: broken? What might happen? How will the others feel? What part of the • at a camogie match Promise could have been kept? • during an exam • • in a restaurant Your friend leaves the TV on even when she is not watching it, she turns down the sound. • in school • At camp, a tent peg is pushed through the canvas. • at bedtime • A Guide you know makes fun of you because you • with a friend attend church. • when at your grandparents’ home • A Guide you know kicks cats because she doesn't like them. Match the cards in column A with the • At school, a Guide who has not done her homework opposite in column B and decide to asks you for a copy of yours. which Guide Law they refer. (These • Your Leader asks you to call your Patrol to remind cards list words which are either them to bring their membership fee to the next good or bad qualities.) Have the girls meeting. You decide you are too busy and hope make up some of their own. they will remember.

A B POLITE TRUTHFUL SNOBBISH COURAGEOUS CONSIDERATE ENERGETIC EXTRAVAGANT RUDE LYING FRIENDLY COWARDLY THOUGHTLESS LAZY THRIFTY

PURPOSEFUL DEPRESSED CHEERFUL GOOD TEMPERED MERCIFUL AIMLESS ILL NATURED UNFORGIVING

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 35

GUIDES

GRAB THE FLAG Our apologies to Jessie Sheehan from Galtee Unit Equipment: for accidentally leaving her name off the Flag (tie, piece of material, t-shirt, etc.) Gold Awards list in Cards with trivia questions on them (and answers) the last issue.

How to play: Congratulations Divide the Unit into two groups. Give each person in the group a number. The group lines and well done to up facing each other about 10m apart. Give each group a home base behind their line. Jessie Sheehan. They can use a line on the floor or place an object to mark the "safe line". Place flag on a spot between the two groups. Call out the number of one of the pairs of girls. The girl from each line whose number has been called will run to the middle of the room and try to grab the flag, then run with the flag back to their home base. When one girl gets the flag, the other girl can try and tag her before she gets "home".

Whichever girl has managed to get back to home base with the flag gets to answer a trivia question. She can ask for help from the other girls in her group. If the answer is correct the group gets a point. If the answer is wrong the other group gets to answer the question and get a point.

This trivia game can be easy or hard depending on the group and the questions being asked. Some sample questions for World Thinking Day included below (but please make up your own. This game can be used to teach any topic or just for fun)

⇒ What does WAGGGS stand for? ⇒ When is World Thinking Day? ⇒ What is the Guide Promise? ⇒ Which Guide Law is the longest? ⇒ Who is the Regional Commissioner? ⇒ How many World Centres are there? ⇒ What were Brownies originally called? ⇒ Where is the National Office of IGG? ⇒ How many countries are members of WAGGGS?

TO CELEBRATE THINKING DAY AND LORD AND LADY BADEN POWELL’S BIRTHDAY—WHY NOT EARN THE LORD AND LADY BADEN POWELL BADGES. ….

LORD BADEN POWELL BADGE 1. Create an A3 poster showing facts & information on the life of Lord Baden-Powell. (this should be dis played at a District or Area event) where possible. 2. Cook a 2 course (1 must be hot) meal outdoors for your Patrol. 3. Gain 3 of the following badges: Hiker, Rambler, Bird Watcher, Countryside, Map-reader.

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GUIDES World Centres Participation Story

When the girls hear these special words in the story, they need to do the accompanying action.

Sangam: bring hands together Pax: make peace symbol Our Cabana: Ole! Our Chalet: yodel World: make a big circle with your arms Sisters: hug your neighbour (or yourself)

One day, Sarah came home from Guides very, very excited, "Mom, I have SISTERS!" she yelled. Well this was news to mom! "Sarah," said mom, "you have a brother, a gerbil and two cats, but no SISTERS." But mom was wrong. Sarah had SISTERS all over the world, and she had learned about them at her Guide meeting! There are four WORLD Centres that are very spe- cial because they offer fun and friendship to Guiding visitors from all over the WORLD.

"I have a sister in India," explained Sarah. "She helps out in the flower garden at SANGAM. Sometimes my SISTER in Guid- ing shows her guests songs, dances and crafts that are special to India. SANGAM means coming together in Sanskrit." Mom was very impressed with Sarah's knowledge of the country in the eastern part of the WORLD.

"Another SISTER lives in Mexico and sent us a postcard from OUR CABANA. It had a picture of a big building with a huge trefoil on the gate, She told us all about the craft house and the swimming pool and the garden with the toadstool shaped lights!" Sarah thought OUR CABANA sounded wonderful! She especially liked that they provided games, treats and fiesta with a real piñata for visitors and children from the area.

In another part of the world is PAX LODGE in England. Pax is another word for peace. All of my SISTERS in Guiding can stay at PAX LODGE if they ever visit England!

Sarah continues, "I have another SISTER that takes visitors skiing when they visit OUR CHALET in Switzerland. OUR CHA- LET visitors present songs and stories about their own countries so their Guiding SISTERS can learn about all of the coun- tries around the WORLD.

"Each WORLD Centre has its own song and is special in its own way. But each WORLD Centre is the same too. It's for every- one in Guiding and offers fun and friendship from all around the WORLD!"

Sarah's mom smiled. She was glad that Sarah had found her SISTERS in Guiding; she didn't have extra bedrooms if they were her SISTERS at home! (From http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/games/guiding_games/guiding_games.htm)

LADY BADEN POWELL BADGE

To gain this badge you must fulfil all three requirements: 1. Learn about Lady Baden Powell What was her maiden name? Where did she meet Lord Baden Powell? What age were Lady Baden Powell & Lord Baden Powell when they met? What year did they marry? How many children had she / name them? Why do we celebrate Thinking Day? Where did they live? When did Lady Baden Powell become the World Chief Guide? What is the title of Lady Baden Powell’s book? What year did Lady Ba- den Powell die? Where is Lady Baden Powell buried? 2. Go on a 5 mile hike & have a mini cookout. 3. Carry out a good deed as agreed with your Leader

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 37 GUIDES COMMUNICATOR

Aim: To understand the different forms of communication.

1. Think of two things you enjoy at Guides. Describe them using two different methods of communication, e.g. a foreign language, Morse code, cartoon, signing, mime, Braille, email, text messaging. 2. Show how messages are communicated differently by two different types of media, e.g. TV, radio, magazines. You could do this by devising an advert for one product using two different media. 3. Do both a and b. a. Collect as many company or organisation logos as possible and use them to run a game for your Patrol. Are organisations recognisable just by their logo? Do the logos portray the meaning of the organisations? b. Design a logo for your Unit or District. 4. For a week, keep a diary of how many times you use electronic communication and personal communication. Explain which you use more, and why. Do you think this is good or bad? List three advantages of each type.

Safety Tip: Stay safe when using the Internet and communicating with strangers. Always tell an adult what you are doing, and never give out your address, mobile or phone number. Never agree to meet anyone on your own. REFER TO I.G.G.’S INTERNET GUIDELINES FOR GIRLS — found on www.irishgirlguides.ie

Get the message

Equipment: Signal flag and secret message of 30 letters for each Patrol, semaphore chart, paper and pencil for each Guide Procedure: Each Patrol has one signaller and one dictator. These two players are sent 100 yards or more away from the rest of the Patrol and given a secret message to send with the signal flag. The rest of the Patrol members are the receivers. When the message is sent, each receiver writes the message on her paper. There must be no communication between receivers in the Patrol. The signaller may not repeat the message, but she may send it slowly enough to be understood by all her Patrol members. The Patrol .Leader collects the slips for the judge. Scoring: All correct letters recorded by the receivers are added together, then divided by the number of receivers to get the Patrol average. The Patrol with the highest average wins. Variation: This same game could be played at night using flashlights and Morse code, or during the daytime using mirrors. (http://www.scouting.org) Gagged Preparation: A piece of paper for everyone. Some with X’s others just blank. You may want to plant a provoker or two i.e. ask some of the girls who are able to speak to say some things they know their peers who can’t speak will not agree with. To Do: • At start of meeting or time frame give everyone a piece of paper. • Anyone who has an X is now gagged and can not talk until further notice. • Carry on with weekly meeting etc. or have debate and topics etc. • Before end of meeting un-gag everyone and have a discussion. Discussion points: • How did those who could not speak feel during the meeting? • If someone said something they did or didn’t agree with how did they react? • Did those who could speak use this to their advantage? • Can you think of global groups or in the local society who do not have a voice or can not be heard? How does it affect them? Who speaks on their behalf? (Following this you may like to look at the voting badge)

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GUIDES Stop! You can’t say that!

Copy and cut out the game cards, you may need to add some more. This game is played against the clock in two teams. One person is given a game card and she needs to get her Patrol to guess the forbidden word, without using any of the forbidden words on the card. The opposing team can see the card to make sure the girl does not use a forbidden word. Each person has thirty seconds to describe the word, if the guesses it correctly they earn a point or if the other team catch them using a forbidden word they get a point.

PEN TABLE MOBILE PHONE You may not say You may not say You may not say Write Chair Smart Pencil Leg Telephone Ink Food Text Tablecloth Talk Bill TELEVISION LANGUAGE HOLIDAY You may not say You may not say You may not say Programme Speak Vacation Show Words Break Signal Communicate Flight Satellite Country Sun Cable RESTAURANT KITCHEN ROLLER COASTER You may not say You may not say You may not say Chef Cook Ride Cook Eat Fast Eat Food Scream Food Fridge Waiter Oven

PEDESTRIAN CAR LAUGH You may not say You may not say You may not say Walk Drive Ha-ha Foot/feet Motor Joke Pavement Licence Funny Road Number Plate ICE SKATING PHOTO FRAME AEROPLANE You may not say You may not say You may not say Ice Photo Fly Skate Frame Wing Boots Picture Plane Camera CAMP TEAPOT WORLD CENTRE You may not say You may not say You may not say Tent Tea Four Campfire Pot World Mud Cup Centre Camp WAGGGS Summer WORLD THINKING DAY INTERNET AEROBICS You may not say You may not say You may not say Think Computer Gym Birthday Cyberspace Trainers Baden Powell Twitter/Facebook exercise 22nd February Web Online Surfing Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 39

SENIOR BRANCH

Hi everyone,

This year seems to be flying by. It was great to see so many of you at the Senior Branch weekend. Great fun was had by all. Thanks a million to Emer for organizing it and Adrienne for feeding everyone so well.

I can’t believe it’s January already. Lightweight will be coming up on the May bank holiday weekend and you should all be starng to think about the Chief Commissioner’s Award and what your training plan will be. For those of you turning 18 between January 1st and the end of the year, please keep an eye out for your invite that will arrive shortly inving you to your SB party in the zoo on Feb 20th.

Don’t forget to make sure you’re signed up to the Facebook page and also our email address. SB Commiee :-)

The Girl Effect

HERE ARE THREE SOLID REASONS WHY WE WANT YOU TO INVEST YOUR TIME, ENERGY AND CAPITAL IN AN ADOLESCENT GIRL:

1. GIRLS ARE AGENTS OF CHANGE They play a crucial role in solving the most persistent development problems facing the world today. By investing in their economic potential through education and by delaying child marriage and teen pregnancy, issues such as HIV and AIDS can be resolved and the cycle of poverty can be broken.

2. PEOPLE ASSUME GIRLS ARE BEING REACHED They're not. The reality is that children's programmes focus on 0-5 year-olds, youth programmes tend to focus on males and older groups, and women's programmes don't typically capture adolescent girls. Programmes that do reach girls rarely address the ones most at risk. To break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, programmes must be designed for, and measure the impact on, girls.

3. THE COST OF EXCLUDING GIRLS I S HIGH In India, adolescent pregnancy results in nearly $10billion in lost potential income. In Uganda, 85 per cent of girls leave school early, resulting in $10billion in lost potential earnings. By delaying child marriage and early birth for one million girls, Bangladesh could potentially add $69billion to the national income over these girls' lifetimes.

THE QUESTION ISN'T: 'WHY GIRLS?' THE QUESTION IS: 'WHY WAIT?'

The Girl Declaration is a call to action for the post-2015 development agenda. Girls were left out of the original Millennium Development Goals. The Girl Declaration has been written to make sure that doesn't happen again. Bringing together the thinking of 508 girls living in poverty across the globe with the expertise of more than 25 of the world's leading development organisations, the Girl Declaration is our tool to stop poverty before it starts.

Oprah was once asked why it was imperative that adolescent girls be given the opportunity to be educated. Her answer was, “When you educate a girl, you change the trajectory of her life. And not just her life – You start to affect her family, her community, & her nation. When you educate a girl, that girl becomes a woman who understands the value of an education and educates her children.”

So how can you be a good example for the girls you’re educating? What are you choosing to teach them at your meetings every week? Choose wisely!!! What are you choosing to teach the world every day? Choose wisely!!! (taken from www.girleffect.org)

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8th February 20th February 12th April May

Branch Day SB 18th Birthday Bash Brownie Birthday in Zoo Lightweight Weekend

BE A GOOD ROLE MODEL

Positive role models;

• Model positive choice-making: Little eyes are watching and little ears are listening. When it comes to being a role model, you must be aware that the choices you make don’t only impact you but also the girls who regard you as their superhero. Someday, they will be in the same predicament and think to themselves, “What did she do when she was in the same situation?” When you are a role model it’s not enough to tell the girls about the best choices to make. You must put them into action yourself.

• Think out loud: When you have a tough choice to make, allow the girls to see how you work through the problem, weigh the pros and cons, and come to a decision. The process of making a good decision is a skill.

• Say sorry and admit mistakes: Nobody’s perfect. When you make a bad choice, let those who are watching and learning from you know that you made a mistake and how you plan to correct it. This will help them to understand that (a) everyone makes mistakes; (b) it’s not the end of the world; (c) you can make it right; and (d) you should take responsibility for it as soon as possible.

• Follow through: We all want girls to stick with their commitments and follow through with their promises. However, we can all get busy, distracted, and sometimes, a bit lazy. To be a good role model, we must demonstrate self discipline. That means; (a) be on time; (b) finish what you started; (c) don’t quit; (d) keep your word; and (e) don’t back off when things get challenging.

• Show respect: You may be driven, successful, and smart but whether you choose to show respect or not speaks volumes about the type of attitude it takes to make it in life. We always tell the girls to “treat others the way we want to be treated” but do we actually follow through? In this case, it’s often the little things you do that make the biggest difference in how girls perceive how to succeed.

• Be well rounded: Great role models aren’t just “parents” or “teachers.” They’re people who show curiosities and have varied interests. They’re great learners and challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zones. When girls see that their role models can be many things, they will learn that they don’t need to pigeon-hole themselves in order to be successful.

• Demonstrate confidence in who you are: Whatever you choose to do with your life, be proud of the person you’ve become and continue to become. We must continue to strive while being happy with how far we’ve come at the same time.

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 41

International

INTERNATIONAL QUIZ

On Saturday 23rd of November twelve teams of Guides descended on the capital to battle it out for the honour of being named International Guide Quiz champions.

Each team had already won its way through their Area round to reach this stage. At each level the girls had to display an understanding of IGG, WAGGGS and the four focus countries New Zealand, Spain, Thailand and Zambia.

The scores were tight in each round with the lead changing hands on a number of occasions throughout the quiz. Once all the Leaders had returned the much anticipated results were announced.

In joint 3rd place were Millmount Guides and St Rynaghs Guides. In joint 2nd place, with only 1 point extra, were Birr Guides and Galway Bay Guides while in first place we had St Peters Guides Bandon.

Well done to all the teams who took part and a big thank you to their Leaders for giving up their time to make the day possible. A final word of thanks to the International committee for their help in planning and running the event. We look forward to having even more teams take part in two years time.

International — Travellers Tales

The Academy 2013 A midterm trip to Belgium – Yes please!! And that’s what happened last October when I, along with Jemma and Adele headed to The Academy 2013 in a town called Malle, just outside Antwerp in Belgium. The Academy is a WAGGGS and WOSM event held for members who have a position at national level in their own association.

There were approximately 200 people at the event during the week and so it was a great opportunity to talk to people who do a similar job to you in their association. The days were very busy with an early morning start, a plenary session and 2 workshop sessions during the day. These were followed by evening activities like eating chocolate fondue, playing Belgian games, dancing and playing a massive chasing – style – game, in the dark, in a forest!! A sure way to see the competitive sides of Guides and Scouts!

The event was great fun and also a good chance to get new ideas from sessions on topics like intercultural learning, youth participation and advocacy. Having been to many international camps abroad but never to a seminar/conference event, the academy was a really enjoyable experience and one I would definitely do again! Clare Sheridan

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International — Travellers Tales

WAGGGS European Conference A youth delegate’s perspective by Sinéad Crilly

In August 2013 the Europe Regions of WAGGGS and WOSM held their individual European conferences and a joint conference in Berlin, Germany. It was a busy week which focused on the future of Guiding and Scouting in Europe and allowed time for different organisations to exchange best practice with each other. I gained a huge amount from the conferences and would like to share some of the week’s events with you all.

CIGA sent seven representatives. I attended as a substitute observer for the Irish Girl Guides along with delegates Assistant Chief Commissioner Amanda O’Sullivan and incoming International Commissioner Lorna Finnegan. The contingent was completed by four members of Catholic Guides of Ireland, led by Yvonne Browne, International Commissioner of CGI. The other Irish representatives were from Scouting Ireland.

The conference was a whirlwind experience. Lorna, Amanda and I flew to Berlin on Thursday August 15th and spent some time settling in to the venue and its surroundings. We met up with the rest of our contingent in the evening and began our networking immediately! Amanda had been nominated for the European committee elections so we were on the campaign trail. The work began on Friday 16th with sessions for new delegates and time to get to know each other.

That evening we headed into the city centre on our ‘walking trains’ for the opening ceremony. We passed the Brandenburg gate on the way. The ceremony was held on the lawns of the Reichstag where so much of recent German history had taken place. The sun was beaming down on us and we took some great photos! The event was called ‘Guiding and Scouting build Europe’. We were put to work during the ceremony at different stations discussing the movement’s future and networking. To see hundreds of Guides and Scouts organising themselves into impromptu groups was quite impressive.

The joint conference opened on Saturday morning with some explanation of the programme and guest speakers. I was amused to see that the only German Scout I knew was one of the two youth members chosen to address the opening session. The host team was determined that this would be an environmentally friendly conference. There was an app-based competition where countries could log how they had saved on carbon emissions etc. We travelled to all events on foot and by public transport and could complete tasks to offset air travel. Documents were available in the cloud instead of on paper.

WAGGGS and WOSM reported on the work of the past triennium and on the evaluation of joint work in the region. Then it was time for the candidates for election to be presented to all of the participants. Each nominee had to make a short speech. It was time for Amanda to make her pitch. She gave a brilliant speech managing to fit in props such as her enrolment pins and a rubber duck. The strategic partnership between WAGGGS and WOSM was discussed and then it was time for us to split into the two conferences.

I was taken aback by how beautifully decorated the room for the WAGGGS conference was. Pink tulle and green leaves adorned the roof, making it feel much more homely than most function rooms! The conference opened with reports on the past three years and programme discussion. Then the hustings began. This gave participants a chance to speak to the candidates for election. It was intense to say the least with many contingents eager to get as much time questioning each person as possible. We had our International evening afterwards. This was a huge affair with tables groaning under traditional food and drink. As ever, we Irish did not disappoint and our stand was very popular. Red lemonade went down particularly well!

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 43

International — Travellers Tales

On the Sunday morning we were treated to three keynote speakers. Sarah Anderson from the No more page 3 campaign spoke impressively on ‘the reality for girls and young women today’. She mentioned how important the support of Girl Guiding was for promoting positive self-esteem. Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs from the Dove Self-esteem project echoed the same message in her speech about body image. The third speaker was Rijal, a youth advocate from Girl Guiding UK who gave us an insight into her personal journey from a shy teenager to a confident 22 year old who was now addressing a major conference on the results of a girls’ attitude survey.

Next we heard about Vision 2020, WAGGGS plan for the next seven years. Nicola Grinstead, Deputy Chair of the World Board & Deb Cross, Chief Operations Officer of WAGGGS gave us the background to the document and recognised the huge contribution made by WAGGGS Europe on a global level. All of the women then took part in a Q&A panel.

Afterwards we voted in the elections and later heard the results. Unfortunately Amanda was not successful despite all her efforts. We congratulated the new committee. That night was the Europe market where each country sells items from their organisation or country to raise money which can then be donated to a cause of their choice. We had to use a special currency called ESGCs which we bought. It felt like having monopoly money so I spent it all quite quickly. My Guides were glad of some new souvenirs when I returned though!

Monday was spent in small group workshops and sessions. I attended two sessions based on membership. One gave a great insight into how WAGGGS operates and helped me to realise the difference one extra Brownie in a Unit in Ireland can make to our global movement. The other session gave interesting ideas on recruitment and retention. I felt that my time at committee level in IGG and attending events in Europe had given me information to contribute and experiences to share. So I enjoyed getting involved in the sessions. We had that evening free. Our CIGA contingent decided to explore Berlin a little and enjoy a meal together.

The last day of the conference was upon us before we had barely time to realise it. We voted on the motions in the morning. Each motion and amendment to the motion had to be discussed which led to heated debate! Afterwards the WAGGGS European conference was closed with an emotional goodbye to the outgoing chair, Lara. After lunch the joint conference reopened and the future of the partnership was discussed. We had to discuss topics in small groups but it was clear by now that many people were exhausted by the work done over the past few days. Then we had to vote on the joint motions and that conference drew to a close. There were lots of speeches given to thank the hosts and outgoing committees and all too soon it was over.

The closing ceremony was held in a city centre venue. It took us a while to find but it was definitely worth it! The event had a circus theme with jugglers, magicians and other performers about. Sand had been lain outside so we could have a beach barbeque. There was an interesting closing ceremony with lots of photos from the event on display. Then a band and DJ entertained us all.

On Wednesday 21st, we departed Berlin. It had been a very busy week but a huge amount had been learned that will benefit all participants and their organisations in the future to help build Guiding and Scouting in Europe. I’d really like to express my thanks to IGG, CIGA and WAGGGS for the chance to attend — it was an amazing and interesting experience.

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International — Travellers Tales

each Patrol got to spend two days during the camp in World Scout Moot either Montreal, Quebec or Toronto. For each city there were 4 ‘paths’ of activities the patrols could chose from – Life, Eco- On August 5th, 18 Scouts and 2 – seriously outnumbered – Responsible, Culture, and Adventure – which would dictate Guides set off for two weeks of adventure in Canada for the what activities they would do in their chosen city. World Scout Moot 2013! My Patrol had picked the Culture path in Quebec, which After about 16 hours of travelling we finally arrived in Ottawa turned out to be a whopping EIGHT HOUR bus journey from and to our accommodation, a city jail which had been the campsite. We travelled there in yellow school buses – like converted into a hostel! Definitely a unique (if somewhat the ones in ‘The Simpsons’, which while an effective way to creepy!) way to kick-start our stay! It turned out that a lot of transport everyone from A to B, were pretty uncomfortable! other Scouts were also staying there ahead of the camp, so We travelled to Quebec during the day, leaving early in the we had the opportunity to make some new friends right from morning, but we travelled back to the campsite overnight, the moment we arrived. The atmosphere in Ottawa was which wasn’t quite as fun and definitely didn’t make for a good fantastic with Scouts (and Guides!) everywhere and everyone nights sleep! It was one of those times that really test your excited about heading to camp. ability to sleep anywhere and maintain your sanity.

During our stay in Ottawa we crammed in as many activities In Quebec we took part in a service project, which for us was as possible. A visit to the Civilization Museum was at the top helping to clear away all the rubbish that had been left along of everyone’s list, as was a viewing of the changing of the the path in a local park. We also got to talk to someone about guard ceremony at the Parliament building. A light show, the First Nations people of Canada, while visiting the Huron- giving a history of Canada, which was screened directly onto Wendat First Nations community at Wendake, which was the front of the Parliament building every evening was also really interesting. something really unique to see. We even got to pay a visit to the Irish Ambassador to Canada’s house where we were In the middle of the camp we also had a culture day, when treated like royalty and had some delicious food! During our each country was given the opportunity to set up a stand to last night in Ottawa, the Mexican contingent held a party for share the best of their culture and customs. This included everyone who was attending the Moot, which was a great way everything from traditional clothes to samples of traditional to wrap up our 3 days of sightseeing. food for everyone to try. It was a great day to learn some more about the countries represented at the camp and every The next morning it was time for the opening ceremony, held country made a big effort with their stand. at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Then we had the opportunity to meet with our Patrol for the first time before heading to the After 10 days the camp finally came to an end and we were campsite. For the Moot, every participant was placed into a on our way back to the airport to begin our journey home, Patrol of 8 people from different countries. In this Patrol we hardly able to believe those two weeks had gone by so would choose and take part in all our activities as well as cook quickly! One of the best things about the World Scout Moot together and of course camp together. We had all been in was undoubtedly the people – I was able to meet some old touch in the months before the Moot on Facebook and in my friends again, some I hadn’t seen in years, and make Patrol there was someone from Taiwan, Switzerland, Iceland, countless new friends too. We’re all looking forward to seeing Denmark, the UK, Mexico, and the Netherlands. Before the each other again at the World Scout Moot 2017 in Iceland! :-) event my Patrol had decided we would design and make our own Patrol neckerchiefs. As we were all coming from different www.facebook.com/15thWorldScoutMootIceland countries with different uniforms, it was nice to have Jessica Byrne something to link us all together, and it definitely made it easier to find the others of our Patrol in a crowd!

The campsite was about a 2 hour drive outside Ottawa, in the middle of nowhere with not a hint of a phone signal to be found! But with a beautiful lake, fantastic weather, and of course the great company, it was a pretty perfect location – who cares about the phone signal!

Each Patrol had pre-booked activities for the camp before arriving to Canada and my Patrol had chosen to do white- water rafting, archery, and hiking, among some other activities. There were a lot of activities to choose from and each group could only pick a certain amount. Additionally,

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 45

International—Spotlight on World Centres

Have you had your first World Centre experience yet?

Have you felt that magical sensation of being part of something inspiring, supportive and powerful, an international experience that enables you to grow and lead, to discover your potential and change the world?

The World Centres are located across the globe, from riverside to mountain top. Wherever they are, the World Centre experience remains the same. That’s what keeps Girl Guides and Girl Scouts coming back time after time, that unique combination of self-development, learning and adventure, of leaving with more than you arrived with, including friendships from around the world, knowledge to make a difference and the skills to lead the way.

You will have access to workshops and training on global topics such as leadership, advocacy and community action or you can simply come as an independent guest. You will witness the amazing sights, sounds and people where each World Centre is based. You can visit for the day or stay for a week, or even volunteer for a month!

However you choose to visit your World Centres, your experience won’t finish at the end of your stay. You will return home with the confidence and skills to create change back home.

To be part of a World Centre experience is to be part of the history of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting and is something every Girl Guide and Girl Scout should feel. And once you’ve been to one, you’ll want to see them all!

Catherine O’Connor’s World Centre Experience

For over the last year I have had the wonderful opportunity to work and live in Sangam World Centre in Pune in India & I even got to spend a month working in Pax Lodge in London too!!! I’m the Guest Services Coordinator here in Sangam, I get to communicate with all the future guests coming to Sangam, that’s a whole lot of emails - we are talking thousands!!!

It has been a brilliant, awesome rollercoaster of a year. However it is tough being away from your family and friends for such long periods of time! I have had the opportunity to meet, work and live with people from all over the world such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, India, Kenya, Korea, Japan, Rwanda, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mexico, US, UK and so many more countries !

I have learned so much about Indian Culture, traditions, food and how to communicate with very little English. I have made friends with Sangam cat’s Sonu and Laxmi the elephant. I have learned to drive a rickshaw, danced the night away at many a Wii party, tried laughter Yoga and Bollywood dancing. I have had the chance to celebrate Christmas Day with hundreds of children with one of Sangam Community Partners. I have spoken with and seen so many inspiring Community Leaders in action within their communities.

I have smiled so much, had many adventures, faced many challenges and discovered my potential. I’ve been working hard to welcome guests through Sangam’s open door and give them an awesome experience and at the same time doing all the normal day to day stuff like my washing, having a sleep in and a little cooking!

So I would recommend to anyone that they start (or continue) their World Centre journey today and the good news is - it’s really easy !!! To book into any World Centre you just have to: • Check out the World Centres online - Website, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. • Check the Events, Volunteer and Intern Programmes pages. (Do you know you can also visit all the World Centres as an Independent Guest if you happen to be passing by?) • Drop them an email and you will have started the ball rolling on your World Centre adventure .

Can’t visit them? Then why not check out the various World Centre websites for resources and activities ideas, celebrate their birthdays as part of your weekly meetings or why not email them to see if they could Skype with your Unit meeting or District, Area or Regional event?

Page 46 Trefoil News January/February 2014

International—Spotlight on World Centres

with all the volunteers, zip-lining through Hyde Park, Pax Lodge dressing up as Santa and continuing to work like that for the entire day, seeing the beautiful windows of Harrods, trying lots Ever since I made my first trip to a of different foods from different countries, watching the World Centre when I was 10 I fireworks explode over the London Eye, singing Auld Lang knew I wanted to be a part of what Syne with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from all over the world they called the “World Centre and spending Christmas Day In London! family”. We would always see the volunteers joking around, having I was also lucky enough to be in Pax Lodge for World fun, telling jokes and generally Thinking Day, joined by Áine Foley on work experience truly always smiling! What I saw was a one of the best ways to spend it! Westminster Abbey holds a group of “Sisters” from all over the world joining together to special service for Scouts and Guides and I even got to catch give back to an organisation that has given me (along with a a glimpse of the special memorial stone with medallion heads lot of other people) countless opportunities to gain skills and in bronze which had the World Flag and the Scouting Flag better myself as a person. When I decided I was taking a gap flying beside it. All these memories are ones I could never year I knew I just HAD to apply to be a RV (Resident forget and I’m sure all my Guiding friends back home are sick Volunteer) at Pax Lodge! of hearing them!

So off I went on a sunny September morning to live without I met so many wonderful and interesting people from many my family for 6 months in the middle of London. To say I had different cultures and backgrounds during my time at Pax and butterflies was an understatement; I was so nervous & excited now have new friends from around the world that I truly at the same time! This was going to be a time for me to gain cherish. MY OWN WORLD CENTRE FAMILY! I also learned independence & life experience while hopefully making a some invaluable lessons about compromise, open- difference..and I was ready to go all out to have the time of mindedness and understanding. Living and working in the my life. And boy did I jump in the deep end! On my very first same building with people you see every day can be intense day I was a part of a flash mob outside our tube station to but is also great if you ever needed a chat, someone to watch help stop the violence against girls and women! hilarious videos of singing goats or that at a moment’s notice you can have a movie night with close friends.. Plus, I gained Pax Lodge is open every day with guests staying for skills in customer service, cleaning and cooking that I know programmes, seminars, weekends, fun days or just B&B! A will last me a lifetime. I used to be quite nervous around new working day could include anything from cleaning the kitchen, people thinking they would never want to listen to me. Now I dining room, and guest rooms to office work to giving tours of am more confident, I can voice my thoughts and opinions and Pax Lodge or even being in charge of preparing dinner and can now even run multiple different programmes and dessert for 20 people! My favourite bit of a working day was seminars without feeling nervous! I have Pax Lodge and the evening programme where we got to know our guests a little amazing team I worked with to thank for that :) bit better. The group’s age ranged from 5 – 70+years old but we still had a lot of fun My experience at Pax Lodge was amazing and honestly If I singing, playing games tried to tell you all my memories in this little article I could be and doing crafts with writing for weeks! A couple of my favourites do include me each and everyone of getting locked into a walk-in fridge, teaching people about my them. My personal country, meeting favourite was when we guests and getting had a four World to know all about Centres night! them and most importantly in my I was lucky enough to eyes - feeling like I spend some of my was making a time at Pax Lodge difference. I’d during the winter Recommend season (we had snow!) and some EVERYONE who of the activities we got up to can apply to be an included visiting Winter RV – Do it! Wonderland in Hyde Park, ice- Whether it is in Pax Lodge or one of the other World Centres - skating, learning about St Lucia it was a life changing experience and can give you YOUR day (and eating yummy Swedish OWN international World Centre family! buns!), Christmas tree decorating Lucy O’Donovan

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 47

Friends of the Four World Centres

The Irish Section of the Friends of the Four World Centres is affiliated to the UK ‘Friends’ Group and an AGM is held in Pax Lodge in November. A Gathering takes place every year and is usually held at one of the Girlguiding UK Training Centres but occasionally other venues are chosen. ‘Friends’ Group visits to the World Centres are also arranged from time to time.

Join the ‘Friends of the Four World Centres’ and your subscription will help to promote and encourage awareness of the World Centres as well as helping with their preservation, repair and maintenance. Look up the website www.worldcentrefriends.co.uk for more information.

The subscription is €15.00 for individuals and €20.00 for Units per year and this entitles you to a membership card and two newsletters. Badges are only available to ‘Friends’ with current membership. Leaders of Units may purchase badges for each member of the Unit.

Friends of Our Chalet

Our Chalet was opened in July 1932 and celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2012. It is located on a picturesque mountainside in Switzerland about 30 minutes walk from the village of Adelboden. There is a varied programme that includes special events for ‘Friends’. Check out the website www.ourchalet.ch for more details plus links to the other World Centres.

You can help with the development and the day-to-day running expenses of Our Chalet by becoming a ‘Friend’. The subscription is To join – please complete the appropriate €20.00 per year for individuals and Units and this entitles you to an form below and send it to: annual newsletter that is sent out around Thinking Day each year. Friends of Our Chalet / Four World Centres Irish Girl Guides Trefoil House, I/We wish to become a Friend of the 27 Pembroke Park Four World Centres – Irish Girl Guides Dublin 4

Name______

Address ______I/We wish to become a Friend of Our Chalet ______

______Name______

Address______Membership fee for individual €15.00 €______Membership fee for Unit €20.00 €______

I/We wish to order the following badges: Membership fee for individual/Unit €20.00 €______

Metal badge – number ______@ €5.00 €______Please send a stamped self-addressed envelope if a receipt Cloth badge – number ______@ €1.80 €______is required.

Total €______Cheques should be made payable to:

Irish Girl Guides – Friends of Our Chalet. Please send a stamped self-addressed envelope if a receipt or badges are required. Signature ______

Cheques should be made payable to: Date ______Irish Girl Guides – Friends of the Four World Centres.

Signature ______

Date ______

Page 48 Trefoil News January/February 2014

International—Spotlight on World Centres

I was lucky enough to be in India during two of their big My Time as a Tare! festivals, the Ganesh festival, during which the people invite In August I left Ireland the God Ganesh to stay in their house for a week (and they all on a cold, wet, get statues of him in the house) and at the end of the week morning and set off they submerge him in the rivers all over India – it’s incredible to on my next big see these statues with elephant heads, ranging from the size of adventure – to go to a large candle to the size of a small truck, being ducked in the India and be a Tare river. It was definitely a sight worth seeing. I was also there with the Sangam during what was described to me by a local as “Hindu volunteer programme! Christmas” which is Diwali – it was incredible. Many of the I don’t know what I residents at Sangam went travelling for the week because expected of the Sangam was closed, but I decided to stay back and I’m glad I programme, but I can did because I got to see Pune lit up and watch the fireworks go honestly say that it has been an eye-opening and life-changing off (every night for 10 days) and watch the children letting off experience. There is nothing like being submerged in a culture bangers and generally just see what an incredible community that is vastly different from your own for twelve weeks. I was has developed around Sangam and how even though the lucky enough to have a travelling companion, Nicola Mangan people here don’t have very much – they are definitely happy from CGI who was one of the other 5 Tare who I would be and grateful to have what they have. living and working with for twelve weeks. I was here for two other events as well, both When we arrived we took part in an event as our training. This of which were particular to Sangam; I was event is called Reach for the Stars and is open to everybody – here for Sangam’s 47th birthday which was not just the incoming Tare. The event included learning about amazing, we had a massive party and there Indian life and culture through trips into Pune, having dinner was a huge amount of people here – there with an Indian family and learning how to tie a sari! We also got was badminton, cricket, lots of food, pin the to visit all the sites that we would be working on as Tare and tail on the elephant and the highlight of the get a taste for what we would be doing for the rest of our time whole day: an elephant IN THE GARDEN! here. As part of this we got to run the first of the Community For three days we had a 70 year old Partner Fun Days that I was a part of – there were only seven elephant named Laxmi (Lak-sh-me) staying of us to run a day of activities for a group of fifty children, which in the camp ground of Sangam, right outside was an interesting experience, but thoroughly rewarding at the my bedroom window. We all got the chance same time: the kids had a blast. When the event ended so did to meet her, give her treats, ride her and our training and then it was in at the deep end as we went out even give her a bath! I think Laxmi was possibly one of the on our individual sites. I worked with Tara Mobile Creche. best highlights of my time here. The other event that I was here My days were always different and interesting, I would either for, which wasn’t really an event, was the 10 year evaluation of be with the older children (7-15 years) the younger kids (3-6) or the Community Programme. the babies (6mths – 3 years) and with 60 children every day, The objectives of the Community Programme, specifically for there was always something new and exciting happening. My Tare, are fairly simple: to gain valuable experience and life work consisted of doing activities with them around the themes skills such as leadership; to learn about WAGGGS, its Member they were studying; winter clothes, the solar system, Organisations, themes, projects, Regions and World Centres, vegetables etc. They really enjoyed flash cards and small to share in the international friendships that Guiding and crafts and were always willing to do whatever it was that I Scouting offers; to support WAGGGS by raising Sangam’s brought with me to site. There is nothing quite like walking on profile in the local community; to build the capacity of to site in the morning and being greeted by shouting of “Didi, Sangam’s Community Partners,; to experience the unique Didi, Didi!” (Didi means big sister) which always helps put a culture of India through its traditions, history and people; to smile on your face no matter how tired you are that morning. I gain an international experience and be prepared to represent did various things like making 3D stars, drawing, colouring, Sangam’s Community Programme and WAGGGS and be more basic English lessons and playing games with them in English involved in your own Member Organization. I think I can safely to help develop their knowledge say that for me all these objectives were met and I had an of the language. The language incredible time here. was a bit of an issue because I don’t speak Hindi or Marathi and It still amazes me that in the last year I have lived and worked the children and teachers only in two of WAGGGS world centres and I would just like to take know very basic English. My this opportunity to say a big thank you to IGG, Our Chalet, and work here was incredibly Sangam for giving me the chance to be a part of something rewarding and my last day on extraordinary. A big thank you as well to my friends and family site was more difficult than I who are so patient and understanding when I disappear for thought it would be (not least of months at a time! That’s two World Centres down and two to all because I was wearing one of the saris I’d bought) but it go! Where to next….. was really nice having that day with the kids but not really Nicole Coyne having to do lessons with them and just have fun. Galway West SB Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 49

Friends of Sangam Ireland

IGG has always had a strong connection with Sangam World Centre with many members visiting Sangam, volunteering there and working there. Sangam is a beautiful place with wonderful people. It has a special spirit and has a unique Guiding feel about it. Friends of Sangam (FOS) Ireland is a group within IGG who support Sangam in India. There are FOS groups in many countries who are members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

FOS Ireland has gathered 3 boxes of resources for Units who wish to have an India night or for groups wishing to raise funds for Sangam. These can travel anywhere in the country! To book them or to make any enquiries, please contact [email protected] or write to Friends of Sangam Ireland c/o National Office.

Each year, FOS Ireland organises India nights, meals in Indian restaurants, programme activities for Units and other fundraising events. All proceeds go direct to Sangam to help them run programmes for Girl Guides from around the world.

If you are interested in going to Sangam as a participant or as a volunteer check out www.sangamworldcentre.org for more details or join Sangam on Facebook. They have volunteer programmes from 4 weeks upwards and events are usually 10 days. Also this year, IGG will be running a special Service Project to Sangam in the Summer, so please apply for it.

If you want to talk to someone who has already been, just get in touch with Friends of Sangam. This photo shows Minakshi, Sangam’s Community Relations Manager and Community Volunteer Programme Coordinator. Aptly, she wears a Sangam t-shirt saying “Discover Your Potential” on a beach in Galway during her recent visit to Ireland!

Each year, IGG Leaders, Senior Branch and Units are invited to become members of FOS Ireland. Membership for 2014 will be €15 for an individual or Unit and this is payable by cheque to Friends of Sangam c/o National Office. Membership includes 1 metal pin badge and email updates of news from Sangam. Extra badges can be ordered at a cost of €5 each.

I/We wish to become a Friend of Sangam Ireland

Name______

Please tick your preferred method of communication and provide the appropriate address:

Email ______

Post ______

______

Membership fee for individual €15.00 € ______

Membership fee for Unit €15.00 € ______

I/We wish to order the following extra badges:

Metal badge – number ______@ €5.00 € ______

Total € ______

Please send a stamped self-addressed envelope if a receipt or badges are required. Cheques should be made payable to: Friends of Sangam Ireland.

Signature ______Date ______

Page 50 Trefoil News January/February 2014

International Opportunities IGG SERVICE PROJECT TO SANGAM

We are looking for a Contingent leader for the 2015 CIGA Service Project.

Are you interested in helping to plan, and lead, a group to take part in the CIGA service project in the summer of 2015 to one of the World Centres?

Key Skills Required: • Must hold Outdoor Warrant (CGI) or either Indoor Licence or CO Licence (IGG) • Must have attended International Permit Training Day (IGG) • Previous International Guiding experience necessary • Must be available to commit to a 15 month project from April 2014 through to Summer 2015

For an application form or further details please contact your International Commissioner:

CGI – Yvonne Browne [email protected] IGG – Lorna Finnegan [email protected]

ST DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FEBRUARY 21 2014.

Postbox penpal Secretary

We are used to receiving a deluge of daily emails, most we scan and hit delete. Think back to a time when communication came by post! A letter written, an envelope neatly addressed, the anticipation of waiting for a reply… The excitement of a foreign stamp when the reply finally arrived!

Do you have the time to help bring this joy to today’s generation of girls?

Girls and units all over the world request Irish penpals and we need a volunteer to become our new Post Box Secretary. Do you know someone who would be willing to help out?

Please contact [email protected] for further details

Trefoil News January/February 2014 Page 51

International Opportunities Explore 2014 Akela 2014 –

When: 30 July to 6 August 2014. st Where: Castle Saunderson Scout 1 International Centre, Belturbet, Co. Cavan. Who: Guides and members of Cub and Brownie Senior Branch including their Leader Gathering Leaders. Brownies and their

Leaders are invited to attend on 2 August and stay When: 2nd – 6th August 2014 overnight. Where: Westernohe, Germany What’s it about: This is an international camp organised by Who: Brownie Leaders with all levels of experience, GirlGuiding Ulster. Brownie Trainers. Young Leaders aged 16-18 are welcome How much: • to attend if travelling with a group of adult Leaders. Guides & Senior Branch £195, What’s it about: This is the first ever international camp for • Leaders £95 Brownie and Cub Leaders. This camp is a fantastic • Brownies: £35 (if camping overnight) £20 (if attending opportunity to make friends, gain new contacts and develop for the day only) fresh ideas for your weekly meetings as well as to present • Brownie Leaders: £20 (if camping overnight) £15 (if your activities with this age section in Germany. attending for the day only) How much: €180, plus travel costs - IGG will fund one Highlights: International day, Bushcraft, Backwoods skills, trainer and one Brownie Leader under 30 to go to this event Pioneering, Orienteering and bivy out, Climbing wall & crate and pay only a participation fee of €65. If interested in challenge, Geo-caching, Archery, Craft activities, Xplore receiving this funding please contact Factor, Disco and lots more! [email protected] , a selection will be held. For more info: http://xplore14.org.uk/ However, this event is open to ALL other Brownie Leaders Please note: Although this camp is being held within the who wish to travel at their own expense. Republic of Ireland, this is a GirlGuiding Ulster event; For more info: http://www.akela2014.de/index.php? participants will be attending as “international guests” and id=240&L=1 or see their Facebook page https:// will be expected to be positive representatives of IGG. www.facebook.com/Akela2014. How to apply: Please express your interest to Jemma in National Office before March 1st so that a group can be arranged to travel together. Email [email protected]

Red Rose 2014 Chamboree 2014

When: 26th July – 2nd August 2014 When: 1 to 9 August 2014 Where: Westmorland County Showground, Cumbria, UK Where: Cheshire Showground, UK Who: Guides and Senior Branch aged 12-18. Who: Guides aged 12 to 15 years. What’s it about: Red Rose 2014 is an international Scout What’s it about: An international experience for Guides and and Guide camp organised by West Lancs Scouts. Our Scouts for the first time organised and promoted between programme of activities is designed to make the most of the Cheshire Scouts, Girlguiding Cheshire Border and Cheshire site’s location as the gateway to the Lake District. Water Forest Counties. Activities will include adventurous activities, activities will take place on Windermere, Britain’s largest lake games and teamwork, design and creativity, off-site visits, where participants will have the opportunity to try out sailing, global art and music, entertainment and much more. kayaking, bell boating and more. The Adventure day will How much: Guides £139, Leaders £80. Early bird discounts make the most of the activities on offer in the Lake District apply until March 1st. including hill walking, mountain biking and geocaching. You’ll For more info: http://www.chamboree.org.uk/ have an opportunity to see the beauty, wonder and history of How to apply: This event is open to individuals and groups, the National Park during the Explore day when coaches will however please let IGG know that you are attending by take groups on a day trip around the Lake District. emailing [email protected] How much: Participants £150, Leaders £75 For more info: http://www.redrose.org.uk/ How to apply: This event is open to individuals and groups, however please let IGG know that you are attending by emailing [email protected]

Page 52 Trefoil News January/February 2014

IRISH GIRL GUIDES Bantreoraithe na hÉireann

itiuinCnr 16050 5503 01-660 Distribution Centre 01-668 9035 [email protected] dist Web in Distribution Centree-mail site http://www.irishgirlguides.ie e-mail Trefoil News e-mail Reception Fax Number 01– 3898 01-668 National Office Irish GirlGuides 660 National OfficeContacts 2779 National Office,27PembrokePark,Dublin4,Ireland as responsiblecitizensoftheworld. is toenablegirlsandyoungwomen The missionoftheIrishGirlGuides to developtheirfullestpotential Mission Statement [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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