We welcome the 3rd & 8th
Catford Brownie Units who are excited to share with us how the
assembly funds enabled their Pack to share an exciting, educational
and fun trip to London and a sleepover on HMS Belfast and what they
learned from the trip.
Find out more about joining
your local Rainbows, Brownies or Girl Guides here www.girlguiding.org.uk
Minutes:
Feedback from The 3rd and 8th Brownies on their Assembly funded project
Janette Cunliffe
Janette introduced herself and
her colleague and was delighted to tell us we were joined by a
brownie.
We have come to say thank you we couldn’t have done it
without you. The money you gave us meant that the costs were not
prohibitive for all brownies. It enabled everyone to be included
who wanted to go.
We went for our sleepover at HMS Belfast on the Bank Holiday weekend. We got the bus all the way up to London Bridge which was quite a novel experience for many of the girls, and was really quite exciting. We dropped our bags off at HMS Belfast and we walked over Tower Bridge to tower hill, the children were wondering what happens if the bridge goes up, but we told them they wouldn’t fall in as it hardly ever goes up, then suddenly the bridge went up and the kids loved it! It was very exciting. We went to Victoria and went to Girl Guiding headquarters and had lunch. One of the highlights for the children was when we went to the royal mews and had a look at everything. We saw the Queens big golden coach, the brownies were absolutely fascinated. We went to Green Park and let off some steam in the play area, then we all went back to HMS Belfast for our sleep over.
Before the trip we had a call from a concerned parent that her daughter was feeling very nervous and didn’t want to stay over. we gave the Brownie the chance to come for the day and said a if you are worried your parents can collect you and take you home at the end of the day… but we said if you change your mind you are welcome to stay. We were delighted that an hour in she had changed her mind and asked to stay - so a very nervous 7 year old, who was really worried, was able to gain new confidence and independence
When we were back on the ship we had pizzas on the ship and we made 7 foot flags and decorated a mug and had hot chocolate in them and had our sleep over and they actually slept as we had worn them out!
Next morning breakfast on the ship then a learning session in the classroom on the ship dressed us up as sailors and they told us all about what it’s like to be a sailor and they told us all about it. We were given a special tour in all the parts of the ship the public don’t normally get to see – we even sat in the driver’s seat…
It was amazing and so interesting 24 girls out of 30 went on the trip and we couldn’t have done it without out you and your help. We were very exhausted at the end of it but it was amazing.
I received an email from a parent (paraphrased) - my daughter enjoyed the sleep over at HMS Belfast she came back really excited I think it is particularly good, as well as being adventurous it was educational as well as encouraging independence in the children they got the opportunity to explore and learn about British history I was really happy with the way the trip was organised…
A Brownie in attendance said the following:
The 3rd and 8th Catford brownies had a great time on their trip to HMS Belfast the food was delicious and I enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you for helping the Brownies to go. It was so much fun and I think you should all have a sleep over there too.
Cllr Amrani - Thank you so much for the feedback. So glad you enjoyed it so much. This experience shows why the assembly funding can be so important with that we give you details of this year’s funding