Volunteering – CraftyGuider

Goodbye 2017

Well, that was 2017. Apart from this post, it’s been completely blog free and I’m OK with that. Instead of worrying about keeping up with other people and joining in with every craft-along or instagram photo-a-day, I’ve done my own thing.

I managed to read 20 books and exceeded my target of 18. Admittedly it was mostly chick lit and Harry Potter short stories, but I made time for reading and enjoyed it, which is what reading is supposed to be.

I have been crafting. I’ve caught up on some craft projects that were years old, and some craft kits that were only hours old. I still need to get lots of things completed (or started having bought all the stuff in preparation!), and I’ll try and make time for those in 2018. I also need to make huge inroads into my scrapbooking, and my Trefoil Guild Bronze award must be finished soon. Just one clause to go.

One thing that has held back my creativity is the amount of stuff I have. The clutter means that I don’t have room to create to use up the stuff that is taking up all the room! I have made an effort to declutter and I’ll carry on. I just need to figure out what I can do with everything I’m getting rid of. I’m not going to attempt to Kon Mari my life. My aim for 2018 is to gain sole control of the office as my craft room, and to be able to contain all the craft materials spread all over the house in there.

My volunteering has expanded this year. As well as my Guide unit and WI committee responsibilities, I’ve also opened a Brownie Pack. Towards the end of the year, I was just snowed under with paperwork, running workshops, organising meetings and everything else life threw at me. I need to get that under control and stop over-committing.

Further changes in 2018 need to be to waste less and accumulate less. Can I lose weight and get healthy too?

Wishing everyone a fabulous 2018!

Science with Sherbert

How to mix science with lollipops to appeal to Guides! This came from a leader training I attended several years ago.

To prepare, you need to boil a red cabbage in water and leave it to stand for 30 minutes. Then drain the liquid into a container to use as indicator solution i.e. something that will distinguish between acids and alkalines.

equipment: 3 clean glasses/jars, teaspoons, small plastic bags (one per person), indicator solution (cabbage water), 3 containers

ingredients: icing sugar, bicarbonate of soda, citric acid (available from your chemist), lollipops

The experiment relies on the fact that citric acid is an acid and turns the indicator solution red, the bicarb is alkaline and turns it blue and the icing sugar is neutral and leaves it unchanged. You don’t need much powder and indicator solution to do this experiment, and please make sure the Guides don’t drink the cabbage water – I suppose it’s edible but it would taste foul!

I found that the older Guides had some concept of this type of experiment from school, however the younger ones hadn’t covered it yet. It might require a bit of leader/young leader supervision.

The printable sheet to hand to the Guides is on the link below.

Sherbert

I have also done this experiment with my Brownie and Rainbow daughters. They didn’t quite grasp the concept of acids and alkalines, but did enjoy the way the different substances changed the colour of the solution and asked questions along the way such as what would happen if all three substances were added at the same time.

Race For life 2015

For my last day of #VolunteersWeek, I stepped outside Guiding and WI to participate in Cancer Research UK’s Race For Life in Welwyn. Like most people, cancer has affected friends and family in my life, so it’s a charity I am happy to support.I am not a runner. I own one pair of trainers but hate running. I feel self conscious whenever I go running so normally end up cross country which is hard on my poor aching body, especially my dodgy back. I was planning to do the Couch to 5K programme, but just couldn’t get the weather and my health to align. I did make sure I upped my activity rate and did extra walking though, and gave myself an extra incentive by including it as an activity for the ‘Myself’ clause of my Trefoil Guild Voyage award (Duke of Edinburgh style award for Trefoil Guild members).Look at all these inspiring women! A true pink army, raising funds for a great cause.

I tweeted as I power walked round and plugged myself into the music selection. Unfortunately, most of the music was Christmas music so it was a strange experience listening to I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day on a really warm and sunny day! I did get a retweet from Santa though!Because I was having a great time going round, the finish came sooner than I thought and I earned my medal.I wasn’t as keen on the freebie milk drink and brioche though, but as they had to close the road, I was stuck for an hour after I finished before I could head home for lunch.And this is why we did it. On the way out, people were pinning their “I race for life for…” messages on this banner. Going round, it was poignant seeing these pinned to people’s backs listing their loved ones lost or those who were still battling or who survived the struggle. For some of the time on the way round I was following a mother and her young daughter. Mum’s message said she was winning but not out of the woods yet. Her daughter’s message just said she was was racing for life for her mum. I just hope that neither of my kids ever have to put my name on their backs.

Even though I’ve finished, you can still donate on my Justgiving Page. Show cancer that hell hath no fury like a woman in pink!

Women’s Institute Centenary Annual Meeting

Having spent a day at Buckingham Palace at the WI Royal Garden Party, the next big event in the WI’s centenary programme was the Annual Meeting at the Royal Albert Hall. Delegates from across the country attended and it was a fabulously grand occasion. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there but did get to see a live transmission of the event at my local Cineworld. OK, the surroundings weren’t as jaw dropping as the grandeur of the Albert Hall which I did experience a few times when I was younger, but the live transmission was a great opportunity for ordinary members up and down the country to get to see the event.

There may have been sound problems in the hall, but we heard everything loud and clear. Janice Langley, the NFWI Chair looked incredibly nervous when the royal party of HM The Queen, Princess Anne and Sophie, Countess of Wessex were on stage with her, but she didn’t put a foot wrong.

There were three excellent speakers. Lucy Worsley who is going to be on our screens soon with a history of the WI, gave a fascinating insight into her research on the subject. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson spoke about her life and achievements in sport and now in the House of Lords, including her family’s motto ‘Aim high, even if you hit a cabbage’. Finally Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management spoke about the 30% club which she founded to try and get at least 30% female board members.

There was also a selection of songs by the Bleadon Belles who won the choir competition, and a presentation of the knitwear collaboration between WI members and Kingston University to produce garments for their university fashion show. I don’t think I’ll be wanting to wear any of the garments, but the work to produce them was fabulous.

One of my favourite (and possibly most confusing until we got our heads around it) parts of the day was the debate on the NFWI Resolution “Failing to care – assessment of need in long term care. This meeting calls on HM government to remove the distinction between nursing care and personal care in the assessment of the needs of individuals, in order to advance health and wellbeing.” When we discussed it at our local WI level, we were confused about what the resolution was trying to achieve, and whether it was possible to do this. At the meeting, there was an amendment to the wording, so there was a vote on accepting the amendment. This was passed, so then there was a further discussion on the amended resolution before a motion was put forward to move to the next business (still with me?). Speakers then voiced what we had felt at our meeting; the resolution was just not what the WI should be working towards. The care system was in need of an overhaul, but new legislation, lack of government funding, plus the wording of the resolution which wasn’t specific enough, meant that it needed more work. The speaker from Stoke Newington WI really clarified the position for me using the SMART criteria for setting objectives. The motion to move to the next business was overwhelmingly passed so there was no vote on the resolution.

I really hope that there are live transmissions of future events. It was so interesting to see how our WI is run and it’s a shame the annual meeting is only open to a few delegates from each federation.

If you would like to join the WI, put your postcode into the WI finder to get more information. We are the original social network. We are run by volunteers, are a not-for-profit organisation, and provide a place for women to have fun, chat, learn new skills, take part in a wide range of activities and campaign on important issues. And there is usually cake!

WI Centenary Royal Garden Party

100 years ago, the first WI started in the UK, having had it’s origins in Canada. As one of the centenary celebrations, each branch of the WI held a ballot to choose a representative. We had 2 members put their names forward, and because the other member won a place with her dual membership WI, we both got to go.An invite to the palace deserved a splurge on a hat, and the amazingly talented Michele Dawn came up with this beauty. I think it’s very ‘Home Fires‘ with a beautiful vintage brooch in the middle. I felt amazing wearing it, even on the tube.The weather forecast was dreadful for the day, but apart from a bit of drizzle and being very gusty, we got away with it. Several women spent a lot of time chasing their hats across the palace lawn, but there was usually someone to help catch them.I rarely do selfies, but did this one in the queue outside the palace with my new red lipstick. I asked the woman at the Bobbi Brown counter in John Lewis to find me a 1940’s style red colour that wouldn’t clash with my hair and she came through with flying colours.

I didn’t travel with anyone in my County Federation, but spotted a woman on the tube with a hat and we exchanged a couple of words about being in the WI. She was travelling with her husband so we parted at Green Park. What a surprise when Caron from Collingham WI spotted me inside the palace out of 8000 other women and we joined forces for the day.One tip she’d got from other people who had been to garden parties before was to get in quick with the food. And yes, it tasted as good as it looked. Photos inside the palace were forbidden, but I’m a rebel!

We then joined the crowds to see the royals. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall came down our side of the lawn. The word went through that she was wearing a white hat with a blue band so the tallest people kept a running commentary going about her progress. She was lovely and chatted to so many people along the way. When she had passed by, we spotted that there was another person following round which turned out to be Princess Alexandra. She was wearing a lovely embroidered jacket, and again was talking to everyone.

When she had passed by, we could spot another crowd on the other side of the lawn so thought that we might catch Sophie, Countess of Wessex too. We did which was a thrill for me as she is President of Girlguiding UK.

After that, we did a turn around the grounds looking at the gorgeous azeleas, before swapping numbers and heading off on our separate ways.It was a lovely day, and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to go. I left with throbbing feet but memories of a great day.

The Great Girlguiding Anglia Bake Off

I am a fan of the Great British Bake Off. I love baking and come from a long line of bakers. When I heard that Girlguiding Anglia, the Guiding Region I belong to, was doing a Bake Off badge, I knew I had to look into it.

As well as the badge, Girlguiding Anglia is running a baking competition for Guides (aged 10-14), Senior Section (Rangers and Young Leaders aged 14-25), and adult leaders (aged 18+). The idea was to have units find their own star bakers, send them up to the next level to find their local area (District) champion, and then to their wider area (Division), County and finally the Anglia Region final.Our unit competition resulted in 4 cakes coming in from the Guides. They were asked to bake a Victoria sponge at home, and the leader team had the task of tasting them. Sometimes, being a leader is tough. We selected 2 Guides to go through to the next round.For the District round, I was asked to help organise a bake sale to run alongside the bake off to raise money for local Guiding. Our local tea room hosted us one evening and all the Guides, Senior Section members and adults were invited to bake something to sell to parents and friends.

The Guide winners from the two local units had their Victoria sponges judged by 2 members of the WI, the owner of the tea room and Henry the Mercury Newshound from the local paper (the reason why there is a 6ft dog in the background of the photo!). Senior Section and leaders were also invited to enter scones for the Senior Section and a ‘light fruit cake’ for the leaders. I did my duty and several fruit cakes later in a quest to find a qualifying recipe, produced probably the worst thing I have baked in a while for the competition. As the only adult entrant, I progressed to the next round.At the Division bake off round, I was up against 2 other leaders to try and make amends for my earlier failure. One of the leaders was unable to finish, so my new recipe cake was up against this lovely, bunting festooned fruit loaf.Somehow I managed to win by 1 point and fruit cake number 8 (yes, I took this competition seriously!) got me to the County semi finals.At the Hertfordshire County semi finals, I needed to bake Religieuses. For those who are up on their Great British Bake Off trivia, they were Mary Berry’s technical challenge in pastry week of series 4. Do you remember the ugly nuns?

I practised a couple of times as choux pastry is something I’ve only ever baked once before. I asked for hints and tips and managed to get my little practice choux buns to rise into something resembling the cakes they make on the Bake Off (yes, I did watch the episode on YouTube!).Three Guides, Senior Section members and adult leaders competed with apple pies (Guides), chocolate fruit tarts (Senior Section) and Religieuses (adult leaders) following the same recipe.

When the County team gave out comments after judging and included the word ‘dainty’, I knew I hadn’t won. My effort to get a choux bun to rise as much as possible worked against me, and I think they were a bit soft once filled. I also had a few nuns who were a bit wayward so choosing my best ones for judging was tricky.I took the remaining cakes home with me to be enjoyed by the gluten eating side of the family. This cake was my lunch and I really enjoyed it. The Craftyguidelets have said lovely things about my cakes, and they are the only judges I want to impress (well, apart from my Master Baker dad who I have impressed about 4 times in my lifetime with my bakes).

I will now go back to baking for fun and baking lots of gluten free cakes so husband can share in the calorie intake.

The Bake Off is only one of the many varied activities open to girls, young women and adults in Guiding. Come and get involved in the largest youth organisation for girls in the UK today during Volunteer’s week.

National Volunteer’s Week 1-7 June 2015

It’s the NCVO Volunteer’s Week which wants to celebrate the contribution of the 23 million community volunteers in the UK.

If you know a volunteer, say thank you to them. Parent helpers at school, your son’s cub leader, the President of your WI, the person behind the counter of the local charity shop. There are 23 million of them to thank!

And if you want to volunteer with GirlGuiding, just click here and tell them Craftyguider sent you!

Guides do : Chinese Year of the Sheep

On the 22nd February every year, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts are encouraged to think about all their fellow Guides and Scouts around the world. The day is named World Thinking Day and was chosen because it was the shared birthday of both Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting, and his wife Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the first World Chief Guide.Another Guiding tradition is the donation of the Thinking Day Penny. It was suggested that as it was the Founder’s birthday, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts could send gifts in the form of a voluntary contribution. Olave Baden-Powell suggested a penny, and the money has gone to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) ever since to support girls and young women around the world. Even though a penny could have got you much more in those days than now, we still collect pennies to donate to the World Thinking Day Fund. We don’t get the Brasso out and shine them any more like I used to in the 80’s though!For the international element of our meeting, the adult leaders had already chosen China as a theme due to the Chinese new year being next week. We then handed over to the two Young Leaders to choose some extra activities with the Guides, and then I was despatched to Hobbycraft with a list for the following week.As it is going to be the Chinese Year of the Sheep, I’d already decided to contribute this decorated cupcake idea that I’d spotted on Pinterest. See – all that procrastinating does pay off!I’m not sure how many sheep made it home in one piece, so I made sure I emailed pictures to the parents to show them that the Guides had actually done something!Another idea was making lanterns which turned out really well, especially with the battery powered tea lights in the bottom.Not so successful were the fortune cookies. I was a bit dubious when I was asked to provide ingredients, but one Guide told me she’d made them at Brownie Pack Holiday once. If a Brownie can make it, it must be easy. They’d obviously had more experience, or not used the recipe I found online. They tasted nice though and the Guides all swapped fortunes which they’d written inside.Our finale was our Chinese dragon. The Young Leaders asked for boxes and bottles, and I think the Guide parents took the opportunity to lighten their recycling bins this week. Not many were used in construction, but it had a head, body and tail, and every Guide managed to get underneath so a success!

If you think that you would enjoy being surrounded by icing, despairing over cracking fortune cookies and helping to engineer lantern bases, come and join the fun! Click here for more details.

Girlguiding UK Big Gig 2014

Wem-ber-leee, Wem-ber-leee, Wem-ber-leee! No, sorry. It’s not football, it should be “HELLO WEMBLEY. GIVE ME A SCREAM!!!!!” Cue 10,000 Guides and their leaders at Girlguiding UK’s Big Gig to raise the roof of Wembley Arena for the biggest event of the Guiding calendar in the eyes of my Guides. A real pop concert with real chart names.

On Saturday 4th October, 13 Guides, one Guide mum and 2 leaders left a train station in Hertfordshire to go down to Wembley Arena to join 10,000 other Guiding types for the second Big Gig of the day. The Guides were excited. The mum was excited. The 2 leaders, let’s face it, were doing their duty to their Guides and going along so the Guides didn’t miss out on the trip. I’ve heard of Union J and Little Mix but couldn’t (and still can’t) identify any of their songs. I think I’ve seen Diversity do their thing. Kingsland Road? Mike Dignam? Neon Jungle? I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ken Bruce play any of their songs on Radio 2 so there’s no hope for me there!

I tweeted about the event in the morning and after one of my tweets, Mike Dignam followed me on Twitter! “Wow!” I thought, “This will impress the Guides!”. Nope. They’d never heard of him either!

After a bit of Google and Wikipedia revision, I felt prepared for the trip (one member of Union J has strange eyebrows so I’m sure to recognise them, therefore Kingsland Road will be the ones without the eyebrows).

A completely smooth trip by train and tube and we took our seats. As you can see from the picture, we were quite a way back, but as tickets are allocated by lottery, you don’t get to choose.These were a great find thanks to the #BigGig2014 hashtag on twitter. They hand them out for free at the information counters and someone had tweeted about it. They came in handy for the Little Mix set at the end!10,000 Guides with their phones lit up is a fantastic sight. Add to that the flashing bunny ears, freaky hair and illuminated squid heads and it looked brilliant.And then I became a cool Guide leader. Mike Dignam came up on stage. “He’s WELL fit!” came the cry from the Guides. “Is he the one that follows you on twitter?”. Kimberly Wyatt (ex-Pussycat Dolls and Got To Dance judge – I’ve heard of her!) was hosting and posted a selfie on Instagram which I liked and commented on on behalf of my Guides. I was a social media queen for them.

Stooshe was a surprise, and were a hit with the Guides. Ken Bruce has played them so I was able to show my knowledge there too! And I’d heard of Stacey Solomon too.

Once Little Mix had finished, we managed to dash to the train station before the rush and got home before I turned into a pumpkin. I even got some thank yous from the Guides without them being nudged to do it by their mums!

The Big Gig is a fabulous event organised by Girlguiding UK twice a year all over the UK. I’ve been going fairly regularly since they started more than 10 years ago. I’ve seen Ed Sheeran (before he was a megastar, absolutely brilliant with just a guitar and some pedals), Orson, Shayne Ward (Google him if you don’t remember), Pixie Lott, Eliza Doolittle, Lawson, Conor Maynard, Dionne Bromfield, Katy B, Olly Murs, Amelia Lily, JLS, Scouting for Girls, Lil’ Chris, Sugababes, Aleesha Dixon, McFly, The Saturdays and loads more.

The only way Guides can enjoy events like this is if more people volunteer. We were only able to go because of the Guide mum who was willing to step in and be an extra adult. You don’t have to be a leader to support Guiding. We need people to test badges, do accounts, help once a term in meetings, or even come to pop concerts.

And by the way, Mike Dignam has since unfollowed me on twitter. Obviously handmade cards and news on the Craftyguidelet’s broken arm weren’t his thing. His loss!

Dear September

Where did our time go September? 30 days and it was all over!

You gave me glorious weather (mostly!) and lots of time in the garden appreciating the wonderful flowers still blooming their socks off. Considering that from February to April it looked like a muddy mess, now it’s landscaped and lovely.

My little Leprechaun turned Imp now has her Brownie Gardener badge for the hard work she put in sowing seeds, thinning out, weeding, watering and finally clearing away. Hopefully she’ll help again next Spring, and her grandparents want to hire her for her skills with a seed packet.

I achieved things, September. This pretty dress for Rainbow Craftyguidelet, some cards, some bunting, and even a tutorial for the book bags I made for the Craftyguidelets’ music lessons. Sales have been picking up with Craftyguider following a bit of promo work, and the big push to Christmas starts now. The Christmas shop is now open. I just need to fill it up a bit more!My Guiding life has started again. Guides and Rainbows are back, and once again I am juggling admin, trying to get as many girls as possible off the waiting lists and into units where they can join the fun, and trying to encourage more volunteers to come forward and help this to happen.I have also started Trefoil Guild which is like the WI for Guiding types. It was so lovely just going to a meeting for grown ups, not being asked to do anything, not being responsible for anything, not feeling guilty for not doing more. I just enjoyed the talk on the fabulous work of Guide Dogs and the puppy walkers. Finally something just for me to enjoy!WI planning has started again for our Handmade Christmas Craft Fair on 16th November. I need to get a shifty on for my stall!

But then just like that it was over September. 30 days of full on busyness and then phwoomp! October happened.

Autumn is here and I’ll be joining in with Miss Beatrix’s #BashSAD challenge to banish the blues of the shorter days. I’m also attempting to complete a whole month of the Fat Mum Slim #fmsphotoaday challenge on Instagram. My house is finally gaining some order after a summer of neglect, the kids are settled at school. Let’s do this October!

What was that? Half term at the end of the month? *sticks fingers in ears and pretends not to hear*

What are you up to this month?