WIGHT LIVINGWHEN I was a girl guide, I remember making pancakes over a candle flame and striving for my level three chess badge — and before you say it, I’m the first to admit I wasn’t the coolest girl around.
But girl guiding has changed a lot since I spent my Friday evenings in a dusty church hall and it has changed almost beyond recognition since the movement was founded a century ago.
It all started when a bunch of bolshy girls, having borrowed hats and shirts belonging to their brothers, gatecrashed a scout rally at Crystal Palace and told Lord Baden Powell himself — founder of the scouting movement — they would be excluded no longer.
Their brand of direct action was a huge success, for not only were they permitted to join the rally, on September 4, 1909, but they also kicked off the entire girl guiding movement.
Lord Baden Powell entrusted his sister, Agnes, with running the new girl scout movement, although he chose the name 'guides’ himself. It came from a troop of soldiers he had served with in India.
When girl guiding was first established, there was an central focus on teaching girls the skills they would need during the First World War. First aid was essential, as were practical skills including carpentry, mechanics, cooking and sewing.
Learning to survive in the great outdoors was another important element and girls would camp just as the boys did.
"The ethos of the movement has not changed but the programme behind it is totally different now," reckons IW county secretary and Duke of Edinburgh advisor Suzanne Whitewood.
"It’s still about learning how to look after yourself, helping other people and working in the community but through different activities. There are now badges for chocolate making, computer skills and party planning, as well as the more traditional cooking and camping badges.
"The image has definitely changed but the idea is still to equip girls for whatever might be thrown at them. It’s about producing well-rounded, capable, confident young women.
"The public perception might be that guiding isn’t cool but we are trying to change that."
The girl guiding movement is in constant flux, with the programme changing every decade or so to reflect the times.
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| Lord and Lady Baden Powell at Carisbrooke Castle in 1916. |
During the Second World War, for example, girls flocked into the hospitals and servicemen’s canteens and in the 1960s they started donning miniskirts. These days, thousands of screaming girls head for the annual Big Gig, a guides-only music festival that was headlined last year by boyband McFly.
"As the years change, so does guiding and I do think it’s still relevant," said Suzanne, who was the first girl on the Island to gain the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.
"There’s something for everyone but the most popular activities are still camping and singing round the campfire.
"I think the girls also enjoy being in a girl-only space, as you don’t have to worry about wearing makeup or showing off in front of the boys."
More than half a million girls and young women are members of girl guiding UK and there are around 40,000 on the waiting list.
In South West England, the region that incorporates the IW, there are 80,000 members and around 6,000 girls waiting to join.
The Island itself has a long and proud association with girl guiding, as the 1st Ventnor and 1st Shanklin packs, founded in 1912, were two of the first groups in the country. Attendance on the IW has barely changed over the years and stands at 12,000, compared with 15,000 in the 1920s.
"It has gone up and down over the years but guiding remains popular on the Island," said Suzanne, whose book, Moments in Time: 100 years of Girl guiding on the IW, is due to be published next month.
"I just felt there was so much interesting information it was worth documenting. And what better time to publish it than the centenary year?"
This month also sees the opening of an exhibition at Newport Guildhall, featuring photographs and other memorabilia from the past century, plus a host of centenary celebrations, including an activity day at Corf Camp, Porchfield, and a party at West Wight Sports Centre.
The girls themselves have only good things to say about girl guiding and the opportunities it has given them.
Newport guide leader Kay Burn-ley-Smith, 21, recently spent three weeks in India, painting the walls of a leprosy centre and seeing the sights of the country.
"It was fantastic, I couldn’t quite believe it when I was standing in front of the Taj Mahal," she said.
"Guiding offers great experiences and we do such amazing things. It’s far more adventurous than it used to be.
"I think it’s a really good thing for young girls, it’s a great way to make friends. I was really shy when I started at Rainbows and it built my confidence up.
"When people think of guides they think of cleaning and making knots but it’s not like that at all," agreed fellow leader Clare Langley, 23, who travelled to an international guiding jamboree in Iceland with 3,000 other girls.
"There are badges for sailing, horseriding, mountain climbing and skiing — whatever you want to do.
"It’s more exciting than people think and I have travelled and met people from all over the world.
"I want to be a policewoman and guiding has helped be improve my leadership skills and build my confidence. I think it’s done me quite a few favours."