We were all delighted to be able to return to meeting indoors after the summer holidays.  It has been a busy term up to the October school holidays.  Although adjustments are still being made because of Covid restrictions, it has felt “almost normal”.

The Girlguiding counties of Dumfriesshire, Stewartry and Wigtownshire merged into ‘Girlguiding Dumfries and Galloway County’ on 1st September 2021.  To celebrate this, a challenge called ‘D&G-opoly’ was launched by the new County Commissioner.  It ran from 5th September to 3rd October and, as in Monopoly, income was earned for each location.  We had to either visit 34 locations throughout Dumfries & Galloway or invent a creative alternative.

We visited 17 locations in person and had crafts and activities to achieve the other 17.  We had a Saturday Brownies session to be able to fit everything in.  Photos had to be taken to show how the locations were achieved so we have our evidence for all 34!  We also have a Brownie who, with her Mum, visited all 34 locations!  That is amazing commitment.

Six new girls have joined Brownies and we held their Promise Celebrations on 5th October.  That was our first Promise Celebration in 18 months.  We also resumed our ‘Badge Nights’ and five ‘Interest Badges’ were achieved by four Brownies: ‘Collecting’, ‘Inventing’, ‘Painting’, ‘Performing’ and ‘Zero Waste’, showing the variety of subjects which girls can choose to learn about.

In Spring 2021 a competition was launched for all members of the three Girlguiding counties to invent a new County badge for the merged County.  On 1st September it was announced that, because it had been so difficult for the Merger Project Team to choose one from the three winning designs, these would be merged – just like the Counties!  Our Brownies were excited to learn that the thistles are from the design of someone at Maxwelltown West!  Our Brownie membership is building up slowly: one girl is due to start at the end of October and three others in January.  Please get in touch if you know of any other potential Brownies or register their interest at the Girlguiding website.

J McE – Brownie Leader / Thistles Designer