Girlguiding volunteers in Nottinghamshire joined hundreds of Girlguiding members across the UK and beyond in lighting a beacon to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Thursday 2 June.
The Beacon lighting event held in Nottinghamshire at Edwinstowe Cricket Club saw Girlguiding members and their families come together to enjoy a special evening of Jubilee celebrations.
The event, which included a silent disco, and a number of outdoor games, was a huge success with over 170 people in attendance. In traditional Girlguiding style, the members also enjoyed singing campfire songs together, before the beacon lighting at 09.50 pm.
The beacon was lit by County President, Eve Griffiths, and County Commissioner, Kirstie Pogson. The beacon was donated by Wrights Engineering in Worksop, who had made the beacon especially for the special event.
Girlguiding members lit an impressive 70 community beacons in total on the night, marking each year The Queen has been on the throne1. Girlguiding was one of several charities to take part in the event, with a total of 1,500 Platinum Jubilee Beacons lit across the UK and Commonwealth, with a Principal Beacon lit at Buckingham Palace.
Lisa, a Girlguiding leader at Worksop, said: “It was a wonderful event, and it was great to see everyone out and about after the last 2 years. I have seen friends which I haven’t seen in a long time and it was special to share this with them. I really enjoyed being silly with the campfire songs – it’s not just the girls who have fun in Girlguiding!”
Girlguiding is offering its members lots of ways to join in the fun and celebrate the special anniversary throughout the year. Many were involved in the first wave of tree planting as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, and others looking forward to getting involved in the upcoming season.
The charity also boasts a number of specially created Jubilee activity toppers girls can do in their unit meetings, including building an edible campfire for Rainbows, a crown challenge for Brownies, a Buckingham Palace obstacle course for Guides and a one match beacon challenge for Rangers.
In true Girlguiding style there are also three new commemorative badges on offer.
Girlguiding and Scouts joined forces to create a specially designed woven commemorative badge – boasting seven-sides to represent the seven decades of the Queen’s reign and 70 dots in Girlguiding’s iconic blue and Scout’s purple to represent the linked history of the two organisations. The badge also features the Queen’s official Jubilee emblem, the Girlguiding trefoil and Scouts’ fleur de lis.
In addition, the charity has launched a metal commemorative pin badge featuring seven diamonds alongside 63 individual spokes to represent the Queen’s time on the throne, in the colours of the four Girlguiding sections. And a colourful woven fun badge to help capture Jubilee memories forever, however members choose to celebrate this historic year.
The Queen has a long-standing personal history with Girlguiding first joining as a Guide in 1937, at 11 years old alongside her 7-year-old sister, Princess Margaret as a Brownie.
At the direct request of the Queen Mother, then Queen, a new Guide company, The 1st Buckingham Palace Brownie Pack and Guide Company was set up to include Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret with 14 Guides and Brownies recruited from cousins, friends and children of the staff at the Palace. The unit met in the summerhouse in the Buckingham Palace Garden.
In 1952, the same year she succeeded to the throne, HM The Queen became Joint Patron for Girlguiding with Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother).
All photos copyright Whitefoot Photography
