Meet the delegation - Caroline

I'm Caroline Davis, International Commissioner, and I'm very excited that in less than three weeks Guides and Scouts from across Europe will be gathering in Berlin. The conference programme is packed with opportunities to share ideas and shape the future of the Europe Region.

The last European Conference was held in Brussels in 2010 and, as a member of the UK delegation, I felt privileged to gain insight into the operations of WAGGGS and WOSM. The Conference theme, 'No limit', encouraged us all to think big as we considered what our Region could achieve.

I was appointed International Commissioner in 2011 and since then have worked with a fantastic team on projects that aim to encourage and equip more UK members to travel overseas with guiding. We also build links with other WAGGGS Member Organisations to support their development and to give UK members the chance to benefit from being part of our very special worldwide movement.

I've been involved in guiding since I was a Brownie and my most recent role at a local level was as a Guide Leader in Wimbledon. I enjoy returning to my unit whenever I can - it's always a great boost to witness the Guides' energy and enthusiasm.

I work full-time as Head of Communications at the university Imperial College London. I'm very lucky that experiences in guiding have been great preparation for taking on international projects in my working life.

The strapline for the European Conference is 'Be Prepared, Be There, Be Berlin'. As we finalise our plans, the UK delegation is focusing on part one. I look forward very much to being there soon and understanding what's meant by 'Be Berlin'!

 

Marking a milestone at the 2011 WAGGGS World Conference in Edinburgh

Meet the delegation - Pip

Hello! I’m Pip McKerrow and I’m delighted to be part of the Girlguiding UK delegation to the WAGGGS Europe conference this summer, a new venture for me and one that I’m greatly looking forward to.

I am Chief Commissioner for Girlguiding London and South East England, one of the 9 Countries and Regions of Girlguiding UK, and a Trustee of our national organisation. I am also a Guide Leader and work with a team of Leaders providing exciting and challenging opportunities for girls aged 10-14 years in my local area of south west London. In addition, I am a member of the World Centre Committee at Pax Lodge and am passionate about the experience that WAGGGS offers to girls and young women from around the world through programmes at our World Centres.

I’m really looking forward to the conference, I’ve heard so much about it and just want to be there now sharing and learning, discussing and debating with other members from around Europe. My aim by the end is to come away with one idea or action that I can do that will make a difference - I’ve no idea what it might be at this stage; ask me on the last day! 

Meet the delegation - Jo

Hi there! My name is Jo Hobbs and I am honoured to be a part of the Girlguiding UK delegation to the European Scout and Guide conferences. I am part of the delegation as the lead staff member for our intenational relations. I am the Director of Guiding Services, leading the staff teams that focus on our youth programmes and volunteer recruitment, retention and support. Our relationahip with WAGGGS along with international opportunities and global youth work come within that remit.

As well as being on the staff team I am also a member, having joined as a Brownie when I was 7. I am not currently volunteeing at a unit but try to help out when I can and am a volunteer Trainer as well. Just over ten years ago I attended a WAGGGS Europe seminar on spiritual development, bringing the learning back home to feed into our work in this area. I also supported the staff and volunteer Planning Team for the 34th World Conference in Edinburgh, attending for part of the event. Most recently I attended the WAGGGS and WOSM Chief Executives' Networking event in Berlin last year, which was a fantastic opportunity to meet with and share ideas with colleagues from around Europe.

I'm really excited about the conference and can't wait to get there and to share our experiences and to learn from other MOs to inspire us to do more for the girls we support in the UK.

Be prepared!

Wow - doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Over the past couple of weeks the Girlguiding UK delegation has been frantically reading virtual reams of paper to try to get up to speed with what will be happening at the WAGGGS Europe conference in Berlin.To help us prepare we've had a couple of phone conferences and this Saturday we had our first meeting.

As it is a 'green' conference we first had to challenge ourselves to move away from our beloved paper. The first test was to get the right apps and memory sticks to ensure that we could actually find the confernce papers on our various devices once we had downloaded them! We took the opportunit to get to know each other, as some of us hadn't met before and to get up to speed with WAGGGS Europe, understanding the different types of Member Organisations (MOs), the ways of working and how we work with WOSM.

Having discussed the papers and motions, and what we will be doing for the intenational evening and the european market, we also discussed how we can support Girlguiding member Amanda Medler in the election for WAGGGS Europe committee. We are very proud of what Amanda has achieved in Europe since she was elected onto the committee at the last conference and are excited to be supporting her again.

In the run up to the conference all members of the delegation will be posting a little intro to themselves on this blog, and then once we are at conference we'll be trying to blog as we go so you can get a flavour of our discussions.

(L-R  in the picture: Jo Hobbs, Caroline Davis, Laura Cottey, Amy Binley and Pip McKerrow. also on the delegation is Gill Slocombe, Chief Guide, who was unable to attend the meeting this weekend.)