Meet the delegation - Valerie

Hello!

I'm Valerie Le Vaillant, I am Girlguiding's Chief Guide, a senior Volunteer and Chair of Trustees.

I am from Deal in East Kent and I can actually see France from my house!

I am most excited about attending the conference to help WAGGGS Europe Region to make Guiding even more successful, by increasing and widening its membership base.

One of my favourite Girlguiding trips was to the 2010 International Centenary Camp at Leeds in the UK.

You might be surprised to know that I can juggle and I love eating sherbet filled flying saucers!

Three words which I think sum up Girlguiding for me are

Fun

Adventure 

Friendship

Meet the delegation - Charlotte

I am Charlotte Makanga and I am from a small village in north west Wales called Y Felinheli. I am fluent in both English and Welsh and speak both languages at work and at home every day!

My current roles in Girlguiding are as a Guide Leader and I am the International Commissioner designate.

My favourite trips with Girlguiding have been going on GOLD to Bangladesh on the two occasions I went. It was absolutely  amazing! It was great working with the Bangladesh Girl Guides on 2 fantastic projects with teams that are now friends for life! 

The first team had Christmas there and I'll never forget singing frosty the snowman in 30 degree heat and being woken up at midnight on Christmas morning by the Bengali Rangers singing and with gifts.  

The second time I went as a leader we trained on an island in the south of the country called Bhola. To get there we travelled by bus, then boat then auto rickshaw and trained some amazing guides in one of the most remote places I've ever been. The welcome was so warm and fantastic- really amazing.

I am excited about so many things for the conference! I cannot wait to be with Guides and Scouts from all of  Europe making decisions and helping to shape the next 3 years of Girl Guiding and Girl scouting in the Europe region.

Three words I would use to describe my Girlguiding experience are 
Inspiring

life-changing 

FUN!

Dwi'n siarad Saesneg a Cymraeg a dwi'n defnyddio yr ddwy iaith bob diwrnod yn gwaith ac adref! 

Meet the delegation- Laura

Hello!

I'm Laura West, a Guide Leader and soon to be a Senior Section Leader (unit for 14-25 year olds) for a new unit opening in September. I am also lucky enough to be the UK candidate for the WAGGGS Europe Committee, and hope to be voted on to the committee in 12 days (not that I'm counting!). I cannot wait to attend another international event, and one that is so important in planning and agreeing the direction of WAGGGS Europe.

There's a lot to look forward to at all conferences, but the highlight for this conference for me will be talking to members from other Member Organisations,  hearing what they are doing, sharing great ideas, and discussing and agreeing the work of WAGGGS Europe for the next 3 years. Although I have to add the international evening will also be a highlight as there's nothing else like it! You will have to watch out for our blog to see what 'national dress' we decided on this year!

This September will mark my 20th year as a member of Girlguiding UK and WAGGGS! When thinking about my favourite Guiding trip or event it is therefore quite hard as I have so many wonderful ones to choose from! I think an international trip I was part of in 2006 to Japan has to be near the very top. It was a trip which really opened my eyes international Guiding and Scouting and made me realise "wow I am part of something massive and it has so many amazing opportunities". From this trip I was so excited about the opportunities available and actively went about find them myself (however this did result in me attending a jamboree as IST which was flooded out the following year!!). Aside from this our group is still all great friends, and we are looking forward to our 10 year reunion just after I return from Norway!

Guiding has given me so much I am really looking forward to yet another amazing opportunity, which hopefully will enable me to support and benefit many many more members. If I had to sum my experience over the last 20 years up in three words I would say:
AMAZING

UNFORGETTABLE

LIFE-CHANGING

I'm 'jumping' with excitement for the conference to begin in Norway and looking forward to seeing members from WAGGGS and WOSM there!

Meet the delgation - Rebecca

I'm Rebecca Cook, Deputy International Commissioner, and I'm very excited that in less than two weeks Guides and Scouts from across Europe will be gathering in Oslofjordem, Norway. The conference programme is packed with opportunities to share ideas and shape the future of the Europe Region.

I was appointed Deputy 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 was also the Lead Volunteer for Euro Hop, an event that was part of the Big Brownie Birthday in 2014.

I've been involved in guiding since I was a Brownie. I am a Brownie leader and trainer from York. I love being able to enjoy getting messy and laughing with them during our meetings. It’s also a great feeling after a long day at work to see a Brownie come running in excited to share some news or looking forward to the exciting activity planned – especially if it involves lighting fires and/or food!!

My favourite guiding trip was a trip to Bermuda with Guides back in 1999. We had the most amazing time and camped right next to the beach. We took part in some amazing activities including midnight swims and afternoon tea with the Governor!

I work full-time as the Administration Controller for Portakabin Ltd. This involves a variety of responsibilities including managing the modular fleet of buildings and supporting tender submissions. As you can imagine I use lots of transferable skills from and to guiding.

The theme for the European Conference is 'Connect, Grow, Impact'. As we finalise our plans, the UK delegation is focusing on part one. I look forward very much to being there soon and networking with over 30  countries from across Europe and although I know I won’t want to come home, I look forward to returning home inspired and full of enthusiasm to use in all my guiding roles!!!

Delegation bonding!

Delegation bonding!

Our delegation met up in London on 14 May for some delegation bonding. 

Unfortunately, Valerie was unable to join us but we are excited to have the full delegation together soon!

We had an interesting day reviewing the papers for the conference and planning for the international evening (we're sure you can't wait to see what we have planned!).

Our day discussing conference business would not be complete without an international flavour so we rewarded ourselves with a trip to an Austrian restaurant complete with cowbells, Edelweiss and lederhosen...(evidence below).

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We are going to the WAGGGS European Conference 2016!

Girlguiding at the WAGGGS European Conference

WAGGGS Europe supports 39 Member Organisations (including the UK). 

The 15th European Guide Conference is taking place in Norway from 17-21 June 2016 and of course, Girlguiding will be there!

The Conference will bring together Member Organisations (MOs) to discuss the strategies and policies for the future development of Girl Guiding and Scouting in Europe.

But it's not just us! The 15th European Guide and Scout Conference is held at the same time 22nd European Scout Conference. These are the general assemblies of the member organisations in the European Region of WOSM and WAGGGS. We are looking forward to working with our Scouting counterparts.

We will bring you more information about our excited delegation soon which consists of:

 Valerie le Vaillant – Chief Guide

 Caroline Davis - International Commissioner 
 Charlotte Makanga – International Commissioner Designate

 Laura West – Candidate for Europe Committee

 Rebecca Cook – Deputy International Commissioner

 Emma Guthrie – Council member and Lead Volunteer for ERW/Girlguiding 

Scotland gendered leadership project.

At the Conference the MOs will elect six volunteers to the Europe Committee. We are excited and proud to support Laura West in her campaign. Find out more about Laura and her campaign here soon!

You can follow us in the run up to and throughout the conference here or on our Facebook page - other social mediums to follow soon!