Become a volunteerSharing Skills – Going Away with Scheme
Brownie Sleepovers never seem to include much of the sleep element!!!
In February 2022, after two years of delays due to Covid, I managed to run my Brownie pack holiday in order to achieve my Going Away license. In the last two years, while waiting to run my pack holiday, I had moved not only Brownie unit but also Guiding county and region due to going to university. I still decided to take my old brownie unit from home and maintain my promise of a pack holiday for them. This obviously made organisation a little harder due to not being in the weekly meetings but through visits and emails we made it work.
I took three Brownie units on a two night sleepover to Parva House. Parva House is an amazing Girlguiding owned venue in Little Hale, Heckington. It is not the largest property but with its large rooms full of bunk beds, it’s always greatly enjoyed by the girls.
The main element I focused on for my sleepover was being super inclusive! If you haven’t already, please have a look at my blog about my experience at my first ever proper camp at Poacher 2022. The whole experience amazed me and made me realise I should have challenged myself much more as a child so that I could’ve seen and experienced arguably the best parts about Guiding years ago! That’s why I wanted to encourage and inspire as many of the Brownies to come on my sleepover as possible. This included being super open about menu and food choices, ensuring everyone had the chance to change or add anything specific. Also making sure they knew that they could go home at any point they want to and we would ensure that they would only stay if they are happy and enjoying themselves. Some needed reassurance that they could even only come for the day and evening and go home at bedtime. Overall, we all as leaders tried to keep everyone included no matter their personal circumstances or needs.
I themed my pack holiday around the Butterfly challenge badge and so we completed a range of activities over the weekend to earn the badge while we were there. We made butterfly window panes, decorated tote bags, made button-canvas crafts and went on an insect trail walk to the park.
On the last day, I asked the girls to take part in a reflective activity based on how much they enjoyed the pack holiday and any areas of improvement. Surprisingly one of the highlights of their pack holiday was being part of the ‘bog-squad’ 🙂 !!! – I made a duty rota to get the girls involved in washing up, tidying, and bathroom cleaning etc. which turned out to be more excitable than you’d think.
The whole experience was enjoyed by all, especially the group of amazing leaders who also enjoyed the event as a very overdue catch up too. Not a single child asked to go home or struggled with too much home sick, mainly due to the non stop activities all day and
evening. I am super pleased I managed to use my position as brownie leader to encourage the girls, certainly the more nervous ones, to challenge themselves to the experience after reflecting on my previous memories.
This showed me how I am able to share my skill/message of challenging yourself and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone. After completing the Going Away book filled with all my evidence and sending it off, I received my certificate and badge for my Going away license through the post 🙂 This also completed
Outdoor Challenge element 1 for my Queens Guide award. I will certainly be using my Going away license regularly to ensure they are all given many opportunities to boost their confidence.
