GEORGETOWN METHODIST CHURCH

Georgetown Road, St Saviour,Jersey, Channel Islands JE2 7PH

 Office Tel: 01534 730914  Minister: 01534 722093

EM Office: georgetown@jerseymail.co.uk        EM Minister: revshalls@supanet.com

Georgetown GIRL’S BRIGADE

about the girls’ brigade

The Girls’ Brigade (GB) is a Christian, international charity working alongside girls and young women of every background, ability and culture.

Since our foundation in 1893, GB has become known worldwide as a fun, interesting, challenging and relevant provider of activities, skills, care and Christian love for hundreds of thousands of young people.

GB is led by Christian women from local churches. These leaders are trained volunteers who are committed to providing a regular meeting time of activities and skills for girls and young women. GB groups usually meet on a weekly evening in churches, schools and community centres.

The Girl’s Brigade programme follows four themes:

Spiritual     Physical      Educational      Service

This stands for ‘SPES’ which is the Latin word for ‘Hope’. The ‘Hope’ that we have for the future of every girl who undertakes badgework with GB.

Worldwide (GB operates in over 60 countries) the charity seeks to enable girls and young women to develop in confidence, ability, friendship and citizenship, and is committed to nurturing the unique value of every girl in its care.

Camp  10th & 11th April 2010

23 children and 6 adults met up on a beautiful Saturday morning in far flung St Mary – many people needed to use their skills to get there - Sat Nav / phone a friend / map.

Crabbe Outdoor Activity Base, is tucked away in the woodland area above Greve de Lecq, offering log cabin sleeping accommodation and one large cabin with catering kitchen facilities and wood fire. During the weekend the children and adults enjoyed team games, blindfolded rope walks in the woodland area (we realized that children are better shaped for squeezing through trees and branches than adults!), songs and hot chocolate around the camp fire, a real Easter Egg hunt, craft activities, cooking together and doing the chores together.Each group that use Crabbe must do some form of conservation work – ensuring that you put something back into the base.The campers eagerly enjoyed mending fences, collecting fire wood, mending and cleaning windows and filling in pot holes along the paths.

Thanks to the cooks, we enjoyed a varied and healthy diet, including a roast dinner, full English cooked breakfast, apple crumble and custard, salads, together with an outdoor ‘midnight feast’.

Camps provide great team bonding, special memories that will last a lifetime and an opportunity to experience something different.Some children were experiencing their first camp away from parents and there is great learning to be self sufficient without parents / carers.

Special memories included Joyce blindfolded following a rope walk and becoming stuck in a tree! Another memory - the cockerels that started crowing at 5.45am – this was either a signal for one group to start sleeping and for another group to wake up – it all blurs into one! early risers who met in the main cabin to do craft activities wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm until the ‘wood fire’ was lit to provide heating.

Special thanks to all girls who came to camp, thanks to all parents / carers for their continued support and a huge thank you to the adults who gave up their time to either attend the weekend or join us for part of it and share their skills.  Thank you to our Minister, Reverend Graeme Halls and the G B Island Commissioner, Ann Marett for visiting us.

The weather was perfect, the setting was perfect, the food was great, amazing sunset, comfortable sleeping cabins, the children were a pleasure to spend time with – well done!  A great recipe for a successful camp!  In March 2010 I obtained the qualification to take girls ‘Camping under canvas’ – tents next time!

Bev Waller