Good afternoon and thank you for coming to County Day 2011.

I trust you all have a copy of the Annual Review that gives a taster of what has been going on in County since last November as well as detailing our accounts for the financial year ending 2011.  I encourage you to all share your accounts with the parents of members for information.  This enables everyone financially involved with guiding to be open and understand its true cost.

Essex West continues to be relevant to the girls of today and provides a wealth of fun and adventure in a unique girl only space.  As well as the usual Unit activities that involve working on our Rainbow Jigsaw, badges and Go For It’s the girls in our County have been:-

• Organising and enjoying talent competitions, fashion evenings and generally putting on a good show.
• Many arts and crafts both in Units and having competitions at District and Division Level.
• Cooking both inside and out.  Mostly successful, but I understand that Harold Wood and Harold Hill District also had a few disasters and I won’t mention the toffee!
• Royal Wedding challenges and parties galore.
• Thinking Day events and meetings – e.g. 2nd A Upminster Brownies carried out activities about Nepal, Cyprus and Bolivia this year.
• Learning Street Dancing, Yoga and Belly Dancing.
• Waltham Abbey and Upshire District have even helped out at their new local event – a National Cucumber Festival!
• More energetic activities included netball tournaments, pedal car Olympics, an inflatables day and night hikes.
• The girls have also been considering life and all it has to offer – 2nd Upminster Rainbows have been discovering the life cycle of a caterpillar, all sections have been discovering different faiths and Guides have been thinking about what it would be like to be a girl in different countries.

As well as the fun to be had in the meeting place our young members have had many adventures: -

• Local zoos and RSPB centres, the Bear Factory, fire stations, the Olympic wild water centre, Brownie Day at Chigwell Row and of course Cadbury World in Birmingham.
• More energetic trips included County Boating days where I understand the Harlow Trefoil Guild were a great help since the events were full to capacity yet again. Raft building at Stubbers.
• Camps and holidays for all sections remain very popular and included the opportunity to sleepover at the Science Museum.
• International trips to the ever popular Euro Disney and New Zealand.  This year was also the World Scout Jamboree that was held in Sweden.  Three of our Divisions were represented at this event and I am told it was “awesome”. The girls and Leader Ellie Wiseman from EFS also got to stay in Copenhagen and spend time with families in Finland.
• Shows abound – the Guides and Senior Section pop concert “Big Gig” where there was much screaming dancing and fun, other trips to see pantomimes, Disney on Ice and other shows including the “Wicked” trip organised by Anglia Region at the Apollo Theatre, London.

In addition to all of this we also managed to raise funds for worthy causes: -

• Thinking Day Fund
• Operation Christmas Child
• Children’s Hospices
• St Francis Hospice
• British Soldiers in Afghanistan
• MacMillan Nurses
• Children with Leukaemia
• Comic Relief and Children in Need
• Supported the Whitechapel Mission
• All sections of West Horndon have completed 2 patchwork quilts.  1 for “A Gift of Quilts” whereby each country participating in the London Olympics and Paralympics will be given a quilt as a unique sign of friendship and peace. The other quilt was made to assist with the fundraising for Went House in Upminster.

Unfortunately there have been one or two Unit closures, but in line with the wishes of our new Chief Guide, Gill Slocombe, we have also been growing our County.  I’m glad to say that this comes as no surprise after advising you of how active a County we are.

For example we have a new Senior Section Unit in Stebbing (NW) and Waltham Abbey and Upshire (EFN) have a new Guide Unit.  Epping Forest South Division have been very productive and have 1 new Brownie Unit, 2 new Guide Units and also another of each in the offing.

I would like to say thank you to Jack Petchey for the awards that enable our girls to do something special with their Units.  For example, a Young Leader in 4th Cranham Brownies chose to treat the Unit to “walking on water” in inflatable balls.  The girls fell over quite a lot but laughed and screamed a lot too.  They also spent another exhausting hour hurtling down the hill in toboggans and played as a whole pack together in the play area.

Looking back it is no wonder that the girls in Essex West are enjoying guiding.

Life after the Centenary seems to have been equally busy, active and fun.  I’m also pleased to say that the Brownies from Epping Forest South will again be the models for the new Brownie Annual.

I hope you are receiving your copies of the monthly E-Bulletin and that it provides you with necessary and useful information.  If you aren’t receiving it then please check that your e-mail address is correct on Go!  The previous 5 issues are also posted on the County website.  Girlguidingessexwest.org.uk is an essential website that should be visited by all our members as we continually strive to develop it.  As always, any suggestions or comments will be welcome.

I would now like to give my full appreciation and thanks to all the volunteers in County for delivering good guiding.  Without your dedication none of this would be possible.  Special thanks go to our Commissioners at all levels in Essex West for their support and also to our County President, Avril Brampton, Vice Presidents and Trefoil Guild for their valuable contribution.  It has been a pleasure for me to represent the County and I hope that next year will equally as good or even better!

Just before I finish I would like to advise you that I have very recently appointed another Assistant County Commissioner.  I welcome Ann Matthews from Brentwood Division to her new role and trust she will enjoy all the tasks I have in mind for her!

Copies of the Annual Review 2011 documentation can be downloaded below (in Adobe PDF Format)

Part 1 - Part 2