First meeting, second year

04/09/14

This week was our first meeting back after the Summer. We didn't have any new girls starting so it was a pretty straightforward meeting, even if the girls were all a little hyper as some of them hadn't seen each other for 6 weeks!

We started off playing a game to try and wear off some of their energy. We let them choose and they decided to play Wigwams (instructions here). I was surprised they didn't choose Fishes, as they did most of last term, but they all seemed happy to play this one instead. As this only really needs one Leader to run the game, it gave the rest of us a chance to catch up quickly as we also haven't seen each other in quite a while!

After the game finished, we got out the tables and let them get on with planning their stalls for a fundraiser we are doing in a few weeks. Fairly regularly (every 18 months or so) we have a sale to raise money for a different charity: in the past we've done the RSPCA and the Blue Cross. This year we are raising money for the National Star College after our visitors last term. The girls get into small groups and plan a stall together. We then invite the parents and friends along and the girls run their own stall as well as taking it in turns to go and have a go on all the other stalls. We have had a wide variety of stalls in the past; from the traditional cake sales and raffles, to the less traditional obstacle courses and fortune tellers! We let the girls choose their groups as it gives them a little more independence but we do suggest that girls who've never done a sale before have someone in their group who has, to point out things they might have forgotten about. I spent the evening going between groups, writing down their ideas and helping them resolve disputes in their groups. We have a nice mix of stalls this year; nails and spa, lucky dip, hook-a-duck, fortune telling, cakes, loom bands, among others, so hopefully we will raise a fair amount for the National Star College (usually we make £150-£200). 

We ended the meeting by handing out the Agility badges the girls earned at the penultimate meeting last term and then let them loose on their parents, still no less hyper than when we started the meeting!

I didn't end up doing much of my Look Wider Qualification over the Summer, but I am still noting down things to fill up gaps so I'll hopefully make a start on typing stuff up soon! I am also off to University soon so it may get a bit disjointed for a couple of weeks while I settle in and find myself a new unit to help at, although I will still be returning home occasionally and going to meetings, but I'll keep you updated on that as it unfolds too.