We're back!

Apologies for the radio silence!  I don't think anyone realised just how long it had been since our last blog post!  We will try to do better this year, although as it is already February, we might not be as efficient as we'd like!

So much happened last year for Clack Close District!  There's no way we can update you on everything but hopefully here we can give you a few highlights.  Perhaps our favourite day was the District Day Out at Eaton Vale, organised by Rainbow Leader Fox.  All the girls were invited to attend and there were activities for every section including Raft Building, Abseiling, Backward Cooking and Crate Stacking to name a few.

The weather was a little chilly but that didn't stop the girls enjoying some outdoor games and lunch was outside even though it wasn't quite picnic weather!  It was really nice seeing the different sections taking part in activities.  I was convinced the Rainbows were going to go into the water while I watched them canoeing but they all emerged from their boats nice and dry.  The Rangers, on the other hand, seemed to spend a fair bit of time in the water!

It was a really successful day and great to see who the different units are and what they do.  We hope to do something similar this year, so watch out for further information.

But it wasn't all outdoor activities last year.  Some sections spent time looking at the Vote 100 Challenge Badge and also took part in Parliament Week.  Visiting speakers and a range of activities got us thinking about the importance of voting and knowing what you are voting for.  We celebrated the victories of the Suffragettes with glass painting, green,white and violet hair ties and by enjoying a High Tea with decorated biscuits and cakes.  We were also lucky to have Rebecca Elliott from the local Labour Party talk to us about policies and why every vote counts.

There was no summer camp last year as most of the leaders were either away or volunteering at Norjam.  We know how much organisation goes into running a jamboree, so thank you to Willow and Wren for supporting our Guiding and Scouting community.  The leaders are already planning a summer camp this year, so keep an eye out for more information.

Other things that happened last year included:  trips to Stow Hall for Croquet and wide games, trips to Oxburgh Hall, trips to the Pantomime and The Christmas Spectacular in Yarmouth, BP Nights, YL Nights, Community and Christmas Fairs, Thinking Day, Sixer Weekend, Coffee Morning, District Campfire, Parties, Crafting and Drumming!  Sorry we can't expand on these things here - I'm sure your Daughters have already told you all about them though!

So that is our very brief round up nearly over, except to say that we have a new programme!  New badges, new activities and more links between the sections so that your daughter can really see her progress through Guiding over the years .  Your daughter is likely to have brought home some information about how it all works, the most significant change for parents is probably the expectation that all interest badges will be completed at home.  The range of badges is fantastic, so expect some slightly strange requests from your girls....anyone for whittling?

Yours in Guiding
Clack Close District

Charity Shop Chic

As part of the Ranger's Independent Living Octant, the Rangers from Clack Close all took part in the £5 challenge.  

Each Ranger was given £5 and they had to try and buy a complete outfit from a charity shop. They all did an amazing job, with some real bargains, as you can see from the photo.

Pamper yourself

To celebrate Mother’s Day, 1^st Downham Market Guides held a pamper night. Mocktail bar, cakes, relaxing music, candles, cucumber on eyes, hand massages, gel-nails, shoulder massage and the most successful activity our Listening Project (similar to Radio Four’s)

There was a shoe box filled with questions which the Guide was to ask their Mum/Auntie/ Carer and also questions for the adults to ask their Guide. 

A really relaxing and enjoyable evening was had by all. Well done girls J

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A visit from West Norfolk Deaf Association

Tonight 2nd Downham Market (St Edmund's) Guides had a visit from Sarah from the West Norfolk Deaf Association.  She came to tell us more about the work of the charity and the services they provide.  Those who are local to Downham will know that the WNDA have recently opened a book shop in Downham Market and are planning to open another of their charity shops very soon.  But what you might not know is that these shops also provide a service to the deaf community, particularly by servicing hearing aids.  The charity is a very local charity and survives on donations and funding bids - you can find out more here

Sarah gave us some tips for communicating with deaf people, including reminding us to speak normally and not exaggerate.  Exaggeration changes the way our lips and facial expressions look and can cause confusion.  She also said we should stand still when talking to a deaf person and make sure they have a clear view of our faces, we should be aware of the light and make sure we are not in silhouette.  Towards the end of the evening we learnt some British Sign Language, including how to finger spell our names and some commonly used signs - many of which can be found on YouTube.

Thank you to Sarah for coming along and we hope to see some of our readers supporting the WNDA shop x

Flippin' good fun!

1^st Downham Market Guides tried their hand at making pancakes. Each patrol had a different set of ingredients:

·         homemade with milk, flour and eggs,

·         Batter mix in a packet – just add water

·         Batter mix in a bottle, just add and egg and water

·         Basic 30p batter mix – add water.

The homemade came first closely followed by the basic 30p batter mix.

We all had a flippin’ good time!
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Surf Smart Sleepover

On Friday 10th February, girls from 1st and 2nd Downham Market Guides were very lucky to be able to have a sleepover in St Edmund's Church.  We love a sleepover in this District and we are always looking for new places to spend the night, so we were very pleased to sleep in the Church, which is an incredibly old and incredibly beautiful building.  Some of the Guides thought that sleeping in the Church might be quite creepy - especially with the tombstones just outside - but it was actually very peaceful and we all got more sleep than we expected.

Whilst on the sleepover, we worked towards our Surf Smart Badge, a resource produced by WAGGS.  The resource had loads of fantastic games and activities which clearly illustrated some of the risks of being online.  We weren't trying to put anyone off of using the internet but wanted everyone to think a little more carefully about their security online.  Here's what some of the girls said:

Anna G "I found sleeping slightly weird at first but once I had been asleep and rested I enjoyed it.  I liked being where we were and we were all nice and snuggly"

Lauren "At first it was a bit creepy but once I got used to it, it was quite nice because there was lots of things to look at, so eventually I fell asleep.  It was super cosy"

Katie "It was actually really warm once you got into your sleeping bag.  I really liked the blindfolded 'follow the leader' because it was a fun way to show how little you know about the dangers of a website"

Eden and Savannah "We enjoyed Block It, where everyone was blindfolded and held onto a piece of string.  The person in front sent directions to you.  We enjoyed the Church because it was clean and cosy.  We got to play games such as the toothpaste game and we wrote about the positives and negatives of the internet.  We made safe passwords.

Anna R, Katie C and Mia F "It was very cosy but quite cold even though the heating was on.  It wasn't creepy at all but some Guides wouldn't stop talking through the night.  We talked about internet safety and what happens when you are not safe online.  The badge was really fun!  We learned a lot of things in a fun, productive way and without scaring ourselves."

Connie, Caitlin and Anya "The activities were fun and quick so we could move onto the next one quickly.  It was cold but luckily we had lots of blankets.  We tried to get to sleep but people kept waking us up by talking"

Holly "I enjoyed sleeping in the Church because it was clean and well looked after.  We played lots of games and made a poster about the positives and negatives of the internet"

Lucy, Katrina and Megan "It was chilly but fun and beautiful.  We met new(ish) people"

Stephanie, Amber and Emma A "It was squished and freezing!  Noisy but exciting and enjoyable"

Georgina and Erin "Thank you to leaders and Father Mather for a good night and for letting us sleep in the Church.  We laughed very much, the badge was fun"

All in all, it was a huge amount of fun and at the end of the sleepover we made our internet promises - we all pledged to stay safer online by doing different things for example checking our privacy settings, improving our passwords and spending less time on our phones.

Of course, that doesn't include reading the Clack Close Blog... :)

See you next time x

Welcome to our new blog!

Hello to friends, sister Guides and generally interested readers - welcome to our new blog!  We are Clack Close District which can be found in Downham Market, Norfolk, UK.  We are very lucky in our District to have so many young women involved in Girlguiding, from Rainbows through to Senior Section there is a general excitement and enjoyment of Guiding, in fact take a look at our Twitter feed to see what we have been up to recently.

2017 is going to be another fantastic year for us, so we have decided to record some of our adventures here.  Posts will be written by girls from all Sections and Leaders will have input too - if there is anything you'd like to see here, do let us know.

So we hope to get to know you through our blog and for you to find out more about us.  Do follow, share and comment but please be nice - it makes the World a happier place!

Camp 2016