The bells of St. Edburgs church

The bells of St. Edburgs church were ringing out as 500 girls from the Otmoor Division Girlguiding joined together in a finale celebration of 100 years of guiding. The Vision 2010 event was the culmination of 12 months of events including days out, special challenges and opportunities and a Party in the Park at Blenheim Palace.

The girls who included leaders, Senior Section, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows took part in various activities designed to help them rediscover, reignite, review and reaffirm their interest in and commitment to guiding and much fun was had by all as the church buzzed at full capacity.

One of the highlights of the night was the creation of a ‘memory tree’ where the girls wrote on ‘leaves’ what they have enjoyed most about the centenary year and hung them on the branches. The tree is still in the children’s corner of St. Edburgs for anyone to see. Local dignitaries including Bicester Mayor Richard Mould attended to support his charity for this year and join in the fun.

The evening concluded with all the girls renewing their promise together at 20.10 on 20/10/2010 after an inspirational countdown which demonstrated all the fantastic opportunities afforded to girls by the Girlguiding movement and the determination of all involved to continue the great work of the last 100 years into the next 100!

Sarah Shaw