Happy New Year

Dear Guiders, Advisers, and all other supporters.

Happy New Year!

2009 promises to be a fantastic year for Guiding with the start of the Centenary celebrations in September launching 13 months of festivities for everyone. Not only will events be taking place internationally and nationally, but also across Surrey West, in your local Divisions, Districts and units. I am sure everyone will have a fantastic time and we should give an almighty pat on the back to all of those who are working so hard to make it all go well. There is so much to do in planning and making everything work well that we sometimes forget that people just like you and me are behind it all.

On a different note, though, 2009 may be a difficult year for some people with the current economic upheavals. Some of you, your family or friends may find yourselves without a job. Some of us have been through this before and know that it is very hard to cope in these circumstances although for some it is an opportunity to move on and do something different –I did a Masters degree which I wouldn’t have had time to do before.

As members of the Guiding family, there are some positive things we can all do when our friends and relatives are in need of support:
Provide a sympathetic ear for anyone who just needs to talk. We can all do this and it is of great value for such a little effort.
Offer the opportunity to keep skills going, to refresh old skills or even develop new ones. We need so many talents that I am sure we can find somewhere in Surrey West that can benefit. In my MBA dissertation on bridging career gaps, it was clear that people demonstrating that they had kept their skills alive were seen positively by future employers – so Surrey West may be able to give practical support.

2009 will be a year of change – in your lives and in ours. I want Surrey West to be the best Guiding County, Herons Wey to be the best campsite it can be and the Centenary celebrations to be the most memorable of anything you have done in Guiding. I hope you want to be part of it and will help me achieve it.

In the meantime, here are a few suggestions about how you could be involved:

Making Surrey West the best Guiding County
§ Let us know what you think we should focus on – and how;
§ Volunteer to join our Guiding Development Group. Currently we need people to represent Advisers, Learning and Development, and Commissioners. You need not be involved at the moment with any of these but will represent their views on the Group that will put together our plans for the next 3 – 5 years;
§ Look at the Situations Vacant on the Weekly News and website and see if you can find people who would suit the roles to be filled.

Making Herons Wey the best campsite
§ Do you have ideas for improving the site? Let us know what they are;
§ Do you have skills we could use in developing the site and/or the business of running it? At the moment we need someone to pull together a computer programme to help automate bookings – is that you?
§ We have to improve the facilities, especially the water supply but this costs money (which we need to raise) and manage the project. Could you help?

The best Centenary Celebrations
§ We are already well ahead with planning but we need to move from outline plans to details and that will need many volunteers in a range of fields. Could you help?

I have one big request for you all; look at your skills and ask yourself if Surrey West could use them. I am sure we could although it might not be obvious immediately.

This will lead to two magnificent results:
Everyone feeling involved in how Surrey West is run, and
Making the best use of everyone’s talents.

Happy 2009.

Georgina