“Hello! My name is Amy and I work as a Healthcare Assistant for an agency covering Powys & Shropshire but I’m also a Volunteer Leader in Training at 1st Knighton Rainbows for Girlguiding Cymru.

In my everyday job I mostly support adults with learning difficulties or elderly to live as independently as possible although I also help cover staff shortages at care homes, residential homes and community hospitals as and when needed. I love my job as although it has long and unsociable hours and the pay isn’t great, I make a difference in people’s lives and help them to achieve their desires and goals as much as possible. You can also brighten up someone’s day and help them feel secure and valued just by being there with a smile on your face and listening to their amazing stories.

I have always been kind-hearted, friendly and caring, which I feel are the most important qualities to have in care work and I believe that Girlguiding helped shape who I am today as I have very fond, fun memories of being a Rainbow and Brownie myself when I was younger, so when the opportunity arose to help out my local Rainbow unit after not long moving to the nearby area I just felt like it was the right thing to do. I wanted to give back to my community, make new friends and make a difference to young girls, so they could have the same, or even better, fun memories of Guiding as I do.

I was made to feel welcome within the unit and was given the opportunity to help on a few weeks to see how I felt after a little while. I loved every minute of it – Seeing the young girls face light up as we worked through the programme by building a robot, singing some silly songs, dashing about trying to recycle as much as we could in the right bins and learning how to turn a flannel into a teddy for Mother’s Day. The Rainbows did a great job of helping me learn The Promise, Rainbow Welcome and Rainbow Goodbye song.

I officially signed up as a Volunteer and after being so inspired by the two fantastic leaders in the unit I enquired there and then about becoming a leader as well. By March 2019 I had been given my Adult Leadership Qualification Booklet and a leader polo shirt – I felt so happy and proud to be part of this amazing charity and journey for young girls and women.

As soon as I got home that night I opened and tried out the polo shirt and even my boyfriend commented how pleased and proud I looked in my new role. It was just what I needed to break up my usual routine by getting out more and being able to have fun whilst giving girls a voice and safe space to be themselves.

A year on and I’ve nearly finished my Leadership Qualification and I’m still enjoying every minute of it – As we only meet during term time in our unit I feel ‘lost’ during the school holidays and half-term at times but I manage to fill my time with behind the scenes preparation work and a meet-up with the other leaders and helpers for a meal or programme planning meeting.

Want to know what I got up to in that year? Okay, here are some of my favourite bits:

• Camp Stage 1 Skillbuilder – Who doesn’t enjoy making a tent, sitting round a campfire (artificial one), eating cookies and roasted marshmallows or strawberries and singing ‘Crazy Moose’

• Making my promise alongside 3 other girls in the local park with their parents and grandparents

• County Training Day – Having a go at some of the activities from the programme including making our very own mascot, making a marble run and learning different knots.

• Girlguiding Frozen 2 movie trip

• Making Chinese lanterns and playing torch tag

• Learning how to make pancakes from scratch and trying new food for the first time

Now that you have gotten to know me and my experience with Girlguiding I want to share what type of blog posts you can expect from me in the future.

I will mainly be covering the Rainbows section, so lots of fun ideas and crafts for 5-7-year olds and all the fun and exciting activities and opportunities we give to young girls who join us in Rainbows alongside the occasional positive story/experience as a Rainbow Leader.

Looking forward to being part of the new blogging team and bringing some useful, fun activities to help keep the little ones busy and entertained as well as support them to progress in their guiding experience.

Amy