From Community Correspondent Steve Wicks: Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and their Leaders form Kingston and Malden and Surbiton Divisions recently celebrated their Centenary with a special World Thinking Day service in Kingston Parish Church.

This was a very colourful event with numerous flags being paraded including the County Standard.

The event was even more special for Rebecca Edwards who received her Queen’s Guide award from County Commissioner Christine Wicks, who said, ‘it was a great privilege to present this award to Rebecca, the highest achievement for a girl to attain.

Rebecca gave credit to Marion Perry, the Queen’s Guide Advisor who had steered her through the various requirements.

The Centenary, launched in September 2009 marked 100 years since the first groups of determined girls ‘gate crashed’ the first Boy Scout Rally at Crystal Palace and demanded ‘something for the girls. Just months later, the Guide movement was formed.

The Centenary is an opportunity to celebrate the impact that the organisation has made on the lives of girls and young women and how modern guiding continues to support over half a million members around the UK to make new friends, develop skills and achieve their full potential in a unique girl only space.

Today, Girlguiding UK is the United Kingdom’s largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women, with over 550,000 members, offering girls and young women aged between 5 and 25 a unique girl-only space where they can fulfil their potential. Their programme is relevant to today’s girls, offering a range of opportunities from adventure to community projects, meeting their ambitions and needs of their members.

World Thinking Day is an opportunity for the ten million Guides and Girl Scouts in 145 countries around the world to remember each other and their commitment to international friendship and understanding.