Girls and Leaders from the County of Greater London West, which covers the boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton, had the privilege of representing the Girlguiding Region of London and South East England (LaSER) in the Lord Mayor’s Show last Saturday.

Suggestions for the float design were submitted by the girls and an international theme of ’10 million girls around the world’- representing the worldwide membership of Guiding, was selected. In order that all the 6000 girls and Leaders in the County could take an active part, they were invited to send in paper cut outs of their hands which were transformed on the float into a peace dove.

‘People’ templates were also coloured with international uniforms of Rainbow, Brownies and Guides from around the world and they were displayed on a banner and around the plinths of the float.

With a giant trefoil and an inflated globe surrounded by Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Senior Section holding hands; our float design was finalised.

80 girls and Leaders had an amazing experience on the day, all dressed smartly and proud to be representing Girlguiding to the world. Loud music and bubbles streamed from the float and the girls performed routines with pom-poms and waved to the estimated 400,000 people lining the streets.

After 9 years of taking part in the parade, the Girlguiding float was featured by the BBC and Charlotte, a Guide from Cheam, was interviewed live by Clare Balding and stated how much fun she has as a Guide, going camping and doing lots of other activities and making new friends.

The weather stayed dry and was even too warm for the brisk walk with the float and was summed up by several of the girls who all echoed the same response ‘An amazing day - we'll remember it forever’.

Girlguiding UK is the UK’s largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women, with around 530,000 members and recognised volunteers.

Over a third of girls and young women (aged 7-21) in the UK are involved in guiding, or have been in the past and almost half of all the women in the UK have been involved in guiding at some stage in their lives.

Rainbows (5-7 years), Brownies (7-10 years), Guides (10-14 years) and Senior Section (14-25 years) enable girls and young women to develop their potential whatever their ability or background.

Girlguiding seeks to give girls a voice and provide a unique, girl-only space where they feel comfortable just being themselves. Members are challenged by a girl-led programme that extends beyond badges, enjoy a spectrum of activities from international travel and outdoor adventure to pop-concerts and community action.

Girlguiding UK, part of a worldwide Movement of approximately 10 million girls and young women in 145 countries, celebrated its Centenary in 2010. Registered Charity No 306016 www.girlguiding.org.uk Based on information supplied by Steve Wicks.