Hartlepool Rainbows, Brownies, Guides make contact with people all around the world to mark World Thinking Day
and live on Freeview channel 276
Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Leaders from Hartlepool, Norton and Eaglescliffe got together to celebrate World Thinking Day by getting on the air.
World Thinking Day is a celebration of ten million girls worldwide that has been taking place every 22 February since 1926. It remains a day for all Guides and Girl Scouts to think of each other and this year’s celebration was rather special as the date 22 02 2022 is a palindrome.
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Hide AdThe event was also the first big face-to-face event for Girlguiding members in the area in over two years, with over 50 girls in total taking part across two sessions.
Thinking Day on the Air allows girls to contact others around the world by using long and short-wave radios.
Hartlepool Amateur Radio Club setup their equipment using three different aerials to help the girls contact others around the UK and the world.
Most of the girls were speaking over a radio for the very first time and got to make contact with people in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Canada and the USA.
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Hide AdThey also made contact with Russia, Ukraine and South Africa through an Ft8 (a computer program used for weak-signal radio communication between amateur radio operators).
Girlguiding Cleveland Training and Event coordinator Karen Lee said: “It was great seeing the girls’ faces and actually getting to speak on the air to other people.
"I think the girls really enjoyed it.
"It’s what we do it for. That’s our biggest reward, to see the joy on their faces when they’ve done something new, they’ve enjoyed what they’ve been doing. That is definitely our reward.”
While waiting for their turn to speak on the radio, the girls also made an edible Mexican sombrero using a digestive biscuit, icing, sprinkles and a jelly sweet.
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Hide AdThe event allowed the Rainbows, Brownies Guides and Leaders to meet again face to face after a very difficult two years where weekly meetings were held over Zoom.
Karen added: “It was absolutely amazing to get together and be actually face to face rather than over a computer.
"It’s totally different when you are together. You get more reaction from the kids. They are more focused.”
To join Girlguiding, visit www.girlguiding.org.uk.