Girlguiding Burgess Hill Division Participates in Queen’s Canopy and unveils their donated Bench

Rosie & Mum, Angela planting Her Majesty’s tree

Members of Girlguiding Division together with Guide Hall representatives gathered on 19th November 2022 to plant three trees in the Guide Hall grounds, when The Division took the opportunity to be part of the Queen’s Green Canopy and to also commemorate past supporters of the Guide Hall

Each of the three trees were dedicated to different people: -

A Rowan was planted to replace a previous tree which had been in memory of Frank & Vera Sharp who had been respectively a previous Guide Hall Chairman and District Commissioner in the 1970s, a Whitebeam, commemorated past Guide Hall Chairman, John Hudson who recently passed away and his wife Eileen, Brownie Leader and long-standing Trefoil member, and finally, a Hazel was dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who was the Patron of Girlguiding.

Charlie Irwin, Joint Division Commissioner, said: “It was such an honour to be able to recognise these special people”, her counterpart Jacqui Hall, remarked “it was fitting that there should be a permanent memorial to those who have supported Girlguiding, from Frank, Vera, John & Eileen at grassroots level, to Her Majesty who supported all members since the year of her Coronation in 1953.”

The event was concluded by the unveiling of a garden bench, which was kindly donated by Alexander Rose Furniture of Burgess Hill. The kind donation was the result of a letter to the company from Rosie Yeats, who was at the time a 2nd Burgess Hill Rainbow. She had organised a fundraising cake stall as part of her Guide Hall badge. When Mike Brand the Finance & Operations Director read it, the Company decided to cover all the costs & allow her to donate her money to the Guide Hall for something else.

Ian Richards, current Guide Hall Chair said: “We are very grateful to both Rosie for taking the initiative to fund raise and Alexander Rose for their generous support. I know that volunteers, parents and of course the girls themselves, will enjoy the benefits of having a comfortable spot to watch the activities in our beautiful grounds & indeed watch our new trees flourish.”

Girlguiding Burgess Hill Division welcomes new members to enjoy the fun and learn valuable life skills.Volunteers are also always needed: – volunteering can be flexible to meet your interests and time available, you don’t have to attend every week. Full training and support will be provided.if you have any time available in your week and you want to be part of something amazing or just find out a bit more then please get in touch.