1st Radley Guides are members of Thames District Guide Association and are affiliated to The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts [W.A.G.G.G.S.]. We meet every Thursday evening during term time at Radley Village Hall from 7 to 8.30 pm, and cater for girls between the ages of 10 and 15.

The company's team of adult leaders is led by Wendy Faulkner, whose long-term dedication to the company has been as recognised with the award of the Guide Association's 20-years service brooch. The unit's 30 guides are divided into groups known as patrols. Patrols include penguin, panda and dolphin. Assistant Guide Leader, Joanne Ranger, recently completed her leadsershio qualitifaction and is also now a fully warrranted Guider.

New adult helpers are urgently needed (no need to wear a uniform) - particularly so that girls on the waiting list can join. If you're interested in volunteering, please contact Wendy (radleyguides@hotmail.co.uk) or come along one Thursday evening to the village hall. The unit already relies on a rota of parent helpers but would really appreciate someone who could come and help on a regular basis.

We try to participate in as many village activities as possible – Radley fete and flower show, the Christmas bazaar, attending church parade to name but a few. We are often seen around the village delivering leaflets for the Clerk of the Green Cloth elections, the church Christmas cards and the Radley garden competition. These all count towards our service to the community.

The guides participate in many adventurous activities – dry skiing, abseiling, ice skating, climbing, pioneering, orienteering, outdoor cooking, etc. Each year ten guides attend the Malvern Challenge, a weekend of events held at Cleeve Hill just outside Cheltenham. The main event of the weekend is an eight mile incident hike. This event is always a favourite with the girls!

While at weekly meetings we work towards badges, play games, complete different crafts and work towards 'Go For Its'. Once a year, we hold a one-day badge workshop. Many of the older Guides work towards their Baden Powell Challenge - the highest award a Guide can achieve.

We try to go on at least one day trip a year, but in 2005 we managed two. The first was a trip to London with a tour around BBC Television Centre, followed by a visit to Hackney City Farm. The second was more local – a visit to Island Farm donkey sanctuary at Brightwell-cum-Sotwell followed by a guided tour around Didcot Power Station. While at the donkey sanctuary, the guides fell in love with Loppy, an 11 year old donkey who has ears nearly 18” long. So we organised a collection and have now adopted Loppy for a year – our adoption certificate has just come through! Both day trips were great fun.

In 2006, Nicola North was selected to represent Oxfordshire Guides at an international camp in Finland in July. This is the first time a Guide from Radley has been selected since the company was re-registered back in 1975. The company is extremely proud of Nicola and was busy fund-raising to help Nicola go on this trip. In 2007 Eleanore Henderson was accepted to attend the Vendelbo Jamboree in Denmark with around 1,000 other guides and scouts from around the world. Again the company helped Eleanore in her activities to raise the funds for her trip. These included a quiz night in Radley Village Hall.

This is just a taster of what Radley Guides get up to! If you are interested in joining and are aged nine or over, please email your details to radleyguides@hotmail.co.uk or leave a message for Wendy Faulkner on 01235 527086.

If you are interested in becoming a leader or an adult helper on a regular basis, then please feel free to contact Wendy or alternatively come along to one of our meetings to see what it is all about.

For further information about Guides in general, please visit the Guide Association website.