A Burton woman has been hailed an inspiration after her dedication and passion saw her achieve the highest award in Girlguiding.
Vanessa Johnson, 27, from Rolleston, was presented with the prestigious Queen’s Guide Award at the House of Commons in London by the movement's Chief Guide Amanda Medler.
Vanessa took three years to finish her challenges to secure the award, which she completed alongside her full-time job as a teacher at a Burton primary school.
She says she was delighted to be given the award and was also treated to an inspirational talk at the event by Mollie Hughes, the youngest woman in the world and the first English woman to successfully summit from the north and south sides of Mount Everest - the world’s highest mountain.
Vanessa said: "As part of the award, I developed my hobby of photography joining the PR team at Unity 2014. The camp sees Guides from across Staffordshire and the world attend for a week.
"I was one of the photography team, and loved taking pictures of Guides having an amazing time all week.
"I took a coach of Brownies and Guides to Wembley to watch England ladies play their first game there. I also surprised myself as I ended my award jumping off a 20-metre high platform; I never thought I would do that!
"The Queen’s Guide Award means the world to me. I have been in Guiding since I was a Rainbow and loved every minute of it. My mum has supported me throughout the whole journey, being a leader to ensure I had units to attend, to now being at my side and supporting events I lead.
"It helped me to get back on track after a terrible time at work after university, and Guiding has helped me to be the person I am today. Guiding offers the most brilliant opportunities to girls, of all ages if they give it a try!"
To achieve the prestigious award Vanessa took on a series of personal challenges in areas such as social action, voluntary work and travel.
Fewer than 150 young women out of the hundreds of thousands of Girlguiding members are presented with the award each year and they have to complete their challenges before they turn 26.
Mountaineer and adventurer Mollie Hughes added: "It was such a privilege to speak at the Queen’s Guide Awards, to meet these amazing young women and hear about their incredible achievements.
"In my speech I talked about the importance of courage and self-belief when taking on a challenge and all of them have demonstrated this in the course of completing their Queen’s Guide Awards.
"I hope they are all really proud of their achievements and go on to have many more exciting adventures."
Amanda Medler, is the Chief Guide who presented Vanessa with the award. She said: "Presenting these remarkable young women with their Queen’s Guide Awards was an absolute honour.
"Hearing about their adventures, highlights, and the challenges they overcame to complete their projects to make a difference in their communities was inspiring. Congratulations to them all."
What is the Queen's Guide Award?
The Queen’s Guide Award (QGA) is the highest award you can work towards in guiding.
It gives guides the chance to develop their skills, while contributing to guiding and their local community. It is open to members aged 16 to 25 and must be completed within three years from the start date or before their 26th birthday, whichever is sooner.
What does it entail?
The award is based on the concepts of personal challenge and participation and is split into five sections.
- Service in guiding - take an active role in guiding at a range of levels.
- Outdoor challenge - build on teamwork and leadership skills in a glorious outdoor setting. Where they go and what they do is up to them!
- Personal skill development - start a new skill and develop it, or take an existing skill to a new level for a minimum of 60 hours over 12 months. A personal skill could be anything from ballet to circus skills, performing magic tricks to playing a musical instrument.
- Community action - get more involved with the world around them and gain a greater understanding of it through practical and research projects of their choice.
- Residential - spend two nights and three days away from home with new people.
The stages of girlguiding:
Girls are organised into sections by age. These are Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and The Senior Section.
Rainbow Guides
Rainbow Guides or Rainbows are aged from five to seven- years-old, except in Northern Ireland where girls can join from the age of four. Activities are organised around work the four areas of the Rainbow Jigsaw – Look, Learn, Laugh and Love.
Each girl makes a promise on joining a Rainbow unit and must be able to understand and want to make this promise. This Promise is a simpler version of the one all members make.
Brownie Guides
Brownie Guides or Brownies are aged from seven to 10 years old. Brownies work from the Brownie Adventure which is divided into three areas: You, Community and World. Brownies can also work towards activity badges covering a variety of subjects.
Guides
Guides are aged from 10 to 14 years old. Guides work from the 5 Zones: Healthy Lifestyles, Global Awareness, Skills and Relationships, Celebrating diversity and Discovery. Guides can choose to work on Challenge Badges, Go For Its, Interest badges and the Baden-Powell Challenge which is the highest award that a Guide can gain.
They take part in indoor and outdoor activities that challenge them to do their best. Guides choose and plan most of their own activities, which can include themed evenings and trips.
