Girlguiding UK - girls in the lead

Girlguiding UK

Photocall notice

DOUBLE DELIGHT AS TWINS ACHIEVE EVERY GUIDE BADGE AND AWARD!

Photocall:    22^nd July, 12.00 noon

Girlguiding UK, 17-19 Buckingham Palace Road

Abby and Bethany will be in the Girlguiding UK Headquarters with Chief Guide Gill Slocombe

To attend please contact the Girlguiding UK Press Office on 020 7592 1733 or pressoffice@girlguiding.org.uk

Twin sisters are leading the way after notching up every Guide badge and award available.

Abby and Bethany Williams, aged 15 from Gravesend in Kent, have acquired a ‘full house’ of 45 badges and awards – including the prestigious Commonwealth Award and the Baden-Powell Award - the highest accolade available to Guides.

The pair have been involved in guiding since the age of five when they joined their local Rainbow group, and have been members of the 1st Gravesend Guides since age ten.

Abby said, 'I love getting involved in all the activities I can, such as things like crate stacking and abseiling. I also really enjoyed completing my Baden-Powell Award. Probably the most fun thing was building bivouacs and sleeping in them while we were away on camp.'

While she doesn’t yet have firm plans about her future, Abby is certain her experiences with Girlguiding UK stand her in good stead for whatever career she chooses.

She added, 'I’ve not thought too much about what I’d like to do after I finish school but I know that whatever I do, guiding has equipped me with skills I will use later in life. I can’t imagine life without guiding, it’s a major part of my life and it’s made me who I am.'

Bethany, who believes Girlguiding UK has also helped her career choice, said, 'When I leave school I want to become a paramedic so I know guiding has taught me skills I’ll need, like meeting and talking to new people.

'I’m glad my sister has been involved as well but I know I would have done all the same things if she wasn’t. We have been a bit competitive because when we started she was ahead in the number of badges she had, but then after a while I had caught up and then overtook her. It’s often like that.'

-ENDS-

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. We run Rainbows (5-7 years), Brownies (7-10 years), Guides (10-14 years) and Senior Section (14-25 years), enabling girls and young women to develop their potential whatever their ability or background. We are striving to offer new opportunities to a broad diversity of communities through our expanding network of over 61,000 trained volunteer Leaders.