Look back at Girlguiding celebrates

On 25 November 2023, some of our amazing members joined us for an afternoon of fun and celebration.  

Girlguiding celebrates was a red carpet event to celebrate those who’ve received special awards. These included Queen’s Guides, Silver Fish, Laurel and Guiding star awardees.

We also invited those of you who’d been nominated by other Girlguiding members - including parents, carers and the general public - for the incredible things you’ve done. Things like working tirelessly to keep units open throughout the pandemic, delivering peer education programmes and overcoming big life challenges as a young member.  

Whether you were there to celebrate your guiding award or support a loved one, thank you for coming and having a wonderful time. 

Here’s a roundup of what our members got up to on their special day. 

A roaring red carpet to remember 

The event took place at the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square and it was decked out head-to-toe with all things Girlguiding. We want to give a special thanks to our partners at ODEON for helping us to make this event extra memorable for our members. 

Our Girlguiding celebrates team greeted guests into the venue. Then they walked on a première-inspired red carpet! After that, members had their photo taken which was later sent to them as a keepsake. You might’ve spotted our chief guide team snapping a picture too.

As well as our Girlguiding ambassador Anna McNuff, author and adventurer. And our host for the evening, broadcaster and DJ, Harpz Kaur.   

 

‘It was a pleasure to be a part of Girlguiding celebrates. It was fantastic to recognise those who’ve achieved awards, and to be joined by those nominated by their peers. An amazing afternoon as we celebrated together! Thank you and well done everyone,’ - Tracy Foster chief guide.

Let’s raise a glass to all of you! 

To kick off the celebration, guests grabbed a drink in the Oscar’s Bar which overlooked the twinkling lights of Leicester Square. Our members then made their way into the theatre. Here, they could raise a glass to their achievements and mingle with others who've shared in their guiding journey. They said hello to new and familiar faces and prepared for an afternoon of celebration! 

Show-stopping performances  

After a drink's reception, guests made their way inside the ODEON Luxe theatre to enjoy an epic variety show of show-stopping performances. The stage welcomed fantastic acts from across the UK including: 

• Pond-Grainger performing arts school which included some Guides and Rangers.
• Finchley's Children Music group which included some Brownies.
• Some Voices choir, featuring one of our leaders.
• Scouts and Guides Big Band with members from across the UK. 
• Akimbo Acrobatics with our flashing logo in LED lights.
• And more! 

To highlight our silver screen theme, each of our acts performed to songs from famous films. They all had a special link to Girlguiding in some way to make the performances extra special.

A glitzy new badge 

To top it all off,  all of our awardees were given a sparkly new badge to remember this special day. This is a badge with a very special meaning behind it.

‘The design needed something that would represent the celebration of our members at this special event. We wanted something that shows how important our members are to us. They're the stars of the show and that's where the idea came from. 

The star represents the members, and the starburst effect is made up of a series of spotlights that are being directed onto it. 

We used sparkles and the colour silver to give the sense of occasion, as well as the feeling of fun we knew this event would have. After all, it’s a party and who doesn’t like a bit of glitter!’ - David Jones, design lead at Girlguiding.

The silver glitter is also is a nod to our 'afternoon at the silver screen' theme. It also has the date on the front to mark the day.

Thank you for helping girls know they can do anything 

Girlguiding celebrates was a moment of appreciation for all of our members. For the girls who’ve overcome big life challenges and for volunteers who help run Girlguiding day in, day out. We celebrated all of our incredible awardees in style!

For everyone who’ve achieved a special guiding award after December 2022, we hope to see you at our next Girlguiding celebrates.