The Girl Guides of St Saviour will be enjoying the great outdoors, thanks to a donation of three tents from The Channel Islands Co-operative Society's Helping Hands programme.
The St Saviour Girl Guide group was just one of the lucky recipients of the funding programme, which has recently pledged more than £16,500 to 26ChannelIslandcharities and community groups.
Jackie Fromage, Guide leader of the St Saviour Girl Guides, said she was delighted with the donation. 'The one large tent which we've had for many years has begun to leak, rendering it completely useless. Thanks to the Co-operative's Helping Hands initiative we have been able to take eight girls to a camp in Guernsey to celebrate their Centenary in theChannel Islands. It was a fantastic event and one that we would have hated for the girls to miss out on because we didn't have suitable equipment.'
'The tents are fantastic,' added Ms Fromage. 'Particularly because it's a lot easier to get the girls settled and to sleep when they're in smaller tents rather than one large one! They're also a lot easier for the girls to handle and lighter weight so we can carry them along to more long weekend camping expeditions.'
Earlier this year the Society invited applications from local organisations and charities with a good cause that was being held back through a lack of funds. More than 100 applications were received from youth groups, charities, schools, church congregations, heritage and environmental projects, social-welfare and health care providers. Out of the £16,540 paid out, £8,650 went toJerseyorganisations and £7,890 went to the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
The aim of the Helping Hands Fund is to give assistance to as many causes who qualify across the community as possible, rather than making larger single donations to a few. It reflects the Society's underlying principles of co-operative trade where profits not only remain in the Bailiwicks to be reinvested but a proportion is given to a wide range of community initiatives.
Chief Commercial Officer, Jim Plumley said: 'As the local community retailer in the Channel Islands, we want to help as many local initiatives as possible, although it is an extremely difficult task to choose which recipients should receive support as each and every one is deserving. We are also delighted to assist those who freely give their time to helping their fellow islanders, in service to the community and in protecting our environments.'
Recipients in Jersey included:
Girl guiding was founded in Jersey in 1919. There are currently over 400 members in 32 units which are made up of seven Rainbow units for girls aged five to seven years, 16 Brownie units for girls aged seven to ten years, eight Guide units for girls aged ten to fourteen year, one Senior Section unit for young women aged fourteen to twenty-six years.
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