Girlguiding leader Margaret Shannon has accumulated an amazing 40 years of service to the organisation and was celebrated by Girlguiding Cumbria South at our recent annual Awards Evening, attended by many civil dignitaries and local as well as regional Guiding leaders.
Margaret, from Ulverston, joined the Brownies “because of all the fun stuff that Brownies
did”. She never left and now has a variety of roles in Girlguiding Cumbria South. Her
favourite memories are all about meeting like-minded women and girls on international
visits, “including one to the Sangam World Centre in India, where we had a monkey in the
room, plus we visited local families and enjoyed a tour of India”.
Margaret Shannon presented with 40 year long service award by Julie Bell, Girlguiding North West England Region Commissioner.
Many of her current volunteering hours are taken up with making sure that every
Girlduiding leader in the area has relevant First Aid qualifications. “This is very important as it enables us to make sure that everybody is safe, that Guiding happens in a safe
environment.”
Margaret has seen many changes in her years as a Girlguiding leader, including to the
uniform “from the bobble hat onwards” but also emphasises that many aspects of her
experiences are timeless: “The girl only space, the friendship and the fun, and the many
opportunities for girls” will always be essential.