Girl Guiding New Zealand AGM

To Jenny Burrow, National President and the board members, to  Ruth Teasdale, Chief Executive and the staff members,  to GirlGuides and all present, all supporters of GirlGuiding New Zealand: Good afternoon.

Thank you for inviting me to address the 2010 Annual General Meeting as Patron of GirlGuiding New Zealand - Nga Kohine Whakamahiri o Aotearoa.

Some may recall that I was here for both the 2008 and 2009 GirlGuiding Annual General Meetings and I am pleased to be here again today.

In addition, I have attended other GirlGuides ceremonies where I have awarded a Queen's Guide Awards and where Anand has awarded Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Gold Awards.  On state visits, last October, to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, I met with inspiring Girl Guides in Port Moresby and Honiara.  Anand and I have recently also had state visits to Singapore and Timor Leste.  The Guides in Singapore, I learned, are based in schools which differs from our community-based approach.

As part of a Regional Visit there last month, I visited the Nelson GirlGuiding Unit.  There I met with the Regional Co-ordinator, Sarah Arnold, and attended a meeting where I saw Brownies and Pippins, who had worked for badges, proudly show off their sashes of achievements.  It was a privilege to present achievement awards to three GirlGuides who credited GirlGuiding with giving them an obvious self-confidence, friendships, and leadership opportunities.

The Nelson visit provided a snapshot of the huge value that GirlGuiding New Zealand gives to its members and our communities.  The integrity of the GirlGuiding brand on a CV, signals someone who has grown well-beyond the point they might otherwise have.  The GirlGuiding statement of purpose to “enable girls and young women to reach their full potential and make a difference in the world”  exemplifies this.

Children are now growing up in a different world than it was when the Guiding Movement began.  With sedentary distractions such as television, texting and the internet, including social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it is more challenging to keep girls active and engaged in life alongside those popular pastimes.

The statement of purpose is increasingly important and something that GirlGuiding New Zealand must continue to strive towards.

After reading the latest Te Rama publication, it is clear that GirlGuiding New Zealand really does have its finger on the pulse, in terms of providing activities that continue to engage our girls.

One example is displayed by the Kelburn Guides Unit.  There, the girls literally getting their fingers dirty in the garden.  I am a keen gardener and know that the delight is one that many young people do not experience.  Seeing pictures of young girls enjoying themselves and getting stuck into gardening is very uplifting. Katherine Mansfield said: "Grow things.  Plant.  Dig up.  Garden.  I feel with all the force of my being that 'happiness' is in these things".

Another example of a GirlGuiding initiative is the nationwide “Bra Chain Campaign”, to raise awareness of breast cancer.  This world record attempt to achieve the longest Bra Chain, began, I believe, in the Dargaville GirlGuiding Unit.  It is now a campaign that GirlGuiding Units across the country are promoting and contributing to.  Good luck to you all on achieving that world record.

I would like to acknowledge and warmly thank National President Jenny Burrow. - GirlGuiding New Zealand and the activities of its members is inspirational to us.  To be inspirational requires inspiring leadership. - The wise and energetic leadership Jenny has shown over her term as National President has contributed greatly to the growth of GirlGuiding New Zealand.  I know that it is Jenny’s last AGM as President and I wish to add my voice and thank her for the long term she has served and the huge value she has added to girls of New Zealand.

I wish you all well in continuing to empower young women and in encouraging them to make a difference in their community, country and further abroad.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.