Inspire Southwest England (members aged 18-30 years) took over Pax Lodge in March. Two members from Cornwall went up to London to stay at the world centre with over 60 other members from around the southwest.
The weekend started with an opening meeting, a gigantic picnic, some crafts and an opportunity to meet others, discuss plans for Saturday and of course swap badges!
Saturday started with breakfast then the raising of the flag and pinning ceremony after which we were free to do as we wish. The majority of us started with a trip to Girlguiding HQ - to stock up on yet more badges!
Then 10 girls from across Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and the Channel Islands went and explored London by doing challenges that Pax Lodge had arranged. We did the monopoly challenge and the Harry Potter challenge. These challenges took us to all the major landmarks of London including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square taking lots of pictures along the way, including the typical ‘how many can you fit into a phone box’. By the end of the day we had managed to walk 8 and a half miles - safe to say we were all very tired when we got back to Pax Lodge!
The evening consisted of takeaways, more badge swapping and early nights! The weekend ended on Sunday with an 8am breakfast (yes on a Sunday!) and a special closing ceremony, then it was time to say goodbye to all the new friends we had met and make our way back to Cornwall. It was a great and memorable weekend and I’m so glad we went.
Emily, Inspire Cornwall member
