Helene braves the rain for an Olympic adventure with 1st Boxmoor Guides

A couple of weeks ago, Helene arrived to stay with 1^st Boxmoor Guides and friends securely in her own ‘sleeping bag’ but did get a little downhearted being asked to ‘sleep rough’ on a door step in the rain whilst waiting for one of her hosts to return from work! Eventually she returned, gave Helene a hug and things started to look better.

Helene soon learned she was to have a very busy Sunday as the Olympic Torch was coming to Hemel Hempstead and she was invited to join Guiding and Scouting members to a Torch Celebration with lots of activities before we all marched across town to view the Olympic Torch as it passed by.

Sunday morning came with huge rain clouds and a flurry of activity – Helene started to worry about getting wet again...

We arrived early at the Guide Hut where we loaded a huge assortment of equipment into various cars and set off for the local park. Helene watched as areas were set up for Sports Day, food and creative activities, and kept a very close eye on the weather.

At 1:30 as all the Leaders assembled in a big marquee the rain began to fall, we all had to shout to hear each other over the rain. Oh-no, would all the Rainbows, Beavers, Cubs, Brownies, Guides and Scouts still come? We crossed our fingers and the sun began to shine a few minutes later.

Just after 2:00 the young members began to arrive, and Helene made friends with some local Guides who took care of her for the rest of the day. She had a really great time with them!

Everyone had a great time – there were marshmallow pigs made, union flags coloured and waved, giant straw constructions, welly throwing, team sports competitions, fruit kebabs made, so many things we didn’t get to finish them all!

At 4:15 we all lined the streets outside the Guide and Scout Headquarters and waited patiently for the Torch Tour to pass. It began to rain, but we were so excited we didn’t really notice (and a Leader walked along the line with a bucket of sweets!).

Everyone had all been collecting 1ps and 2ps we put these in the now empty sweet bucket to raise money for WheelPower (based at Stoke Mandeville, a fab Olympic themed charity). Soon we heard whispers along the lines that the torch was coming, and the excitement was building. Then police bikes drove slowly past, and some policemen waved - one created a cheering competition!

And then it came - we heard chattering down the road and saw a glimpse of the top of the torch in the distance, the clapping and cheering got closer to us and then we could see the Torch Bearer and the Torch in front of us and it was our turn to cheer. It was a once in a life-time experience and Helene was so glad we all braved the rain.

That was the highlight of Helene’s week, she’s also been to a unit meeting where two of our older Guides organised a team sports day – we did get rather muddy but that was all part of the fun and it marked the end of term for 1^st Boxmoor Guides.