Guides waiting list delay (From South Wales Argus)

Guides waiting list delay

11:48am Thursday 19th October 2006

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LITTLE Neve Barnett is one of hundreds of girls in Gwent facing months of disappointment as she waits to join the Guides.

Six-year-old Neve, from the Gaer, Newport, is on a waiting list of 400 girls in Gwent who would like to join the 96-year-old movement.

The list is so long because of a chronic shortage of volunteers.

A shortage of adult volunteers has seen 39 groups close in the last ten years when leaders have dropped out or retired.

Currently, there are nearly 400 guiders looking after more than 2,000 Rainbows, Brownies and Guides as well as Senior Section members. Eighty more guiders are needed to clear the waiting list.

Neve's wait is because her branch of the Rainbows, in the Gaer, closed down in 1998 when the leader retired.

Her mother, Debra Barnett (corr), of Stelvio Park Drive, said Neve had been told she must wait until after Christmas to join her nearest group of Rainbows, which is for five to seven-year-olds, in Rogerstone.

"She feels left out because her friends are doing it and she wants to go with them," added Mrs Barnett.

"She enjoys making things and having a bit of fun. Her two older sisters have been in the Brownies and Guides and have got a lot out of it."

There is a similar situation elsewhere in Gwent.

Chepstow lost one of its two Brownie groups earlier this year when the leader moved on due to personal commitments.

The communities in Rogiet, Llandevaud, Bassaleg and Duffryn are currently without any units.

Janet Newbury, 54, of Compton Close, Rogerstone, who has been a guider with the 3rd Rogerstone Rainbows for 14 years, said there had been a "gradual decline" in the numbers of adult volunteers in the last two years.

Laura Thomas, 23, a guider with the Rogerstone Guides, said it would be a great shame if girls miss out on the opportunities offered by the movement.

"It got me everywhere," said Miss Thomas, who joined the Rainbows aged six and hasn't looked back.

"It gave me life skills, helped me grow up and develop as a person, and definitely helped me get my job as a police officer."

Mrs Newbury urged both men and women to get involved.

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