West End awards ceremony for Jersey Girlguiding trio

Three Girlguiding volunteers from Jersey are due to attend a red carpet awards ceremony in London's West End on Sunday.

Solange Rebours, Hilary Hardy and Helen Barette will join volunteers from around the British Isles at the Girlguiding Celebrates event in Leicester Square.

Miss Rebours has been nominated for a Silver Fish award, Girlguiding UK's highest honour.

She said the nomination "came as a tremendous, but pleasant, surprise" but that she volunteered "to make a difference to the lives of girls and young women on my island" rather than for personal recognition.

Miss Rebours said: "I feel that this award is a testament to the various teams that I have been privileged to be part of and the many people who have been prepared to work with me so that we can achieve so much for our members, both now and in the future."

Fellow volunteer Mrs Hardy has been nominated for a Laurel Award. She has been involved with the movement since the age of seven when she joined as a Brownie.

She is currently president of Girlguiding Jersey and a regional vice president for the South West.

Mrs Hardy said: "Girlguiding has played a huge part in my life: as a girl, as a leader, as a mother of three daughters, all of whom have been members."

She added that her granddaughter was now a Rainbow and two other granddaughters had been Rainbows, Brownies and Guides.

Mrs Barette, a Rainbow leader and island commissioner for Jersey, was nominated after organising a Peter Pan stage show on the island.

She said: "Girlguiding is a big part of my life.

"Whether at unit, island and region level it seems that the more I put into Guiding the more opportunities, experiences and new friendships I gain and I know that there are many more adventures out there waiting for me."