Pat Pinnington
County president
I joined Girlguides at the age of 12 in Edmonton , North London. We had to be old enough to walk ourselves to and from the meeting place. Guides were 11-16 then. Having suggested to my ‘Captain’ we could give Patrol Leaders the opportunity to run unit meetings. She suggested I joined the newly set up Cadet group (today’s YL’s) they met alternate weeks. So guides one week and Cadet’s the other until I was old enough to go back as a trainee leader.
After a move to King’s Lynn I was contacted to join a newly reformed unit at St. Faith’s Church Gaywood. We built the unit up and within a short space of time we had a long waiting list to join. The leader suggested I start up another guide unit, which I am still a leader in this unit today. Throughout my time in King’s Lynn I have held several roles at District and Division level.
In 1981 I started my trainer qualification and also started to take Guides on international visits. In 2004 I became ACC to Anne Brooks, followed by ACC to Helen Green. In 2013 I felt privileged to be appointed as CC for GGN. My initiatives were to set up the ARC and resolve the issue of where to store the Norfolk archives. When Covid 19 restrictions became part of daily life I thought Guiding would be over for me – then along came zoom. Who would have thought we would survive. Camping back at Keswick in 2023 and visiting Adelboden again in 2022.
I still remain committed to providing opportunities for our young people and encouraging/supporting new leaders through their training. Being involved in Guiding has provided me with many work opportunities that I would never have taken on without my Guiding background.
