Young Searchers
where girls find a purpose for living
The Club, which is a uniformed organization, now linked locally with The Salvation Army, and has charity status, takes girls from 5 to 18 years old, and has been running for 11 years under the leadership of Linda Tout. Her experience of being a member of a Girls Brigade in Lower Morden, Surrey, in the late 50′s-early 60′s, held her in good stead when she formed a Company at Walderslade Baptist Church at the request of the minister in 1990. She was Captain at that time and ran a successful group until 1995 when circumstances meant she had to leave for pastures new.
Feeling that there was still a need for a girls’ club in the area she, together with Linda Lilley, her current Club treasurer and once Lieutenant in the Walderslade Company, formed the Young Searchers group. It is Christian based and they felt that the Lord had called them to this continuing work.
The Club offers a varied programme of activities according to age ranging from fitness aerobics, games, cookery, and creative art linked to Bible stories, to an appreciation of God’s world and participation in the Adventure Challenge Scheme. The latter is intended to be a taster before a girl joins the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and has 8 sections to be successfully completed before a certificate is issued. Girls can participate in the 2 Junior sections from the age of 8 and are encouraged to continue on to the 2 Senior stages of the Scheme up to the age of 13. However, it is not compulsory for a girl to join this Scheme and it is her choice.
All girls are encouraged to join the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme from the age of 13 although, again, it is not compulsory. To date, there have been 28 Bronze and14 Silver badges awarded and, by the end of July, 9 girls will have completed their Gold awards, one of which has been gained by a girl who has special needs.
The highlight for the club was taking the girls trekking in the Himalayas in 2004 for their Gold Award expedition This was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trip and a marvelous opportunity for the girls to experience a completely different culture. Written logs on the fauna and flora of the region had to be produced and these were passed by the famous naturalist Dr. David Bellamy.
The Club meets every Friday at Beechen Hall, Wildfell Close, Lordswood, between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, except when outside activities such as swimming and leisure centre visits are arranged
If you would like to know more please CONTACT US. You may also contact Linda Tout directly on 01634 668214