On Saturday 15th February, 2025, thirty- five Brownies & their leaders were hosted by Crawley Amateur Radio Club and Radio Society of Great Britain volunteers at their Bluewoods base, to take part in TDOTA which is an event for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts worldwide to use amateur radio to communicate with each other on a global scale. It takes place on the third full weekend in February, close to World Thinking Day on February 22nd. For the event the Brownies even had their own call sign.
The aim of TDOTA is to encourage Girlguiding members to make friendships with those in other units across the world, using amateur radio as the means of communication. Unfortunately, there were no other guiding units on air at the same time, although the girls did get to speak to a scout leader in Italy. It didn’t spoil the fun though , as contact was made, and the girls chatted to operators from a total of 15 stations:- Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, and Sweden, giving them the chance to tell them a bit about who they were, what they did and why they were on the radio. In addition, during the event the girls had the opportunity to make morse code keys, and learn the phonetic alphabet for morse code. They also used transmitters to locate hidden items in the locality.
Participating Brownies were from 3rd Horsham, 7th Horsham, 4th Roffey and 7th East Grinstead units
Wendy Colson, county commissioner commented ‘I would like to say a great big thank you to everyone who participated in this special day and of course a very special thank you to Crawley Amateur Radio Club and RSGB volunteers for giving our girls the chance to engage in such a different activity and giving them so much fun.'
At the end of the event the girls & their leaders were asked what Girlguiding means to them, here are some of their comments !• Guiding has given me so many brilliant opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise• It’s given me a family of friends (and a husband!) and many adventures in many countries • Friendship, fun, laughter, learning new things, meeting new people, sleepovers, camping & badges• Being part of a community and a home away from home. Guiding has given me so many brilliant opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise!• It means friends and being happy and a place you can have a break from everything and just have a good time (and it’s a girl only space - yay!)Notes TDOTA stations are mostly set up by experienced radio amateurs who voluntarily work to support TDOTA. The positive effects of the event are shown in the increasing numbers of Girlguiding leaders and members with amateur radio licences. For more information go to https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/youth/world-thinking-day-on-the-air/
World Thinking Day on 22nd February celebrates the joint birthdays of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the scout and guide movement, and his wife Olave, who served as World Chief Guide. It is celebrated by 10.8 million girls and young women from 153 countries. They form the largest voluntary movement dedicated to empowering girls and young women in the world.
Girlguiding Central geographically covers Mid Sussex, Crawley and Horsham areas.
Girlguiding is the UK’s largest youth organisation dedicated completely to girls We’re over 300,000 girls from 4 to 18 who come together to laugh, learn, explore and have adventures. We’re over 70,000 volunteers, and 25,000 local groups having fun and exploring activities week in, week out .
If you or someone you know, wants to give time to your community and would love to empower girls, build your own confidence and make new friends, then Girlguiding actively welcomes people like you. We’re an organisation that is easily accessible, rewarding and enjoyable!
To find out more and join us go to girlguiding.org.uk/get-involved/https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/https://www.girlguidingsussexcentralcounty.com/https://instagram.com/girlguidingsussexcentral?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552497038149
