Wagtale Issue 45

Issue 45 - Term 1, 2021

in this issue...

Jedda in the Surf Talia on Track

Freo Street Doctor Service New Chair of the Board

be bold in 2021

Wagtale is the quarterly magazine of Girl Guides Western Australia.

This special edition has been written entirely by Girl Guides.

Address: 265 Great Eastern Hwy Belmont WA 6104 Phone: 08 9479 9800 Web: www.girlguideswa.org.au Email: info@girlguideswa.org.au Postal: PO Box 780 Victoria Park WA 6479 Cover Photo: Three Rivers Guides doing service (Miranda Cummings) Back Photo: Willetton and Bateman Guides cartooning (Petina Blackwell) Send articles and photos to communications@girlguideswa.org.au.

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State Commissioner's Report

4

National Team Report

5

Coming Events

6

Guides Connect with Freo Community

8

Girl Guides Making Waves

9

A Monster of a Night

10

Service Project 2021

11

Monique Takes the Helm in Wellness

12

Hurricane Harlow On a Roll

14

New Chair of the Board

15

Natalie Aims for Clean Sweep

16

Esme Saves the Turtles

17

Talia On Track for excitement

18

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State Commissioner's Report

Welcome to 2021 and a new Guiding year.

It is time to draw a line under the very different year that was 2020. We have all now come to terms with the new “COVID normal” and continue to be vigilant to ensure a better 2021.

A new year and a new mindset, but not forgetting the lessons learnt during a year which we all know will be written about in the history books.

We started 2021 with our postponed 2020 Awards Ceremony which was a fantastic way to commence our Guiding year. It was inspiring to meet and see all the adult and youth members who had challenged themselves and achieved their awards. BRAVO!

“You’ll never get bored when you try something new.

There’s really no limit to what you can do.”

- Dr Seuss We will again undertake our State Service project supporting the work Radio Lollipop does for children in hospital. As in the past we will be providing activity bags that can be given to children in the hope of brightening their day. Our target is 1,000 bags, which can only be achieved with the help of our amazing Guiding community.

As a State, we are working on events for 2021. Please keep an eye out for Water Days, Archery Days, Leaders’ Days and more.

In 2021, Girl Guides WA is going to BE BOLD and we are inviting everyone along for the journey. We are going to challenge ourselves to do something new, conquer a fear, try (and perhaps master) a new skill, and to think outside the box. We encourage everyone to BE BOLD. Katrina Lane State Commissioner Girl Guides WA Paula Dunn Laura Ives- Hicks Claire Veen Assistant State Commissioners

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National Team Report A NEW year brings NEW beginnings – new girls in our Guide Units, new Leaders, new families learning about Girl Guides, new opportunities for each of us, new ways to explore to support girls grow, new activities to try, new campsites to visit, new adventures to be had, new challenges to master and so much more!

Last year, with its many challenges, taught us many things and we bring those learnings into our new year. Whilst the pandemic is not over, we are all aware of adjustments we need to make in our everyday lives to keep ourselves and those around us safe. Please stay up to date with advices from your State Guide office on the specific rules you must follow to meet public health requirements.

As we return to all our Guiding activities for the year, it is a good time to think about our Guide Promise. It is something we all have in common as Guides, yet it is very personal for each of us. Our Promise is not something that we learn and say at one special event but something that grows with us as we travel our Guiding path. As Leaders, we support others understand the Promise and consider how to live by it everyday so it is important to reflect on the Promise and what it means to us. I first made my Promise more than 50 years ago, the words were a bit different then but the basis of the Promise is still the same.

On 22 February we connect with each other, fundraise for the Movement and join together in global action to make the world a better place. Did you know 2021 has been declared by the United Nations as International Year of Peace and Trust? Peacebuilding is at the heart of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting and is as vital and relevant today as ever. Let’s Stand Together for Peace is the focus for our World Thinking Day this year. The WAGGGS World Thinking Day Activity pack for 2021 includes activities for Guides to help them: STAND STRONG, STAND UP and STAND TOGETHER. GGA have prepared a guide to support Leaders build a Guide program using the WAGGGS Thinking Day 2021 Resource; both these resources can be accessed on the GGA Leader

Resources page on the GGA website.

Please remember to support the World Thinking Day fund – donations can be sent to State Guide offices. World Thinking Day Fund details are included in the WAGGGS Activity Pack.

World Thinking Day badges will be available from all Guide retail outlets in Australia early in February.

We are delighted to welcome to the Girl Guides Australia volunteer team Nicola Jones!

Nicola has been appointed as the National Coordinator – Olave Program. Nicola will work with the State Olave Program liaisons to support them as they grow the Olave Program network in Girl Guiding in Australia.

If you missed it at the end of last year, the team at GGA have put together some ideas to help with Term 1 Unit Program Planning. Check out AGP Program Starters Term 1 and Olave Program Starters Term 1 on the GGA website.

We have also just launched our January newsletter filled with ideas for your Term 1 program planning.

During the year ahead, Girl Guides Australia will be keeping you up to date on national opportunities, developing resources and tools, hosting forums and workshops to help you in your role – please keep an eye on the GGA website and social media and your State news.

With every best wish for the year ahead – I hope you welcome many NEW members and have many NEW and exciting Guiding adventures! PLEASE tag @GirlGuidesAustralia in your social media posts so we can share in your adventures.

Stay well, stay connected and stay Girl Guiding,

Rosemary Derwin Chief Commissioner Girl Guides Australia

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Coming Events

north metro thinking day Girls from the North Metro Region will come together to celebrate World Thinking Day 2021 with this year’s theme of “Peace.”

Who & Cost: North Metro Guides and Leaders $10 When: 21 February, 2021 Where: Whiteman Park

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

peel thinking day Join Guides from all around the Peel Region participating in a round robin of "Peace" themed activities.

Who & Cost: Peel Region Girl Guides and Leaders $10 When: 21 February, 2021

Where: Safety Bay Hall, Shoalwater

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

southern foothills thinking day Girls from the Southern Foothills Region will be celebrating the 2021 World Thinking Day by participating in activities around the very peaceful and serene Araluen Botanic Park.

Who & Cost: Southern Foothills Guides and Leaders $5 When: 21 February, 2021

Where: Araluen, Roleystone

Register: on the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

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Coming Events

leader qualification session This training day will provide you with a much better understanding of the role, your support network and your next step towards the completion of your Leadership Qualification.

Who & Cost: Leaders in training - free When: 20 March, 2021

Where: Guide House, Belmont

Register: on the Upcoming Training page at www.girlguideswa. org.au

cashbooks training Come along and learn how to use the cashbook system for Units.

Everyone is welcome - even if you do not currently do cashbooks in your Unit, it’s good to learn how!

Who & Cost: Leaders in training - free When: 26 March, 2021

Where: Guide House, Belmont

Register: on the Upcoming Training page at www.girlguideswa. org.au

More Events to come More events are currently being planned for 2021. Archery, In the Lead Leadership Weekend and Water Activities are in the pipeline. Please check the What's On and Upcoming Training pages regularly.

Visit the What’s On page at www.girlguideswa.org.au

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Guides Connect with Freo Community

supporting a Bold Initiative in Freo Three Rivers Girl Guides and the Anson Trefoil Guild joined forces in November to collect donations and pack over 50 bags of toiletries for Black Swan Health's Freo Street Doctor.

Claire Farrar from the Street Doctor came to their meeting to collect the donations and talk to the Guides about the work that the Freo Street Doctor does providing medical care and support in the Fremantle community.

Freo Street Doctor is a mobile medical health service that provides a visible, easily accessible and nonjudgemental primary health care service to marginalised, disadvantaged and homeless people. The service aims to care for those members of the community who for many reasons may not access mainstream general practice.

The Freo Street Doctor team is staffed by General Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Outreach Workers and Social Workers, who provide over 2000 consultations annually with over 20% of patients visiting the Freo Street Doctor identifying as homeless and 38% of patients self-identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Over 80% of clients present with more than one medical condition and over 90% of clients used Freo Street Doctor as their primary healthcare provider.

The Anson Trefoil Guild representatives also shared their experiences of supporting disadvantaged women in the local community, which helped the Guides complete another part of the “Guides Connect” badge.

The Unit reports that they have all got "so many ideas" for service projects in 2021!

Photos: Miranda Cummings

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Girl GuidesTitle Making Waves a Bold Approach to Lifesaving Eight-year-old Carine Girl Guide Jedda is also a member of Trigg Surf Life Saving Club and she recently competed in the Little Nippers Carnival at Cottesloe Beach.

Jedda is fearless when it comes to the water races and always gives it her all. She doesn't know the meaning of giving up and ends each race with a smile on her face. Jedda's superpowers are her inner strength and determination to try her hardest. She never forgets that she made a promise to "do her best".

Jedda's parents report that attending Girl Guides has been wonderful for her confidence and independence. She loves completing badges and coming up with her own ideas about what she wants to achieve and how to challenge herself.

Photo: Melinda Carr

Monique and Isabelle make The Boldest cut Isabelle (13) and Monique (12) from Hampton Park Girl Guides (as well as Mum) recently cut off their long locks to donate it for wigs for those in need. They had been growing their hair for a long time and were a little anxious about going to short hairstyles.

However, they took the plunge and gave up something special to them, putting others' needs ahead of their own concerns about their appearance. Isabelle donated 34cm and Monique 30cm. Bravo on making this bold move!

Photo: Ruth Lyra

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A Monster of a Night

Willetton & Bateman Guides make a bold stroke In Term 4 of 2020, Willetton Sunshine Guides and Bateman Star Guides joined together for a cartooning workshop titled Monster Mash with local artist Will Huntley. Exposing Guides to creative professionals is one of the ways we help them understand their potential and give them opportunities to find and develop their talents.

The girls had a blast! Will taught them to combined features of different animals to make their own creations. The girls then named their monsters and came up with habitats, behaviour and eating habits.

Photos: Petina Blackwell

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One of the best things about artistic endeavours is that they promote confidence. Girls must take risks when they create something unique and inventive; however, done in a safe, nurturing environment like a Guide meeting, even the least confident girls are able to engage with their creativity.

2021 Service Project 2021 SERVICE PROJECT The 2021 State Team Service Project will once again support our good friends at Radio Lollipop. The Perth Children's Hospital values our activity pack contributions and these are something Girl Guides enjoy creating, so please get involved! Girl Guides WA will provide bags for members to decorate and pack from February 2021.

Types of Packs: Primary boy Teen boy Primary girl Teen girl

What to include:

You'll be placing 4-5 items into each bag, including: Anything stationery, including pencils, crayons, notepads, glitter pens, highlighters, erasers, etc.

Colouring books, especially teen ones Sudoko or crossword puzzle books Hair accessories e.g. clips, scrunchies, headbands Small toiletry items e.g. hand creams, lip balms

stickers,

All of these items can be found in Kmart, Pricesavers, Red Dot, etc.

Matchbox cars, dinosaur figures, wild animals, etc (these often come in packs of 10 or more and are great to add one or two to each bag) Mini puzzles

Your contribution will help keep a child entertained while they are staying at Perth Children's Hospital!

Decorating the bag:

All bags are expected to be returned to Guide House throughout 2021, either decorated and filled, or surplus unused bags clean and empty.

Please use positive decorations and messaging, avoiding using words like 'sick,' 'sad' or 'ill' (at Radio Lollipop's request).

Order bags for your Unit from 9479 9800 or serviceprojects@girlguideswa.org.au

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Monique Takes the Helm in Wellness

A Bold New Initiative at School 18-year-old Ballajura Girl Guide, Monique Santovito, recently achieved her Queen’s Guide Award with a Social Awareness Focus and Interest in drama.

Her Focus enabled her to share her passion for mental health with her peers in an interactive way, and included developing and leading a wellness team at her school to run whole-school events around mental health awareness.

In 2018 Monique used a slideshow to present the idea of having an RUOK? Day event at her school, attending meetings with several teachers and the school’s Leadership Committee. When Monique’s ideas were approved, she met with school counsellors to put the plan into action. She developed posters explaining the RUOK? steps and held a stall at lunch break with pamphlets for students to take.

After this first event, Monique collaborated with 2019 Head Girl Dana London, who shared her interest in spreading awareness and helping people with mental health issues. They talked about creating a Wellness Team. That year, Monique and Dana were asked to run an event for Anti-Bullying Day. They organised a photobooth for students to take photos with anti-bullying slogans. They also ran an activity where students cut out cardboard hands and wrote a quote, mantra or slogan that promoted action against bullying. Monique and Dana displayed the hands on a wall for everyone to see.

Monique and Dana developed a presentation for the leadership committee to explain what a Wellness Team could do, what events they would run and their goals. Monique says, “Lots of what I had to do – meeting new people, doing speeches and presentations in front of so many teachers and students – made me nervous and scared of what the outcome might be.” But when she reflects on the skills she learned as a young Girl Guide, Monique believes that she was empowered to be confident and resilient during the process.

The initiative was approved! Monique and Dana opened it up for new members and had far more applicants than expected. Monique and Dana selected 15 people with a passion for mental health and helping others, and together they formed the first ever Wellness Team!

The Wellness Team runs the events already mentioned as well as Wellness Week, focusing on self-care and a healthy mindset. This popular event has included badminton matches, a photobooth, a mental health quiz, live music performances, a teddy bear pit, and games of giant Jenga and Connect-4.

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Monique became the leader of the Wellness Team in 2020. The pandemic made it hard to run events or activities, but the team worked really hard to continue to promote mental health awareness, especially during such an intense and stressful time for everyone. Monique selected another student to mentor throughout the year who would take over as a Wellness Team Leader when she graduated in 2020.

Monique also believes that her Unit supported her to implement her Wellness Team strategies. “I think without even realising that they were, my Unit and Leader really helped... At our Unit meetings they would ask me how it was going and listen when I found things challenging or frustrating, when I was struggling, and providing ideas when I was stuck on where to go next.”

She brought her passion for mental health to her Guide Unit too, running a wide game based on RUOK? Day. The game helped Girl Guides understand self-care, RUOK? Day and how we to check in on friends and family to provide help and support.

“It makes me feel so proud to think that I was a part of [the Wellness Team] and I helped to create it. I know the team is continuing on without me being there to push it along, which makes me really happy – to think that there are others who care and will continue to provide support and awareness.”

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Hurricane Harlow On a Roll

Harlow's Bold Leap into the world of Roller Derby Quinns Rocks Girl Guide Harlow (11) made the decision to join a roller derby club after her mum showed her some online videos of the game. Harlow already knew how to skate so she went along to try a training session and liked it so much that she joined after her second training, taking on her own derby name - 'Hurricane.'

Perth Junior Roller Derby (PJRD) is for juniors aged 7 to 17 years and offers training twice a week at Mirrabooka and Morley. Training consists of learning the rules of derby, skills including T-stops, knee slides and squat skating, and all the tactical game skills.

In a roller derby game, there are two teams of up to ten players (maximum of five players on the track at one time), including a jammer, a pivot and three blockers. The jammer tries to go around the rink to get in front; the blockers try to stop the jammer coming through and the pivot can also become a jammer. Harlow says, "It is a very fast game and is a lot of fun to watch if it’s your first time, but once you know the rules it's even better."

Safety is a big part of derby and Harlow explains that you will need a mouthguard, wrist pads, elbow and knee pads, helmet and rollerskates.

There are specialised derby skates but normal skates may be suitable if you add bigger toe stoppers and indoor wheels. PJRD teaches skaters the basics of roller derby, such as falling safely, stability and roller derby strategies. Once you've mastered these skills and passed Level 3, you are eligible to play roller derby. "It is a full contact sport," says Harlow, "so it is important that you know the skills, rules and are safe on the track."

Harlow loves everything about roller derby! "I love being on skates, my cool long sock collection, being able to express myself and making new friends, watching the level 3s and 4s play, going to the WA Roller Derby and Perth Roller Derby league games where they have the best bake stalls. Derby is my super happy place and I always love going there."

She also thinks Girl Guides helped her gain the confidence and team skills to really get into roller derby. "You need to be good team member because it’s all about a team.

Guides also helped me go and try something without knowing anyone, like when we go on state camps and don’t know anyone, but you know it will be great fun." In fact, when Harlow went to her third training, another girl commented that she used to be in Guides as well. "We were instant friends at PJRD because we were Guides. Once a Girl Guide, always a Guide!"

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New Chair of the Board We're delighted to announce the appointment of a new Chair of the Board for Girl Guides WA. Yvonne Power has a Guiding background, expertise in strategy, innovation, operational efficiency, corporate planning and reporting, as well as a strong interest in community service. Yvonne's long history with Girl Guides includes a great-grandmother who was District Commissioner for Girl Guides in the UK and a grandmother who was a Guide Leader.

Yvonne has always had Girl Guides as part of her life and was herself a Leader in Willetton.

"Becoming co-founder of my own company meant temporarily moving away from my role as Unit Leader for Willetton Girl Guides after three years of working with amazing young girls and inspiring them to become confident leaders," says Yvonne.

"Now is the right time for me to return to GGWA and I feel like I have a lot to offer."

Yvonne has a background in commercial, corporate and government agencies and has worked in project, operations and strategy roles. She has a particular passion for workplace and community engagement. She is the co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of an energy technology start-up. Up until recently her role had been FIFO, based between Perth and India. Yvonne also holds an MBA and a Masters in Cultural Studies. She has strong experience in working across divisions and business units to optimise processes, develop frameworks and deliver positive change.

Yvonne believes in giving back and participates in endurance events for charities including MSWA and Ronald McDonald House, and has raised over $5000 for Harry Perkins Institute walking over 100km. She describes herself as a driven individual; she completed her MBA part-time whilst working full-time and looking after 3 young children and in 2020 was recognised as a winner of the WA Business News 40under40.

"I owe a lot to the amazing female role models I had growing up and many of them came to me through guiding. Girl Guides is run by a passionate and dedicated group of people who believe in empowering millions of girls and young women in over 150 countries. I vividly remember the pride I felt when I joined Girl Guides and was told I now had over 10 million sisters all around the globe. That’s why I’m so honoured to be able to play a small part in this global movement as the new Chair of the Board for Girl Guides WA." "I have so many fond memories of the impact guiding has had on my life journey, from being a Brownie to a Unit Leader, and I want to continue to build this organisation so it can continue to have the same amazing impact on girls all over the world as it has had for me. I want to see GGWA grow and flourish and be recognised as the peak organisation supporting girls to become the leaders of tomorrow."

The Organisation, Board and Management are very pleased to welcome Yvonne to the appointment.

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Natalie Aims for Clean Sweep

A bold attempt to earn every badge!

Dianella Girl Guide Natalie Hewitt is a girl with a goal: to achieve every youth badge in the Australian Girl Guide Recognition System before her 18th birthday! Natalie was presented with the Queen's Guide Award at the State Girl Guide Award Ceremony in 2019. The Queen's Guide is the peak achievement award for youth and comprises three compulsory components: • A three month Interest for which Natalie undertook Roller Blading; • The Gold Endeavour which consists of seven tasks including giving 30 hours community service, earning an outdoor qualification, researching and presenting part of Girl Guide History, running activities about Guiding in another country and attending a residential leadership course; and • One of nine possible Focus areas, each involving two activities, a workshop and a six-month project. Natalie chose the Social Awareness Focus and compared the health benefits of a number of different exercise regimes over many months as well as looking at nutrition and attending a residential Body Image workshop and a Stress Less workshop.

But Natalie was not content to earn just one Focus and also completed the other eight Focus areas: the Arts, Outdoors, Science and Technology, Environment, Service, Special (she focused on netball and gardening), Leadership and World Guiding.

In addition to this extraordinary achievement, Natalie has earned: • Every Discover-a Challenge (gem) badge in the Guide handbooks; • Every badge in Look Wide, including Explore-a-Challenge, Create-a-Challenge, Achieve-a-Challenge Trefoil 1 and 2 and the Service Flashes plus multiple Action badges over the years; • All badges in Look Wider Still, including the Commonwealth Award, every Trefoil 3 Achieve-a-Challenge except Camping (delayed by COVID restrictions) and parts of the AGP-OP Link badge which she can't complete until she turns 18; and • Every badge in Aim High, including the Junior BP and BP and of course, the Queen's Guide.

Along the way, Natalie also earned the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and hopes to complete the Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award with a hike in the April holidays, before commencing work on the Gold. Natalie also hopes to complete the final Trefoil of her Achieve a Challenge badges (Camping Trefoil 3) at a camp later this month and the AGP-OP Link soon after her birthday in August.

An astonishing effort!

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Esme Saves the Turtles The Bold Pursuit of an Environmental Cause Esme (15) belongs to North Dianella Melaleuca Guides and is passionate about the environment. In fact, she is so passionate that she is doing her Queen’s Guide Award with an Environmental focus.

Esme recently spent a week doing volunteer work monitoring turtles in the Pilbara. She spent her nights on Cemetery Beach in Port Hedland, watching for adult females entering the dune areas to lay their eggs. Most of the monitoring was after dark until about 1am.

Esme observed the turtles for nesting behaviour and watched to see if the females successfully nested or abandoned the nest. As part of the team, Esme would also supervise members of the public who had come to see the nesting season, and educate them on the behaviour of nesting turtles and hatchlings.

Each morning. Esme rejoined the team and checked for hatchling tracks to assess how many turtles had hatched overnight, as well as look for adult tracks.

Once hatching was complete, Esme participated in nest excavation to assess how many eggs had successfully hatched from each nest. She also assisted in assessing the outcome of eggs that didnt hatch.

Esme's exciting turtle work will contribute to her Queen's Guide Award. She has been an inspiration to other members of her Unit in boldly pursuing her love of nature and conservationist aspirations.

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Talia On Track for excitement

15-year-old Talia, a Mundaring hills Girl Guide, is also Go-Kart racer. She is coming into her fourth year of racing and she loves it!

Getting started Go-Karting wasn’t always something Talia loved.

Originally, she would go up to the track with to watch her brother race. Talia hated the noise and the smell, but being a helpful Girl Guide, she would assist with lifting the karts on and off the tracks, fetching trolleys and supporting the racers.

On 18 November, 2017 Talia decided she would like to give Go-Karts a try. After the monthly club races were over, she jumped into her brother’s kart.

She remembers putt-putting around the track for about five laps, then coming into the pits. Talia got out of the kart and discovered her legs and hands were shaking from the adrenaline and excitement of how “fast” she was going!

The first race Talia continued to practice on the weekends, each time putting the foot on the throttle a little more, slowly trusting herself with the kart and the track. She applied for her kart license after completing the theory test on safety procedures and flags. The following year, Talia’s family was sponsored by a WA business, which allowed them to get custom made suits in team colours. She used her brother’s old kart, got a helmet, and by the next month’s club meet, she was ready to race.

This was Talia’s first time racing with more experienced racers. She says, “All my thoughts were: Don’t Crash! Breathe! This is fun! It will be over soon! and Wow – they are fast!” Talia recalls that she would always come last in those regional races, unless there were racers who did not finish or got disqualified.

A Growing Sport for Girls Talia says that when she started, there were only about four girls racing at local meets.

However, throughout the years she has been racing, she’s seen more girls of all ages join, both at her home track and regional clubs.

“At my home track I would generally be racing with mainly boys and one girl. But when you’re out there racing to have fun and earn points, your gender doesn't really matter.”

Talia says one of the downsides of being a female in this sport is that the seats were not made for hips. By the next day she is usually sore from the bruises around her hips and ribs. But she says, “with a little bit of determination and courage, yeah, it’s scary but if you believe in yourself you can do it.”

A Mentor and Ally One of the girls Talia met at the regional rounds was Grace, who was a few years older

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than Talia and understood what it was like getting pushed by the guys. Every time Grace went out on the track, Talia would watch how she took the corners and where she went fast and slow. Grace became a kind of mentor, helping Talia out in the regional rounds, watching Talia and congratulating her on her races.

“When it was late night or early morning, we would walk around the track and Grace would tell me stories about where she had been hit off, or where her kart did not work.

She would walk me through where to put my kart on the track when entering sharp turns.”

Talia was glad to have a female ally in Grace, and someone to hang out with after races.

“Aside from talking about the track, we would talk about school, friends, clothes, family, and other stuff,” Talia says.

Talia has been able to pass some of that kindness on.

“When I moved up to KA4 Junior Heavies I would have the ‘lights’ in front of me. We had a new girl join the lights and I could see the way she took the turns, so after the race I helped her out and told her to follow the person in front of her and see what they do, and that helped her so much.”

The Danger Zone Talia warns that Go-Karting can be a dangerous sport and she has had her share of accidents, from karts ramming into her, to being run over or hitting the tyre barricades at full speed, and even losing a tyre. “Throughout my first year of racing, anytime I got knocked off the track, or beached the kart in the sand, or was in a small accident involving a couple of karts, I would get upset – which was normal,” she says.

When she first got off her P-plates, Talia says it was quite scary because she had to race in the pack, sometimes even starting at the front. At regional rounds, she would ask to start at the back because she didn't want to be stuck with people who were determined to get to the front. She just wanted to have fun and didn’t mind about where she placed.

“Whenever I beat my personal best time, Mum and Dad are proud of me and I am too.

When I overtake, when I don’t spin and crash, when I don’t get lapped, that all makes me happy that I can simply succeed at a small task.”

How Guiding Helped Talia believes that Girl Guides has helped her make bold choices and actions, including trying Go-Karting and becoming a student leader at high school. “Guides has given me the confidence to try new activities – to not always do ‘the normal’ and to be different. I don’t have to worry about what people think about me.” She says that Guides has taught her to step out of her comfort zone and to enjoy each little moment.

Talia is also the newest member of Girl Guides WA Youth Advisory Council (YAC). She sees her role in YAC as one of the next generation of new ideas, to help spread the word about Guides and what we do, as well as organising and helping to run events.

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