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!
16 - Wagtale February 2021
