Ground Force

<p>The BBC Ground Force team has been hard at work creating a spectacular garden for a group of very lucky Brownies and Guides.</p> <p>For the Brownies, Guides and Scouts in the 'garden of England' (Kent), May 5 and 6, 2004 will be remembered as two very exciting days. They have had the garden next to their Guide and Scout hut made over by none other than the <em>Ground Force</em> team.</p> <hr id="system-readmore" /> <p>The result is a fabulous garden, with a design that can be enjoyed by all ages, and can be used to help develop skills and build team-working initiatives. It also looks beautiful… but you’ll have to wait for the programme to air on the BBC to find out more details of the finished garden – and see all the local Brownies, Guides and Scouts celebrating in their great new facility.</p> <p>For Leader Pearl Woodhams this is the final result they were hoping for after two years of planning and hard work. Their lucky break came when Barbara Mclaren, Secretary of the 1st Greatstone Guides and Scouts wrote in to the programme, requesting assistance. Out of 80,000 annual requests, they were fortunate enough to be chosen as the <em>Ground Force</em> community project for 2004. ‘We’ve kept the news about the garden secret for so long, although it’s been hard as we were very excited,' said Pearl. ‘The garden has so many facilities we can use. It’s the finishing touch to our hut, which we’ve all worked so hard for.’</p> <p class="western">Celebrity presenters met local Guiders, Judy Wiltshier, Deputy Chief Commissioner for LaSER, and local dignitaries to celebrate the opening with a party in the hut, also attended by all the Brownies, Guides and Scouts, their parents and guardians. For many it was a total surprise to see the revealed garden. Charlie Dimmock, from <em>Ground Force</em>, had a message for Greatstone, with instructions to, ‘Look after your garden and get lots of enjoyment out of it!’</p> <p>Charlie planted the first two Brownie Roses, which now have pride of place in the garden. She said she was particularly glad to be involved with Girlguiding UK in their 90th anniversary year. 'Guiding is moving on,’ she said. ‘This is a garden for the future, that will grow up with the girls. There’s a lot of thought gone into it.' She also praised the Leaders and all the helpers at the hut over the two-day makeover period. 'It’s been brilliant the amount of encouragement we’ve had from everybody here – they helped with all the grotty jobs that needed doing!’ Co-presenter Kirsty King agreed, 'It’s been chilled and exposed out there in the sea air, but lots of people got involved and the garden’s come on really well. We’ve tried to consider everybody who’ll be using the garden, and it’s certainly interactive!’</p>