GIRL Guides celebrated a landmark birthday with a weekend of fun and games.

Youngsters from across north east Essex marked the Girl Guides 100th anniversary with a series of celebrations.

Guides from Tey District stepped back in time at Copford Village Hall to experience some of the typical activities of their predecessors, including semaphore, first aid and the Sixties Peace Movement, as well as looking at how their uniforms have changed over the century.

They also sang campfire songs at the event, attended by Colchester MP Bob Russell, mayor Henry Spyvee and Bonnie Hill, Girlguiding Essex North East’s commissioner.

Meanwhile, Guides in West Bergholt tucked into a cake inspired by the organisation’s founder Lord Baden Powell and his wife Lady Olave Baden Powell, Chief Guide from 1918 until her death in 1977. Silver End Guides released ten blue ballooons, one for each decade.

In Rowhedge a special cake was baked for the occasion, while Stanway and Lexden District took part in Colchester’s first carnival parade for ten years. Brightlingsea District enjoyed a traditional campfire.

The guiding movement was launched in 1909, when a small group of young women gatecrashed the Boy Scout rally at Crystal Palace Park in London and lobbied Robert Baden-Powell for “something for the girls”.

Helen Venner, of Girlguiding Essex North East, said: “The centenary is a chance to celebrate the impact the organisation has made on girls and young women, and how modern guiding continues to support more than 500,000 members in the UK to make friends, develop skills and achieve their potential.”

For more details on joining the Girl Guides, call 0800 1695901 or e-mail enquiries@girlguiding essexne.org.uk