Hemel Hempstead Girlguiding volunteer to attend red carpet celebration event

Amy Walczak-Hobbs, 27, who earnt a prestigious Queen’s Guide award, will join hundreds of fellow award recipients at the upcoming Girlguiding Celebrates event in London’s West End.

The exciting event taking place on September 29 will honour Girlguiding’s most recent award-winning volunteers along with other members who have been nominated for their amazing achievements.

The unforgettable afternoon event will see attendees walk the red carpet like true VIPs before enjoying a fun packed event with performances in a special variety show.

The Queen’s Guide award is the highest award young women can work towards in Girlguiding. It provides the opportunity to develop skills, give back to guiding and support local communities.

Completing her Queen’s Guide award took Amy 18 months, achieved while juggling work commitments, studies, and her volunteering work for Girlguiding. For her skill, Amy chose to start ballet, something she’d always wanted to try, and three years after starting the award she is still happily dancing.

Amy, unit leader at 1st Adeyfield Rangers in Hemel Hempstead said: “Working towards my Queen’s Guide award allowed me to gain more self-knowledge, try out new things, and adventure to unfamiliar places. Every time I see the award brooch, it makes me smile.”

Amy joined Girlguiding as a Brownie, when she was around nine years old. She went on to join Guides, and then what was then known as the Senior Section (now Rangers).

Reflecting on her experiences Amy said: “The best part of Girlguiding for me as a younger member, was to have local friends outside of school. I went to school in a different town, so my school friends were located all over my county.

“Girlguiding gave me the chance to do something very different to what I had experienced before. I believe experiences from Girlguiding gave me the confidence and curiosity to travel around the UK by myself. Now that I have travelled around a lot of the UK, I am looking to do some solo trips abroad!”

Previously, Amy worked in the fashion industry in London, working her way up from retail assistant to a role as a garment technologist. Instability in the industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Amy was made redundant.

She chose to retrain and go into counselling, wanting to have a more positive impact on the world. Thinking about how she could broaden her skills and develop herself for a successful career change, Amy thought back to her Senior Section leader Karen who had been a great role model to her.

She got back in contact with Karen and the pair now lead 1st Adeyfield Rangers in Hemel Hempstead together. Amy is now in her qualifying year of counselling training and will be starting placements in a secondary school and an agency specialising in addiction.

“It means a lot to be able to offer Rangers a safe space to have fun, try new things and to be themselves. I’ve learned so much from being a Girlguiding volunteer, said Amy.

“Girlguiding was a safe haven for me when times were tough in my teens, and it gave me a break from what was going on at the time. Girlguiding has the power to show girls that they can do anything and be anything. The opportunities are endless and there is always a way to grow and develop yourself within the organisation.”

Amy is also a lead volunteer for Girlguiding’s Inspire community, which supports members aged 18-30. This involves helping girls and young women with adventures, skills building, and developing as leaders.

Danni Smith, the Inspire lead volunteer for Anglia said: “Amy is amazing! She is so passionate about Inspire and what the future will look like. She has so many amazing ideas and is always the first to stick into helping others. She is an amazing role model for her girls.”

The Girlguiding Celebrates event will be held on Sunday, September 29 at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square.