My support for FPWR-UK started 8 years ago when I was asked to take part in a One Small Step Pub walk to support a family member with PWS. Upon telling my fellow Brownie leader about the challenge that I had undertaken, she suggested that we get our Brownies involved the following year. I really didn’t think that we would get much interest that first year as 12.5 miles can sound quite daunting, especially to 7-10 year olds. However, the Brownies and parents signed up to join us and their resilience throughout the event was astounding. As leaders, we were so proud of our girls and had thoroughly enjoyed spending the day walking with them and raising lots of money.
An Annual Event
This event is now part of our annual programme. Each year we introduce the event to the girls through activities that help them to understand the difficulties that people living with PWS face. We do this in a fun way that opens up discussions and enables the girls to explore their own thoughts and feelings around the issues. We find that this helps them to make a connection to the cause, which otherwise they may be unfamiliar with.
Community is Key
There are many reasons why we continue to support this event. As members of Girlguiding we make a promise to help other people and the serve the community. We feel that our connection to this small and little known charity is important, and relevant to the girls as we are walking for Bella, a child of their age, who the brownies love to meet each year. We also take part because this is a really fun family event. But don’t take it from me, here is what some of the Brownies have to say!
Why the Brownies Support FPWR UK.
“ I like to do the Prada-Willi syndrome walk because it’s really fun to spend all day with the Brownies laughing and joking. I think the hills are really tiring to walk up but the rest is quite easy. At the end I’m always really tired and usually have a headache from all the whistling!” Imogen
“ It’s fun, it’s a team effort including us helping the owls up the big hill! It gets you outside with friends whilst raising money for research into Prader- Willi.” Daisy