Spreading joy, one good deed at a time

CARING Girl Guides to earn badges for helping lonely older people (Mail)? Guides have always cared for elderly people in the community in hundreds of different ways and in the past we didn’t need to be awarded a badge. In the Sixties, each of the 1st Hall Green Girl Guides visited an elderly lady in the almshouses in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham. Miss Coombes became my friend for the rest of her life and I still keep her photograph and some small gifts she gave me. For me, this was the start of a love of the elderly. I am sure that many Guides and leaders will be surprised that caring for older people is being promoted as a new endeavour by the Manchester Health and Care Commissioning partnership, which came up with the badge idea. Mrs SUSAN BEDDOES,

Knighton, Powys. AFTER the Manchester Arena bombing when so many children lost their lives, including a Brownie, my pack of 20 girls, aged seven to ten, decided to do something positive. The Brownies started performing random acts of kindness around our village, especially for elderly people. A bag of compost and two dozen plants were given to us, and the girls potted each plant and wrote a note to deliver to people who needed cheering up. The recipients were very surprised and thought it was a lovely idea. As Brown Owl, I will be helping the Brownies to plan other ways in which we can bring together the generations in our community.

GILL WILKINSON, Glan Conwy, Conwy.