Brownies act fast to save themselves
Feb fundraiser secures future
A group of Callander Brownies has been saved from the brink of collapse following a generous community fundraising effort.
The 2nd Callander Brownies have been left unable to conduct fundraising events or host regular group events since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
And that meant they were left struggling to scrape together enough funds to pay their annual subscription fee of £711 to Girlguiding.
The dilemma put the future of the group in jeopardy but leaders organised a month-long fundraising mission to raise the cash, smashing their initial target to secure their future.
Louise Corrieri and Catlin Scott organised fundraisers throughout February to try to cover the subscription costs owed including a bake-off, scavenger hunt, quiz and a raffle.
At the end of those charity events, the group had netted the incredible sum of £3772.98 for their efforts and were handed a further cash boost when Dawn Haldane, of the Feeds & Stove store in the town, rounded the total up to £4000.
They had also applied and received a £500 grant from Callander Community Council’s Airtricity Fund.
Louise said: “We were faced with an annual subscription bill of £711. We were faced with an uncertain future.
“I put a plea out on social media and it went a bit mental.
“We had just enough to pay the bill but little else to carry on with Brownies until future term fees were received.”
Because of the lockdown, Louise and Catlin felt it wasn’t right to ask parents to stump up full term fees.
Louise added: “We had to act and we had to do it fast. Catlin and I put our heads together and decided to run a February fundraiser with the Brownies during the holiday week.
“Each Brownie was handed a sponsor sheet. We organised three Zoom meetings with the girls. The first was a Brownie bake-off where the girls were asked to bake something and decorate it with the Brownie theme.
“The second was a Brownie scavenger hunt, where we asked the girls to collect/document items from a woodland walk with all the letters of the word ‘BROWNIES’ and present their findings to the rest of the unit on Zoom. Lastly was our Brownie family quiz on Zoom.
“Initially we decided to hold a small raffle during the quiz, with a couple of prizes. The Brownies were given a few tickets to sell and we hoped to generate some money from that. We put the plea on social media and what followed was incredible. We were inundated with prizes, monetary donations and raffle sales.”
The sum raised will keep the group running for the foreseeable future.
Louise added: “We have been totally overwhelmed. The generosity has been outstanding and we cannot thank each and everyone enough.
“We also want to thank our Brownies for their support and commitment and their amazing sponsorship contributions. We are so proud of you all.”