A NEWNHAM Girl Guide has returned from the trip of a lifetime to Ghana where she joined a team of young women taking action for the local community.

Sophie Pearson, 18, joined five girl guiding members to participate in the Guiding Overseas Linked with Development scheme – otherwise known as GOLD – last month.

Sophie spent almost three weeks delivering exciting projects including training sessions for girls on teamwork and leadership, which helped to improve guiding in Ghana.

The GOLD team worked with a variety of ages, helping to explain what makes a good leader, and how they can be positive role models for other girls. They also ran a two-day camp for guides aged 10 to 12 from around Accra, to develop self-confidence and begin to make a new guiding programme of badges and activities for girls in Ghana.

Sophie – who works at Badham’s Pharmacy and will start a course in paediatric nursing soon – raised the funds she needed for the trip.

She said: “Prior to the trip, I was nervous about standing up in front of large groups of girls and leaders that I didn’t know. Lacking in self-confidence made me sure that things would go wrong, however Ghana helped develop my self-esteem and I have come home a more determined and enthusiastic person.

“We showed the guides in Ghana that we can do anything that we put our minds to. We told them that being a woman will not stop us from reaching our full potential and I think this was something that the community really benefited from.

“We gave the Ghana girl guides a variety of ideas and resources, empowering the girls and impacting the way they think about themselves in everyday life.”