Sussex Central Guiding History
Girlguiding Sussex Central was formed in 1979, when the county of West Sussex was re-organised due to the expansion of Girlguiding. It was created on 1st April 1979 with Mrs. Sylvia Smith as the County Commissioner, later to become County President.
The County, which broadly covers the Mid Sussex area of South East England, consists of 8 Divisions: Burgess Hill, Crawley, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Parkminster, South Down, and Worth, and is part of Girlguiding London and South East England Region (LaSER).
The membership in Sussex Central is about 4,000; providing fun, challenges and leadership for girls and young women. It is supported by a wealth of volunteers who run weekly meetings and also others who give freely of their time to maintain the smooth running of the programme. Many of these are members of our busy Trefoil Guild.
Our County Ambassadors, whose role it is to actively promote guiding, are The Lord Dholakia of Waltham Brooks OBE DL, Mrs. Loder of Leonardslee, Horsham, Chris Connors (Director CoCos Hair Salons/Trustee CoCos Foundation), Henry Smith MP (Crawley), Richard Spurgeon (Manager at South Lodge). In addition, Division Ambassadors are recruited locally.
Each year there are special events around the County, such as our Rainbows 25th Birthday celebrations at Blackland Farm. Whilst every four years our Guides join together with West Sussex Scouts and Sussex West Guides for our international camp “WS”.