The lonely Brownie

A Brownie thinks of others before herself. But it's hard to stick to the Brownie Guide Law when there's only one of you.

The 6th St Annes Group in Blackpool has been a thriving community of action-seeking, hard-working Brownies for more than 20 years – until this Easter. Last month, 10 girls moved up into Guides – leaving just one Brownie, seven-year-old Isabel Garman.

Little Isabel, a Clifton Primary pupil, now has to do craftwork alone at the Church Road Methodist Church. And she finds it particularly hard to take part in the 'sixes' activities, where groups of six girls compete against each other to gain the most badges.



Isabel's dad, Jeff, said: "Isabel absolutely loves Brownies but she wants to share it with others.The leaders are brilliant and children really benefit from it."

Philippa Duerden, assistant guider at the group, which meets every Wednesday, warned it is now threatened with closure. She said: "It's really sad to see Isabel sitting there by herself and we're worried we'll have to stop the group, which has been going for more than 20 years.

"We've even had to reduce the number of leaders, as there's three of us, and only one of her, so we're taking it in turns!"