Grant brings new life to girl guide hall

A rundown Girl Guide hall in Greenacre was going to be too dangerous to host its new guide group if it wasn’t for a $5,000 donation from Canterbury League Club which went towards major repairs and renovations.

One of the NSW Girl Guides group, which had been operating in Homebush since 1965, was displaced from their original hall due to the West Connex development and it meant that leaders had to quickly find another venue.

“We looked wider than Strathfield and found that the Girl Guide Hall at Greenacre had not been used for many years, but had significant water damage to the ceiling and was in a poor state. After deciding to move there, we needed to repair at least the roof and ceiling to make it habitable,” said Ann Maree Holmes, Girl Guide Leader.

“The $5,000 from Canterbury paid for the ceiling to be replaced, new electrical wiring and installing lights and fans inside and new sensor lights outside.”

Help also came from Masters and Bunnings who also donated some of their time and materials to fix up the hall. The Guides group ran fundraisers to raise money to cover the cost of replacing broken windows, rubbish removal and electrical works.

The Greenacre Girl Guides, with currently around 40 members, meet weekly and have five different units which cater for girls between the ages of 5-30 years old.

“Canterbury has always been a big supporter of youth groups – Girl Guides are valuable contributors to the local community while at the same time providing participants the opportunity to take part in activities that facilitate leadership and teamwork skills, self-awareness, inner confidence and positive personal growth,” said Dr George Peponis OAM, Chairman of Canterbury League Club.