WHILE Teignbridge Scouts have been going along in leaps and bounds with record numbers, Girl Guides and Brownies Groups in the area have in many instances been struggling.

The latest to hit crisis point are BUCKFASTLEIGH BROWNIES whose group will have to be suspended from September unless new leaders are found.

The current three young adult leaders are off to university and new jobs from September which will leave a void that has to be filled.

Buckfastleigh Brownies, which feeds into the Guide Company, has been around for many years and currently has a dozen girls aged seven-ten years.

They meet in the town's Methodist Church Hall on Tuesday evenings for one-and-a-half-hours.

Ideally two new leaders would be required, to perhaps share the post, and they would need to be able to commit themselves to running the weekly meetings.

All the necessary training would be given and anyone interested should contact Kayleigh Kinsman, the Brownie leader, on 01364 642231, or Ann Werry, the Guide leader, on 01364 642922.

Kayleigh, 20, who joined the Brownies at the age of seven, is one of those leaving, along with her sister Codie. Both are off to university.

Roxann Rampuri, the Teignbridge Guides public relations officer, said unfortunately they were desperate for leaders and helpers in Newton Abbot and in other areas of the district.

'It is frustrating that many parents are quite happy to drop their daughters off, and then pick them up again, but they don't want to give up one evening a year to help,' she said.

If anyone is interested in helping or becoming a leader, they should contact the Teignbridge Division Girl Guides Commissioner, Evelyn Medhurst, on 01803 873772.

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