Notes from the Minutes of the Executive Committee,
Tuesday 8th May and Wednesday 9th May, 2012
Retirements and Appointments
Retirements
Miss Ann Hughes – Chairman, Wales w.e.f. 30th June, 2012
Mrs Carol Bowen – Chairman, Finance & General Purposes Committee w.e.f. 30th June 2012
Mrs Ann Hardiment – Elected Council Member w.e.f. 10th May, 2012
Appointments
Mrs Vivienne Grant – Chairman Wales w.e.f. 1st July 2012
Mrs Annette Bond – Chairman Finance and General Purposes Committee w.e.f. 1st July, 2012
Correspondence
The Chairman had received the following correspondence:
 Letters of thanks from GOLD Participants
 A letter from Paul Bigmore of WAGGGS thanking the Trefoil Guild for their donation to the
Central America Girls Fund, explaining that the money would be used to expand guiding
for girls and young women in the Central America region.
 An invitation from the Canadian Trefoil Guild to participate in their Trefoil Guild Gathering
in 2013. Two participants from the UK Trefoil Guild have been invited and Mrs Roberts and
Mrs Threlfall will attend on Miss Routley’s behalf.
Chairman’s Report
Commissioner’s Conference – Birmingham
Miss Routley reported that four members of Trefoil Guild had attended the Conference in
Birmingham, and had a stand to promote the Trefoil Guild. More than 300 Commissioners attended
the event and those manning the stand handed out 300 envelopes and promoted the Trefoil Guild.
Country and Region Annual Meetings
Miss Routley informed the committee that she had been trying to attend as many Annual Meetings
as possible. She has attended the Scottish and Welsh Annual Meetings already and spent three and a
half days at Waddow on their Leisure Break as she had been unable to make the North West Annual
Meeting, she was well hosted and had a lovely time, speaking to members and hearing their stories.
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Finance and General Purposes Sub-Committee
Treasurer’s Report
Miss Worswick informed the committee that unfortunately not enough evidence has been found
against Finishing Touches in order to support the alleged charges of fraud although all avenues of
investigation had been pursued concerning the case.
Finance Chairman’s Report
Mrs Bowen reported that requests have been received for copies of The Handbook but it is currently
out of print. Generally all Countries and Regions have expressed an interest in having the Handbook
in print.
Miss Routley reported to the committee that Mrs Bowen will be responsible for reviewing and
updating both the Handbook and the Constitution, so that the two documents are being brought in
line with one another, the deadline for this work to be completed will be before the end of Miss
Routley’s term of office.
Policy and Procedures File
Mrs Bowen explained to the committee that it was important to have this piece of work completed
before the start of the Olympics in order for it to fit its purpose and ensure the safety of the
operation of the Trefoil Guild should there be an emergency of some kind.
Advertising
The Trefoil magazine is now well established in its new format and the time may now be right for
looking into the possibility of an agency sourcing advertisements on behalf of the Trefoil Guild to be
put in the magazine. The executive agreed to a conversation being held with Girlguiding UK to see if
their agency may be used to provide advertisements for The Trefoil.
Programme and Conference Adviser
Miss Thomas commented on the successful Advisers Meeting that was held at CHQ in March for all of
the PR, International and Programme Advisers from the Countries and Regions. Since the meeting the
Advisers had already started making plans in order to move forward with the tasks outlined in the
Strategic Action Plan. Planning had begun for the Swanwick Teams Conference in 2013, and there
will be a Task and Finish group that will take on the planning in more detail.
International Adviser
Mrs Roberts reported to the committee that £4000 has been sent to WAGGGS for the 2011 Central
America Girls Fund. The 2012 collection will be sent to WAGGGS World Thinking Day Fund whose
2012 theme has been agreed as ‘Environment’.
Mrs Roberts requested that money raised by guilds during 2013 be used to support the WAGGGS 2013
European Conference.
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Public Relations Adviser
Mrs Merchant spoke about the new PR materials that are planned for the coming months. Work is
currently being carried out on designing a post card that can be used at events to encourage new
members. This format fits into the ‘family’ of post cards used by Girlguiding UK to encourage new
members at all levels.
Website
Mrs Threlfall showed the designs for the new website and how it will look when users are navigating
their way around the site. Mrs Threlfall impressed upon the committee the importance of submitting
content for the website.
Trefoil Guild Table Cloth
Miss Routley asked each of the Country and Region Chairmen for feedback on the responses from
their Committees to the suggestion of having a national Trefoil Guild Tablecloth made. The overall
consensus was that a table cloth was not needed nationally as the Countries and Regions have their
own to display at national annual meetings. Mrs Parke suggested that a Lectern Fall be designed and
that could represent Trefoil Guild nationally and work alongside the Country and Region tablecloths.
An item would be put in July issue of The Trefoil inviting members to design the lectern fall and the
winning design would be commissioned.
Task and Finish Group Strategic Action Plan 2012-2015
Progress Report – Survey Monkey
Mrs Downer updated the committee on the progress that has been made concerning a survey that will
go out to all leaders within Girlguiding UK that subscribe to the e-newsletters, for them to complete
to give their views of Trefoil Guild.
Mission Statement
On behalf of the Task and Finish Group Mrs Dooley proposed the following wording for the Mission
Statement of the Trefoil Guild

‘The Trefoil Guild as a branch of The Guide Association offers members personal and social
opportunities whilst supporting guiding and scouting’.
Pilot – SW Region Go Social
Mrs Dooley gave the committee feedback on the Facebook and Twitter profiles that have been set up
to get the South West Trefoil Guild talking and socialising online. So far the pages have been
accessed by a variety of people and there are various discussions going on. The pilot is going well and
other Countries and Regions will be looking to set up their own pages when the pilot is complete in
time for the next Executive Meeting in October.
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Branding
Miss Routley impressed upon the committee the importance of using the Trefoil Guild logo and all
other trademarks of Girlguiding UK in the correct way. Mr David Jones has said that he will produce
logos for each of the Countries and Regions to use on letterheads and other personalised items in
accordance with the format used by Girlguiding UK.
Trading
Mrs Ford informed the committee that Trading had suggested that designs and possible merchandise
should be considered for the 75th Anniversary in 5 years’ time, perhaps to tie in with any planned
events.
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