A guiding light for girls
Chloe Fenwick imagined the best thing about joining Logan Village Girl Guides would be bringing home delicious cookies for her mother … instead her eyes are now open to a world of accomplishment and opportunity.
Becoming a girl guide has not only empowered Chloe as a community leader at heart.
She is now recognised as the first in her Girl Guides district to receive the Queen’s Guide Award – the peak achievement award for the global association’s youth members.
‘There is a bit of a misconception that you have to join young, but I joined when I was almost 14 and a lot of girls do start later and find that Girl Guides can take you far,’ Chloe says.
Now 17, Chloe is proof of where Girl Guides can lead.
She is heading to the Swiss Alps in 2025 to volunteer at one of the 5 Girl Guides world centres. She has also attended a national Girl Guides camp in Ballarat, Victoria, and youth leadership conferences in Brisbane and Sydney.
‘If anyone is thinking about joining, it is definitely not just weekly meetings,’ Chloe says.
The daunting tasks Chloe undertook for the Queen’s Guide Award ranged from leadership skills, planning outdoor adventures and community service to extraordinary personal development – including high-level piano and guitar exams, and a 3-day hike, for which she also received the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award.
‘Earning the Queen’s Guide Award was a formidable challenge, but all that hard work has led to this moment,’ Chloe says.
Her family, Ranger Guides Leader Lisa Singh and Logan Village Girl Guides District Manager Annette McPherson are all extremely proud of Chloe, who will receive her award certificate in April at Brisbane Parliament House.
Annette, a Girl Guides member for 40 years, praises Chloe as a role model for Logan Village Ranger Guides.
‘She is a great example of the goal to empower girls and young women to discover their potential,’ Annette says.
This year Chloe is studying nursing at university with a dream to join the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
She’s also training as a Girl Guide unit leader for a group of ‘the cutest’ Year 1 to Year 4 girls.
‘I love helping people and Girl Guides has made me feel more connected to Logan Village and the people within it,’ Chloe says.
‘And to think this all started because my mum loved Girl Guides cookies!’
