Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East Celebrates -
Former County Commissioner Awarded MBE
Ann Mitchell, former County Commissioner for Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List for services to young people in Cambridgeshire.

Married with two sons, Mrs Mitchell has been involved with guiding since she joined the organisation as an 11 year-old.  As a unit Guider in Cambridgeshire for more than 35 years, she has inspired over 600 girls in her Guide and Senior Section units in Barton, encouraging and supporting them to achieve goals that they thought were unobtainable.  Although she retired from this role earlier this year, Mrs Mitchell is still actively involved with local guiding, preserving the local heritage of the organisation as County Archivist and as an active member of the Rhee Division Trefoil Guild group.

However, Mrs Mitchell’s contribution to guiding doesn’t just begin and end in Cambridgeshire; she has held the role of Region International Adviser and has served as a member and Chairman of ‘Our Chalet’, a guiding world residential centre in Switzerland for many years.

Sue Carpenter, County Commissioner, said: “I am delighted that Ann's service to Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East has been recognised with a national honour.  I feel privileged to work alongside such a committed, dedicated and caring member of the community, who loves what she does and cares greatly about the people she comes into contact with”.

As well as service to guiding, the honour also recognises Mrs Mitchell’s contribution to village life in Toft, Cambridgeshire, where she jointly runs the Toft Friendship Group, has written for the local historical society and is a key contributor to the organisation of village events. Ann also took an important role in encouraging greater links between the Anglican Church and Methodist Chapel that culminated in a local ecumenical partnership agreement in 2004.  Mike Booker, Priest-in-Charge of the Parishes of Comberton and Toft today said: “Ann has been a churchwarden for 19 years and throughout has been at the very heart of the vibrant community life in the village of Toft”.

Local Leader Jean Verney, who nominated Mrs Mitchell for the award, said:  “What makes Ann special is not just the breadth and scale of her long involvement with Guiding but the impact she has had on so many girls and young women.  It is often forgotten that all Girlguiding UK Leaders are volunteers.  They do all of their guiding in their spare time and it is crucial to recognise and to thank them for all their hard work and commitment, which Ann herself has found so rewarding over the years”.