Fleur White, a Guider from 1st Over Rainbow unit got married to Chris Tarpay in Central Park, New York on 25 April 2008. The reception was held on 10 May in Over Community Centre. Unknown to Fleur and her new husband, her mother Linda White had organised for five of Fleur’s Rainbows to be her ‘Guard of Honour’. Linda said “Fleur was so surprised and one of the Rainbows told her she looked like a real princess”.

As part of the Girlguide organisation, Rainbows was started for the 5-7 year old girls in 1987. This year they are celebrating their 21st birthday. 1st Over Rainbow unit opened a year later and Fleur was one of the first little girls to start there. Fleur then became a Brownie and then a Guide and now 20 years on she runs the unit as the Leader.

Birthday parties are being held in Rainbow units all over the country. Liz Smith, Head of Guiding Development for Girlguiding Uk said “When Rainbows started we had no idea it would take off so well. There are now over 80,000 Rainbows in the UK and we are helping them build their social skills and self esteem to become tomorrow’s confident young women.”

Rainbows are going from strength to strength but we need more leaders like Fleur to help numbers grow even bigger before their next landmark birthday. For more information contact the County office for Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or by phone on 01223 813917.