Rona Bingham (Left-pictured with lifelong friend Jenny Young) passed away in the early hours of the morning on June 26th. She had been in Girlguiding for most of her adult life and had an amazing 62.56 years on her record.
Her association began with Girlguiding in 1960 when she trained as an assistant leader for Felbridge Guides. She then took on brownies and was the most amazing Brown Owl. I can personally testify to this as she would tell everyone, I was one of her brownies.
She held so many roles in Girlguiding from being camp chief for WS, served as a member of the friends of Blackland Farm. Her county roles including awards committee chair, outdoor advisor and was Division Commissioner for East Grinstead and finally Worth Division president.
She was huge fun, teased and made us all laugh with her own brand of logic, fairness and,’ tell it how it was frankness’. An example of this I experienced as a young leader on pack holiday in 1979. The young leaders carried the large sandwich boxes to the beach for our traditional picnic. On our return, to my surprise, they seemed heavier only to discover they were full of pebbles. I asked why, she replied the pebbles were needed for craft, but hadn’t told us because we would have found them too heavy!!
She was a member of Felbridge church and prayed for so many people, she was a founding member of Care in East Grinstead transported people to hospital, worked for the fire service and had an amazing family.
She had confided in me regarding the Girlguiding elements she wanted for her funeral service a few years age (no pressure Auntie Rona), Nancy, her daughter, and I made them a reality. With the help of so many from around the County she had taps and standards. As the Worth Division Commissioner in residence, I had the immense pleasure to carry the standard she helped design.
She was an example of how best to be a member of Girlguiding, embracing the good values we adhere to. Fair honest and impartial, a true mentor.
However, of her many roles by skills by far the most important to her and us was as a grassroots Brown Owl.
We will all miss her.
