Public recognition
of public service : Catherine (left of centre) and Gemma (right
of centre) with Lizzie (left) and Heidi (right), the other
team members, and Carol (Gemma's Mum) and Dianne (Catherine's
Mum) front left and right respectively, with the Mayor and
Mayoress of Holderness in the centre.
The riding lessons ended
when Catherine got her own pony and Gemma developed an allergy
to horses! The skating and dancing also dwindled although both
girls continued to swim, but their foremost sporting pursuit
became kayak canoeing, both girls eventually reaching Division
3 (now Division 2) in national slalom competition as well as playing canoe polo in the county Ladies' Leagues.
They moved from Brownies to Guides (where they became Young
Leaders at the age of 14) and became more and more involved
in their local community.
Each summer they joined in an initiative sponsored by the county
Police force to involve young people in community projects,
and each summer they worked long and hard to bring benefit to
the village and surrounding areas. They cleared footpaths, made
nature trails and collected litter, weeded the churchyard and
cleared overgrown graves. They wrote and illustrated books for
disadvantaged children (and even had them published in Braille!)
and decorated the sitting room of a home for adults with severe
learning difficulties with spectacular murals and mobiles and
took the residents for outings. During the long hot summer of
1995 they spent every day of their holidays working to turn
an overgrown paddock into a beautiful "Sensory Garden" for the
residents at a local old people's home.
Imagine how delighted they were to receive public recognition
for all their hard work : the county council presented them
with the Holderness Award for Community and Environmental Service,
and most marvellous of all, they were taken (along with the
other two members of their team) on an all-expenses-paid two
week holiday to Disneyland Florida by the Police!
Catherine (L), Gemma (R) and friend
at Disneyland, 1996
Photo Gallery 1993 - 1997
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