Maitland Guides to mark 100 years with a year of special events

The launch kicks off a series of events throughout the year supported by a grant from Maitland City Council, including a display at the Heritage Festival in June and a centenary dinner at Telarah Bowling Club in September.

Historian and former Guide leader Sue Folpp has devoted herself to piecing together newspaper clippings and photographs by trawling through library archives, library online search tool Trove and personal collections.

The Guides hold a special place in Ms Folpp's heart. A leader in the 1980s, she joined the Guides when she moved to Maitland and the experience changed her life.

"I started Guides when I knew absolutely nothing about them, I'd just moved to Maitland," she said.

"I was lucky enough to start with a leader who had been doing Guides since the 1950s and she was just wonderful.

"Terrific with the girls, lots of ideas, she did so much for guiding and she passed away in 2006 I think it was.

"I've always thought I have to do something to make sure the work that she has done is carried on and people realise what has happened with Maitland Guides."

The leader's name was Jean Conley and she committed 43 years to the Guide movement in Maitland.

Maitland Guides have run continuously for 100 years, a fact Ms Folpp said is remarkable.

"I think that's a lot to do with the people who have been involved, it started off with Mrs Fry, who was the mayor's wife at the time and Mrs Holmes who was the wife of the rector at St Mary's Church," she said.

"They decided that they needed something for the girls to do, scouting was already going in Maitland and they organised a meeting. Heaps of people turned up at the first meeting and they got the committee to start working towards opening it."

In the first year Maitland had 150 girls and by 1924 they started going on camping trips, an uncommon pursuit at the time.

Maitland now has about 50 Guides from ages seven through to 18 and Ms Folpp said the association is still going strong.

"Guides nowadays do a lot of advocating for different projects and because we're a world organisation, that carries through into world events as well - the betterment of girls, education for girls in all countries," she said.

Ms Folpp said Guides often opened up new experiences for girls, including the use of amateur radio to speak to other Guides around the world.

"I know in 2009 we were at a campsite near Clarence town and our girls got to speak to Guides and Scouts in four continents and I forget how many countries and it was just wonderful, the girls just loved it," she said.