THE 37th Warrington Rainbows, a girl guide group based in Great Sankey, have held a fundraising day for Children in Need.

The group, which caters to girls aged between four and seven before they move on to Brownies, decided to decorate and sell badges with all proceeds going to the charity.

Warrington Guardian:

Great Sankey’s girl guides are a unique group due to the specific ways in which they cater their programme to disabled girls.

They have a big focus on getting disabled girls involved in guiding, and as such have a far more diverse group in this way than most guide groups.

Louise Helsby, 27, the unit leader for the group, said: “I think it’s really important for people in the community to realise that disabled young people are, at the end of the day, young people who can and should be able to be involved in activities like these.

“I am hoping that more representation in the media of mixed ability social groups will help to support this for all disabled people.”

Warrington Guardian:

The 37th Warrington Rainbows do several things to cater to those with disabilities, most notably the fact that they learn their pledges in Makaton as well as English.

Makaton is a sign language that combines some British sign language phrases with spoken words, intended to further the development of children’s language skills.