A GIRLGUIDE from Bromsgrove has become the third generation of women in her family to be awarded the prestigious Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award, following in the footsteps of her Wythall born grandmother.
Megan Megahey, aged 21, has joined her mother and grandmother on the list of recipients of the award – all of whom achieved the accolade through their roles in girlguiding.
Megan follows in the footsteps of both her mum and her grandmother who did the same in 1959 and 1990. Megan’s grandmother Gillian Watson, 85, was one of the very first girls in the country to achieve the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award soon after the scheme was extended to girls in 1958.
To celebrate Megan’s achievement, she recently attended a Gold Award celebration event with her mum and grandmother hosted by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
They were introduced to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the event held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Megan was one of just a handful of young people to personally speak to The Duke at the event.
During their exchange, The Duke said: “Three generations, really. Now that’s quite impressive.”
After the event, Megan, shared her pride in being the third generation of her family to do this and even more so for doing it through Girlguiding.
She added: “My mum and my nan were very encouraging and it was their motivation that got me to keep pushing through.”
While Megan officially joined Girlguiding as a Rainbow at the age of five, she went on her first Brownie pack holiday while her mum Hazel Megahey was pregnant with her. It was the same for
Hazel, 54, who also attended meetings when her Guide leader mum was pregnant with her
Grandmother Gillian is still involved in Girlguiding at a county level in Birmingham, while Megan is a co-leader of 188th Birmingham Brownies, a Kings Norton-based unit that her mum Hazel has run for the last 33 years.
All the family have always been part of Girlguiding Birmingham.
“It was an absolute honour to have the privilege of meeting HRH Duke of Edinburgh and for him to take the time to hear our story,” said Megan’s mum Hazel.
“We were proud to not only be three generations to complete our Gold DofE but also to represent Girlguiding Birmingham which was the catalyst to us all gaining the Award.”
Grandmother Gillian, from Wythall, says taking part in the DofE award scheme is just one of countless opportunities that Girlguiding has given her over her lifetime.
“I’m so proud Megan and Hazel have followed in my footsteps,” said Gillian, whose own mother was also a Guide leader. “Girlguiding is a way of life for me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
The Gold DofE Award is the highest level of the program. It takes a minimum of 12 months to complete. Young people build their own programmes with activities in five sections – physical, skills, volunteering, a five-day residential and a four-day expedition.
