1st Kennet Vale Rainbow presented Anne Eldred Award in Thatcham

A 1st Kennet Vale Rainbow has received the Anne Eldred award.

Tracey Gillingham and Martin Eldred present the award each year to a girl from one of the five Rainbow units across the district in memory of Mr Eldred’s late wife Anne, better known as ‘Dodo’, who was a Rainbow Guider for 20 years until she died from breast cancer in 2016.

And this year, seven-year-old Brooke Garrad-Urquhart was surprised with a certificate and an engraved shield in front of her family at Thatcham United Reformed Church on Thursday evening (November 7) for all her hard work and enthusiasm.

Brooke was one of the Rainbows to form the core of 1st Kennet Vale when it reopened in April 2023.

She will be moving up to Brownies next year.

“I didn’t even know I was getting it,” she said.

When asked what activities she has enjoyed most in Rainbows, she replied: “I loved the balloon activities. I want to do camping when I get to Brownies.”

And how is she celebrating?

“Daddy is going to take me out for dinner. I don’t know where.”

Unit leader Anne Dibble added: “She [Brooke] has joined in with everything that the unit has offered, and always with a smile on her face.

“This is the main reason for her being given the award.”

Mr Eldred told newburytoday: “She [Anne] had been involved in Rainbows for many years.

“She struggled with cancer and almost recovered from it.

“We ask all the Rainbow leaders to find somebody within their individual units and to write a little piece about the kind of things they’ve done.

“There’s a group of three of four of us who meet each year to go through those to see which ones would be appropriate to give the award to.

“We choose to give the award in early November because my wife’s birthday was November 1, so it seems appropriate to award it around this time.

“We hope to continue it as long as we possibly can.”