Since the early part of this year Brownies across Bridgend and Porthcawl have been honing their performance skills to take part in a Brownies Got Talent competition. The competition which is sponsored by Bridgend Soroptimists involved almost 100 Brownies from 5 different Brownie groups in Newton, Kenfig Hill, Llangynwyd, Coity and Litchard.
Each of the girls, aged between 7 and 10 years old, performed in front of an audience and the acts included singing and dancing, playing an instrument, gymnastics, skipping, reciting poetry and even doing magic! Every participant gained their Brownie Performing badge and also received a Brownies Got Talent certificate.
Eight girls won through the unit and division heats to take part in the Grand Final and competed for the Brownies Got Talent trophy in front of an audience of around 60 people. The three ladies set the difficult task of judging the final were Sue Newton, President Elect of Bridgend Soroptimists, Julie Thomas, County Commissioner for Girlguiding Central Glamorgan and Sharon Dixon, High Sheriff for Mid Glamorgan and a member of SI Bridgend.
Sue Newton said, “It wasn’t an easy task judging these talented girls. This is the sixth time the competition has been sponsored by Soroptimist International Bridgend. We want to encourage young girls to ‘have a go’, and to develop and build their confidence. That has certainly been the case and it has been a very entertaining and worthwhile project.”
Julie Thomas agreed. “I was honoured to be a judge for this year’s competition. It’s really great that there are so many enthusiastic Brownies out there who want to take part. It takes a lot of courage to stand up in front of strangers and perform, and gives the girls so much confidence. It was also a pleasure to see how the girls supported each other throughout the competition. Thank you to Bridgend Soroptimists and to our volunteer leaders who helped to make this such an excellent event.”
The winner of the Grand Final, Rose, was from 3rd Newton Brownies and sang beautifully. “I was very nervous but practised a lot throughout the competition. I was really pleased to win, but amazed as the other girls were so good. It was great a great feeling and I enjoyed performing for the Soroptimists at their Presentation Night too.”
