THE spirit of community and spirit of putting service before self is exemplified by young people who belong to the Girlguiding movement and its Essex County commissioner has spoken of her pride in the young people of Thurrock.

And in particular the guides of Thurrock West who are currently being supported by Co-op Community funding via members who use the Socketts Heath store. Thurrock West is one of two sections in Essex West which in turn is part of Girlguiding Anglia Region which comprises of ten divisions and stretches from the Thames in the south to the Cambridge border in the north.

Thurrock West covers Tilbury, Chadwell St. Mary, South Ockendon, Grays, Little Thurrock, North Stifford, Stifford Clays and West Thurrock and there are currently 365 girls and 85 volunteers in the division.

Youngsters come through a number of age groups, from Rainbows, to Brownies to Guides and finally to become Rangers.

County commissioner Chris Skinner says: "Girls take what they do in guiding with them as they grow up. Everything from working in a team, to taking the lead, to speaking out on issues they care about. It helps them develop the skills and confidence to become the young women they want to be. And to make a difference to the world around them."

Those ideals and the creation of a spirit of well-being among young people match the Co-op's recognised community values and after being nominated by local people, guiding in West Thurrock was selected to be one of three charities to benefit from revenue generated by the Co-op's community fund which is financed by one per cent of all sales of selected items at Sockett's Heath.

Chris expressed her thanks to shoppers at the store for their support, saying: "It is really lovely that we have such support locally and all the money we receive will be put to good use and help young people as we grow Guiding in our local community."

For more information on Girlguiding Thurrock West click here.