A GIRL guiding district’s shiny new base was packed to the rafters for the official opening of its revamped HQ.

Girlguiding Kidlington celebrated returning to its spiritual home on Green Road with a ceremony attended by guides aged five to 85 on Saturday.

The event came almost a year to the day since bulldozers demolished the original building, which opened in 1973 and was in dire need of repair.

It also marked 12 years since the group began fundraising to build the new centre, with approximately £120,000 racked up in little more than a decade.

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This, along with a £100,000 loan from Cherwell District Council, helped produce the new facility, which welcomed the UK’s chief guide, Amanda Medler, for Saturday's special day.

She said: “They’re really buzzing and it’s a great day for them.

“They’ve worked incredibly hard fundraising and had great support from the local community, which is really helpful.

“It’s a day to celebrate the years of being resilient, believing in the project and raising funds.

“It gives girls and young women the chance to do new things, change their community and work towards changing the world.”

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The original building had an estimated life span of 25 years, so it was already crumbling when the group began working towards the rebuild in 2007.

Since then, Girlguiding Kidlington has raised £116,000 through a combination of grants and fundraising, holding a range of events from summer craft days to Christmas fairs.

Fundraising is still ongoing, despite the unit returning from a brief relocation to Kidlington’s Kaleidoscope Centre while the redevelopment took place.

District commissioners Hannah Masterson and Ros Letellier, both from Kidlington, have been involved with Girlguiding Kidlington for 20 and 12 years respectively and hope the new centre provides opportunities to even more girls.

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Ms Letellier said: “It’s been a very long, arduous and winding process, because when we first got planning permission we didn’t manage to fundraise enough. The goalposts kept moving and at times it felt like we’d never get there.

“We want it to be a hub where girls can have fun and make the kind of friendships we’ve made.”

The group returned to the base in November, but Saturday was still a special occasion as many of Kidlington’s 200 girl guides joined leaders and community members for songs, awards and a rose planting.

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Sarah Eyles, Carol Cox and Amanda Weller all joined Kidlington brownies well over 40 years ago and are now leaders, and Ms Eyles urged young girls to make the most of the centre.

She said: “If you join a football club you need to be good at football, if you join a swimming club you need to be good at swimming, but girl guiding finds the best in every young woman.”

Six-year-old rainbow, Harriet Cotterill, said she hoped the centre would help her keep 'having fun and making tents'.

Lois-May Goodwin, Lily Gilbert, Aria Masterson and Maya Cobdem, all aged eight to 10, said they enjoyed guides as they could go outdoors and 'make cool badges'.