It's been about 20 years but I still remember clear as day the feeling of pride I got when I achieved a new activity badge at Brownies.

The more that sash filled up with those little badges, the more I felt I was becoming more and more independent.

It was from Brownies that I first learned how to make a cup of tea (I got a badge for that one too), mustered up the courage enough to play a solo on the recorder for school assembly and even where my avid love of reading started - something that has never left me.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realise being a Brownie was actually quite a fundamental part of my growth.

It was a place I could go for a few hours every week to have fun, learn things, make friends and increase my confidence. What a great opportunity for a child.

I started thinking more about this because my colleague and friend Sam Yarwood, who fits about a million activities into her week, leads her own Brownie unit in Frodsham.

She may be Sam to me, but to dozens of little girls she is ‘Brown Owl’, their guide, their mentor, the one they go to to share all their news.

Sam Yarwood in Brown Owl mode on one of her Brownie trips

“It’s great training for the adult workplace and I’ve been involved in the charity for almost 20 years now,” says Sam, 24.

“I went through Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, before I was asked to go along and help out at my local Brownie unit.

“I was 14 and I remember leaving my friends at the park just before 6pm to go down to the hut.

“ They used to ask me why I bothered, telling me how ‘uncool’ it was but I ignored them.

“Even in my early teens I knew what Girlguiding had done for me.

“I’d made new friends, I’d been sailing and windsurfing, visited the Millennium Dome and learnt to build fires at camp – it was exciting and I really enjoyed it.”

By the time Sam was 20 she was running her own Brownie unit, in charge of about 20 plus youngsters once a week, being responsible for coming up with activity ideas, imparting advice and dealing with subs,

“It felt strange being in charge of all these girls, especially when I didn’t feel like an adult myself at times,” Sam recalls.

“For me it was always important my girls had fun. Yes, I want to teach them but I never wanted it to be like school.

“We do crafts, cook, host talent competitions and play games. We’ve been bowling, gone to Laser Quest, and in March we even went on PGL.”

To me, it seems a far cry from the Brownie meetings of decades ago - which always tended to have slightly antiquated connotations, such as making jam, knitting and learning how to be a good housewife.

But as Sam tells me, Girlguiding is not the same as it used to be.

There are many more opportunities for young girls and women – both nationally and internationally.

Last September, for example, Girlguiding Cheshire Forest held a CSI Day for Guides and Senior Section members at Pettypool near Northwich.

“It was amazing,” says Sam.

“They had to follow clues and test and examine evidence to solve a crime. As a massive CSI fan, I was in my element!

“We got to even take part in a theatrical make-up workshop which taught us how to make fake wounds and gashes like they do on TV - what an experience!”

At Easter, a team even headed out to Africa to work with children in The Gambia.

“As a charity we’re working hard to try and lead people away from the decades-old stereotype that girls go to Brownies to learn to cook, clean and sing songs,” she adds.

“It’s about giving girls and young women a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities.”

As the country’s largest female movement which involves more than half a million girls and women, it’s certainly doing a good job.

These days, Girlguiding has managed to present itself as a liberal, modern organisation for young women.

There are badges for circus skills, science, sport, independent living and crime prevention.

But despite the modern inputs - the Brownie Guide rule remains the same : ‘A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself, and does a good turn every day’.

It’s advice I’ll never be too old to heed.