Unity 2026- A Festival of Friendship

By Emily Bacarese, 2nd Gibraltar Guides

Girlguiding Gibraltar have recently returned from trip to Tamworth UK after a week-long 6-night camping trip called Unity 2026. 

It was an unforgettable, life changing experience with fun packed days full of activities such as inflatable water courses and a carnival on the campsite. There were also life skills courses such as CPR, cooking, and crafting.  We had the amazing opportunity to meet hundreds of girls from all across the world including Canada, USA, Australia, Scotland, Wales, England, New Zealand and much more.  

We even got to trade badges with most of them. We were lucky enough to get two of the best leaders guiding us through our trip. They are Girlguiding leader Lianne Pincho and the Commissioner of Girlguiding Gibraltar Claire Montado.  We were also extremely lucky to be joined by two other leaders from Girlguiding Herefordshire, Sam Mason and Sue Bucknell, who supported our group with the cooking, provision of tents and much more.  

Our group consisted of 7 girls in total: myself, Sophia Olivero, Ruby Lugnani Murphy, Ayla Walsh, Ava Chichon, Ambar Simonsen and Lauren Montado.   

There were also festivals every night like a Coachella-style festival, a cowgirl night, and international night where we got on stage to make a speech and tell the story of Gibraltar. 

Now here are some quotes from some of the girls that went:  

Sophia Olivero said “I really enjoyed it and every night it was like going around the world with food by Sam and Sue”  

Ava Chichon said “Everything was so much fun! My favourite part was the inflatable assault course on the lake. Also well done to Sam for the food. I would definitely do it all over again!’” 

Ayla Walsh stated “Unity was an experience of a lifetime. I highly recommend that if you are a Girl Guide then you should go. The food was amazing, and so were the people. My personal favourite activity was the water assault course. Being given the opportunity 

to meet new people and try new things was incredible. Thank you so much to our leaders for organising it”. 

If you are interested in joining or volunteering for Girlguiding Gibraltar, you can contact us via our Facebook page, or register your interest on www.girlguiding.org.uk