Thelma is a Star Woman nominee

The 2008 Star Woman of the Year will be crowned next week. In the build-up to the presentation, we are profiling one of our eight finalists each day. Today we meet a legend in the local Brownies and Guides movement.

Thelma Hall began a lifelong vocation with the Brownies over half a century ago, and continues to inspire and attract countless generations of young girls to the movement.

One person who nominated Thelma for Star Woman of the Year said: "Thelma has given so much of her time, but moreover her life, to help others in various fields for the betterment of the local community and society as a whole."

Another said: "Thelma has devoted her whole life to the support and comfort of others. She epitomises the true values of a good citizen and is a role model for others in our community."

It is a glowing testament to the former Wakeman School secretary, now in her 70s, who founded the 8th Shrewsbury Guide and Ranger company in 1957, giving young girls continued support and guidance through adolescence.

She has trained adult leaders for the Midlands and served as Commissioner and Secretary to the Guide Association. More recently she was also secretary of the Midland Region Trefoil Guide – the senior branch of the Brownie and Guide movement.

"Working with young people from Brownies through Guides and on into Rangers, you can see them growing and gaining in confidence which, in itself, is very rewarding," she says.

One of her biggest personal challenges in recent times has been to galvanise a fundraising campaign to save the historic run-down meeting hall of St Michael's Church in Ditherington, which was bought by the Girl Guide Association in the late 1970s.

With a £49,000 award from the Heritage Lottery Fund for renovation, the doors to the church hall eventually re-opened in September providing a much needed meeting place for local people. It was another major project which owed much to Thelma's relentless determination.

Remarkably, Thelma still makes time to visit India and Mexico, staying in Guide houses for a month and doing voluntary work with six to 13-year-olds.

Away from the Guide Association, the avid gardener who lives with her sister Cynthia in Bayston Hill.

Born with a hearing disorder, Thelma can also often be found undertaking voluntary home visits to those with hearing difficulties through the Effective Hearing Programme and is a caring and friendly face in times of need.

By Liza Radley