GROWING up in a tiny village in Berkshire, Amy Brewer was thrilled to become a member of her local youth group.

Little did she know, when she joined the 1st Pinkney Green Girl Guides aged 11, that she was earning herself a place in the history books.

Amy, who now lives in Southbourne, was in fact a member of the very first Girl Guides group, formed in 1909 by Lord Baden-Powell's sister, Agnes Baden-Powell herself.

Now 97, Amy believes she may well even be the oldest living Girl Guide.

"I joined 86 years ago when I was 11," she said, "so I think I'm the oldest surviving Girl Guide of the original group that was formed. Quite a few of them were quite a bit older than me."

Girlguiding UK is now the largest youth organisation for girls in the country, with half a million young members aged four to 25, and one in 10 of all 11-year-old girls in the UK are Guides.

Amy has very fond memories of her time as a Girl Guide.

"On our shoulder we had 1st Pinkney Green Girl Guides' and above it we had a special tab which said Miss Baden-Powell's Own'," she said.

"Our guide leader's name was Mrs Fraser. We had meetings every week and did all sorts of different things. We used to meet in the village and we would go for strolls and have a talk and games.

"I remember we went camping once near Reading and a storm came up and we had to sleep in the farmer's barn.

"My father was in the St John Ambulance and he trained us for our First Aid badge. It was a really wonderful time."

Amy had to leave the group when she started work in a shop, aged just 14. She later went on to work for a Maidenhead company which had diamond mines and fruit plantations in South Africa.

She married her husband, Arthur, in 1933, and the couple had two daughters before moving to Bournemouth in 1960 after Arthur retired.

She is now a grandmother of six and a great-grandmother of nine.

"My granddaughter joined the Brownies and really enjoyed it," she said.

"But my daughters didn't go. My eldest was crazy on nursing and she went into that and the other girl was rather keen on dressmaking."

Amy and her granddaughter are in good company - celebrity former Guide members include Body Shop founder Anita Roddick, Tony Blair's wife Cherie Booth and athlete Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, as well as Labour MP Glenda Jackson, former Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam and actress Emma Thompson.

Members of the Girl Guide groups of today can take part in a range of activities from abseiling to party planning and from circus skills to survival.

It wasn't quite as varied in Amy's day but she is adamant that, despite having been around for almost 100 years, the Girl Guides still hold a valuable place in today's society.

"In those days I think they did more, but I think it's a wonderful thing for girls to be joining the Girl Guides," she said.

"You're mixing with people, you're doing different things and you're learning at the same time. You've got a Guide leader that cares about you.

"You really have good fun. You get quite a lot of entertainment and you have good company.

"It would be much better for children if they joined these youth movements to take them off the streets.

"You hear so much about the Scouts but my Guide years were really wonderful. They were really happy times."