On a sleepy early Spring Sunday, with the rest of Egham quiet and empty, Egham Rangers assembled in their usual meeting place to begin what would prove to be an intense, but truly wonderful day of workshops. The workshops were intended to help prepare the Rangers for their upcoming participation in a BBC Civilisations Festival debate hosted by Egham Museum. The Rangers had been invited to the debate by the chair, Dr. Stella Moss: the debate topic invited us to consider whether a society can be considered civilised if a portion of it can’t vote. 100 years ago, nearly half the population were unable to vote (women) and today there are still portions of society who are unable to have a say at the voting stations: immigrants, the homeless and, most relevant to the Rangers, all individuals under the age of 18.
After the usual hubbub of the unit assembling (a flurry of paperwork, parents, and friends reuniting), the unit settled and waited for Wayne Armstrong to arrive and begin his ‘Personal Defence Readiness’ Workshop. Wayne had driven all the way from Swindon with his son, daughter and lovely assistants in tow to introduce the Rangers to some simple but vital self-defence moves. Wayne, as with all the incredible practitioners that have joined us in various ways over the project, did this for us out of the kindness of his heart and support of what the Libertea Project has been all about: empowering the next generation of women to stand up and speak out. Wayne’s gift to the project was an hour of very literal empowerment.
Wayne began by introducing us all to the ideas behind Personal Readiness Defence training: the idea that we are all able to physically defend ourselves but because we’ve been socially conditioned to forget this fact, particularly as females, we often start from a place of not thinking we are strong enough or allowed to fight, to say no, to not be agreeable to things that make us feel uncomfortable. Sectioning us off into pairs, and with a move so simple it could’ve been magic, Wayne demonstrated by how a simple bodily shift can strengthen our arms tenfold: rather than clenching our hands into fists as a way to tense our arms and hold them straight and strong, we opened our fingers and saw how quickly our arms became locked and steady.
As Wayne spoke and demonstrated the moves, his group of volunteers chipping in now and then, the room was suffused with his passion for what he believed in, and it was clear as to why Wayne had decided to get up early on a Sunday morning, bung his family and friends in his car, and drive all the way over to Egham to work with a bunch of girls he’d never met before in his life. Wayne really cares. To Wayne, it matters that so many young women stand on the street unaware of how to defend themselves should the worse happen. To Wayne, it matters that so many of us are unable to say NO with conviction to the things that make us feel uncomfortable because we are all so focused on being agreeable all the time. And Wayne knew that by teaching us all a few simple defence moves, he had made a genuine difference to our safety and had reminded each one of us of our physical power. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female, tall or short, disabled or not disabled, young or old: we are all capable of being strong and fierce.
And so our unit meeting space filled up with Rangers in defence-ready pose, fingers flexed, arms strong, eyes trained, striking exercise balls with their newly acquired double palm strike, laughing, slightly puffed, but focused and engaged. Each member of Wayne’s group trained the girls in a way that made them instantly feel comfortable and respected, and, most importantly, safe.
Inspired by Wayne and his band of merry PDR warriors, the new regional Girlguiding LaSER badge now contains a section called ‘Get Safe’, which offers other units the chance to experience Wayne’s special brand of physical and mental empowerment. If all 56,795 members of Girlguiding in London and the South East of England (for whom The Libertea Badge will be offered) completed the ‘Get Safe’ section, then that’s nearly 57,000 girls and young women equipped with ‘Powerful Nos’, self-defence moves and the knowledge of how to be strong and steadfast when placed in challenging circumstances.
Thank you Wayne & co!
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