THE Gawler Girl Guides know what it feels like to go without seeing friends.

Having experienced their own hiatus from meetings earlier this year, members of the local district have come together to create something special for their peers in Victoria who remain unable to meet because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Over the weekend, 200 hand-made felt hearts were sent over to Girl Guides Victoria as a show of support from Gawler.

Gawler Girl Guides Youth Leader Wendy Mortimer said girls from five to 17, along with their leaders, were involved in making the hearts.

“I’ve been making them myself for friends for a long time and I gave all the other leaders one and then we thought maybe we could make some to send to Victoria,” she said.

“In Victoria they still can’t do face-to-face meetings yet, so we thought this would be a nice way to encourage them.”

Mrs Mortimer said the girls showed great resilience during their time without their own face-to-face meetings, and now are incredibly excited to be back into the swing of things.

“They had Zoom meetings so they didn’t miss out and the leader would drop off activities on their doorstep, and they would sit on Zoom and do them all together – cooking and crafting and all sorts of things,” she said.

“They really missed it and couldn’t wait to get back.”

Having missed some of their usual activities this year, the district is in the midst of planning several new initiatives to spread some Christmas cheer, including creating gifts for the elderly in aged care, and taking part in a special carols performance.