Five accredited tour guides achieve their gold badges

These are the first gold badges awarded for six years by the Bailiwick of Guernsey Guild of Accredited Guides.

Economic Development Committee president Deputy Neil Inder, who presented the awards, said the guides did a terrific job for Guernsey tourism.

‘These are great people, who are out there telling our 8,000-year history, from the day when we were cut off from the Contentin peninsula to where we are today.

‘They do a great job, the visitors absolutely love them, they tell a very, very good story.’

New gold guide Soo Wellfair said that it felt amazing to reach such a status.

‘I’ve wanted this for such a long time, it’s a little bit unreal to actually get my badge,’ she said.

To reach gold status the guides had to have held silver accreditation for at least three years, submit a portfolio of their work, host a bus and walking tour and give two 20-minute presentations.

The guides were allowed to chose one topic to present on and then had to pull another one out of a hat.

Ms Wellfair choose a lecture on dark tourism.

‘This is the idea of people visiting places with a dark history, areas of war, cemeteries, or Chernobyl,’ she said.

‘I wanted people to think about whether tourists visiting German bunkers are actually dark tourists.’

She was initially disappointed with the topic she drew out of the hat.

‘I got Guernsey’s government. I actually asked if I could get another one. But when I did all my research it was actually really interesting. Now I’ve got a much better grasp of that subject.’

Malcolm Cleal, who has been a guide for 12 years, drew the topic of the evacuation, which he approached in a different way.

‘I interviewed a family member who’d been evacuated and gave the talk as though I was him, and that worked out really well,’ he said.

Mr Cleal said that the course had been a lot of hard work.

‘A sigh of relief that it’s all done. Now I’ve just got to prove I’m as good as the badge says.’