[7] Pilkington, introduced to Guiding in the 1930s by her aunt, Christine Pilkington,[8] held several roles within St Helens and district Girl Guiding, including camp advisor,[9] assistant division commissioner, district commissioner for St Helens N.W.

[13][14] In 1943 Pilkington joined the Guide International Service (GIS) and undertook 18 months of "special training, fitting [her] for difficult work in countries which have been in Nazi occupation."

It included a "toughening course" which involved "sleeping in barns, existing without money or kit, [and] being sent to lonely points on the Yorkshire moors in the snow to survive on iron rations.

[19] They then moved to Greece where they organised centres to receive and process large numbers of hostages who had recently been released by their captors, The Greek People's Liberation Army.

On the same day "250 Greek soldiers, thirty-six women (six of them pregnant) and ten babies arrived" at the centre, seeking shelter, food and medical aid.

The British Army had provided the centre with two days' worth of rations, and Pilkington's team had "one tin-opener, one knife and one first-aid kit" between them.

The South West Lancashire Girl Guide County Camp Site was the result, officially opened in May 1967.

She was a practicing Christian and served as Deacon and Elder of her church, president of the Women's Guild and assisted in raising "substantial sums of money" for missionary work.