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Hi all, and welcome to your new look district newsletter.  This is your space to blow your own trumpet about the activities you’ve been up to over the last term.  News and upcoming events are another big feature which I hope will let you all plan well ahead for the term to come and we can all become a bit closer together in the process.  I’ll be publishing at the beginning of each term, so please make sure your stories are in before the last week of the major terms – Easter, Xmas and the big six weeker.

 

The content of this letter is all up to you… the readers!  No news in, will just lead to me spouting on for four pages which may be fun for the first few issues but I’m sure you’ll be bored with it by issue 3 so pleeeese remember to drop me a line and some photos when you hold events and activities.

 

Can I remind you that we do also have a District Website on http://www.greenwichscouts.org.uk which is lacking in up to date content so please get snapping with the camera and send in some pics of activities with a descriptive blurb to Alan Gregory.

 

Right that’s the domestics over with, let’s kick off with a word from our….

 

District Chairman

First can I warmly thank Ray Fullerton for taking over the editorship of this Greenwich Newsletter. At the District AGM back in May we recorded our thanks to Den Layell who was stepping down from producing the Newsletter and asked if anyone might be willing to come forward and take it on. Very much in the spirit of scouting our request was answered by Ray. He has

already shown, in his emails, that he has changes in mind and is taking a fresh look at the role a newsletter can play. So in gratefully wishing him every success we all need to make sure we give him our full support by passing on news and articles.

As August leads into September group meetings begin again and another year of scouting gets underway. The District AGM showed scouting in Greenwich to be going from strength to strength. Perhaps the two messages to reflect upon are these. We have waiting lists of young people wanting to be in scouting as Beavers and Cubs but this is held back by the need to recruit leaders. Hopefully the strength of the Explorer Unit may provide young leaders and of course getting parents to become helpers and then, perhaps, leaders, is another route to success. The other major area of concern for the District is to build a replacement District HQ. The Farjeon Road site represents a unique resource of open ground in the middle of London and a new HQ building will increase the opportunities it offers. The Executive are working on making this a reality.

I wonder if you too stopped briefly on the 1st August to remember the events of last year and the Scout Sunrise. The image of Scouting was greatly enhanced by the centenary celebrations and all the publicity about what scouting stands for. Under Ray’s editorship this Newsletter will continue that message and keep you informed about what is happening.

Best wishes for your scouting in 2008-09

- George

 

The CRB and us

Some of you will be familiar with the CRB ‘check’, formally a Disclosure Application to the Criminal Records Bureau.  The Committee of the Council (HQ) has decided that all adults working within Scouting should be required to have a check. Some have held appointments from before the introduction of checks in 2002. We are now asked to ensure that they also will have completed a CRB check by 31 December 2008.

 

A second change is that all adults will be required to renew their check at least every five years. For those in appointments that are subject to a formal review (using Form AR) this now should be carried out at the same time as their appointment review.

 

With these changes in mind I will be getting in touch with GSLs with a note of those whom I think this affects so that forms can be completed and sent off in good time. These should be for all volunteers, that is both uniformed (leaders) and non-uniformed positions such as parent helpers and the group trustees (chairman, treasurer & secretary).

 

I am sure that you will agree that these enhancements to our use of the CRB Disclosure process are reasonable and appropriate. They will help us to continue to ensure that Scouting is both safe and is also seen to be safe by parents, our own volunteers and the wider public.

Thank you for your support.

Conway Tearle

Appointments Secretary

 

Okay… Lets get down to it… what have you all been up to?

 

G40

Summer Camp 2008

Nineteen Scouts and three leaders from the 40^th Greenwich Group were joined by Sue Tearle, our District Secretary, and Christine Baker from 1^st Royal Eltham for a weeks Summer Camp at Youlbury, near Oxford on 27^th July

 

The site is at Boar’s Hill, SW of the city and it is owned and run by the Scout Association. The activities were great with an Ariel Trek and a 3G Swing and the staff very helpful. The loo are blocks a bit primitive but there are plans to build new ones. There are a few sites on green fields but most are in woodland on a hill side and very short of grass. When it rained, and it did, there was 50cm of mud splashed up around the bottom of the tents. The wood supply was difficult. Mainly recently felled trees, still a little green and needed splitting. There was no natural wood to use for gadgets.

 

The day they arrived was very hot; just what is needed when all the kit had to be carried 100m from the car park to the site. On the Monday evening they had an exciting thunderstorm and torrential rain.  They were joined by Norman Woodard and Steve Petty from Eltham who ran a Pioneering Project and built a swing boat. They had a beautiful day for the hike on Wednesday which took them down to the River Thames.  Lindsey and Ben Wood turned up for the last night to help with all the packing up.

 

They are grateful to John Kingsmell (Group Chairman of the 1^st Royal Eltham) for arranging the loan of a headquarters for drying out all the wet canvass they brought home.  Congratulations also go to Chris Stern who completed 50 Nights Away while at the camp.

 

Chief Scout’s Gold Award

Congratulations to David Elliott, a Scout in the 40^th Greenwich who has completed the Gold Award.  The Certificate and Badge were presented by John Kingsmell, The County Chairman, at the annual meeting of the Group Council held at District Headquarters in July.  David and his family are to emigrate to Western Australia in September.

 

G46

Beaver Sports Day

The sun stayed out for us again this year, though no serious risk of sunburn!  The tried and trusted format was hauled out again and seemed to go well from what I saw, but I am generally oblivious to people moaning so probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway!  Unfortunately G54 weren’t able to attend this year so 46^th improved to coming third, from 4^th last year.  (Can anybody see a pattern emerging?)  Apart from the traditional Welly Wanging other popular races such as the water race and dressing up relay were ran with G40 taking overall first place, a combined G49/G51 super group taking second and G46 third with the biggest turnout for years, but sadly mostly new intake of just a touch over six years old (that’s our excuse and we’re sticking with it)

 

To boldly go where no Beaver has been before!

46^th Beavers also ventured into the unknown at Chislehurst Caves recently.  We had the short guided tour lasting 45 minutes so not too long for little legs.  There were a couple of our group that were frightened in the dark, but the Beavers soon calmed their mums down!  If you fancy a walk in the dark, the caves are open from Wednesday to Sunday and group tours go in at 15 minutes past the hour, so the earliest would be at 10.15am and the latest at 3.15pm. Prices are £3 for children and £5 for adults. Groups of 20 or more booking in advance will qualify for a 20% discount.  There’s also a good Café on site to meet up in!  mmm… doughnuts!  Contact: Terry Hunt on 020 8467 3264

 

Scout camp went ahead in the first week of August and whilst not a washout, got a bit damp around the edges but they’re all dried out now! [South of France next time eh? – ed.]

 

G49

G49 have spent the last 18 months relandscaping the church garden at St Mark's.  We had our official opening - tied in with the 65th anniversary of G49 - in May.  The Mayor of Greenwich opened the garden and presented the Scouts with their Chief Scout Gold Awards.  Each section (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts) received their Group environment award badges and a certificate to congratulate the leaders and children on working so well as a Group on such a huge project.

 

We had Les and Lou Warpole, original Scout Leaders for G49, attend as guests of honor and the garden has named after them to acknowledge their hard work in starting up a Scout group during the Second World War, having to build the church as well as the group numbers.

 

Beth has also unearthed a new treasure that will save you a trip to the country for much badgework with a new nature centre opening up on our doorstep.  Gallions Nature Centre was created using reclaimed Royal Arsenal ground.  When Thamesmead was created the area was used by the community, local schools and the Scouts as a nature reserve/fishing centre.  Over the years the area became overgrown, neglected and due to a broken pump, water levels dropped. In early 2007 Gallions Housing Association and environmental charity Thames21 commenced works to regenerate and restore the area so it becomes once more a valuable community resource. 

lots has happened over the last year to restore the area, which is now ready for community use once more.

 

Gallions Nature Centre will officially open in autumn 2008 but we can organise special viewings before this time. If you or a colleague would like to find out exactly what's on offer at Gallions Nature Centre just contact Kelly Sullivan on 020 8320 3458 and she will arrange a convenient time for you.

 

Summer Camp

49th Greenwich Scouts held their Summer Camp from August 10th to 16th at Tolmers Scout Campsite in Hertfordshire. Altogether, we were a party of 16 comprising Scouts, Young Leaders and ‘old’ leaders.

 

The Scouts were split into two patrols with each run by two ‘joint patrol leaders’ – our oldest 4 scouts who will starting Explorers in September. Given the level of experience of these Scouts the patrols ran smoothly from the outset with little extra supervision needed from the two Young Leaders that were also on camp.

 

They each had their own kitchen area and cooked all meals themselves over open fires in traditional Scout style. Once again, the cooking competition was keenly contested with each patrol devising and cooking a three course menu. There was little to choose between the two patrols but the paella with a BBQ sauce (yes – this really did work well!) won over the pork chops with home-made apple sauce and onion gravy. We also had an excellent ‘backwoods’ lunch on the last day – although our chicken pies still need a bit of work as our ovens were not up to scratch…… something to work on next year.

 

Tolmers also offers a good range of activities including wall climbing, abseiling, archery, air rifle shooting and raft building. Add to this, inter-patrol softball, wide games and a campfire and I am sure that you will appreciate what a busy and enjoyable week we had.

 

No camp report this year would be complete without a word on weather. I guess the best that can be said is that the rain came at convenient times - we were dry for the set-up and the take-down…. but not much else!

 

As always, my thanks to fellow leaders and young leaders – but also to parents for providing transport and finally to the Scouts for doing all that was asked of them and having a good time.

 

G54

In the May half term, Cubs from both G54 and G51 went to PGL and had loads of fun, taking part in activities that they wouldn’t normally be doing such as Aero Ball, The Giant Swing, Fencing and a very muddy Assault Course.

23 Cubs from G54 also went to Gulliver’s World having a fun but very tiring day.  We have also completed quite a lot of badge work over the last term.  We have had 2 cubs go up to scouts, with another 3 to follow in September.

 

District Events (see below for dates and contacts)

Beaver Sports

The next Beaver Sports Day is not until next year, but beware… Weasel is planning some changes to the traditional format to make it a bit more fun all round.  Some of the traditional stuff is going to remain but since I’ve now gone freelance I’ve got some time to cook up something a bit different.  The final format is going to be a closely guarded secret but the ingredients are going to be up to you!  Any suggestions for FUN races should be sent to Ray at the mail address at the bottom of the letter.  They need to be races that are safe, fun and can be run by any number of team members from two upwards so we don’t have to combine groups.  I’m also going to get in a few props as I’d like to get away from strength and speed in the races to even the playing field between the 6’s and 7’s!  Any thoughts have until next May so no hurry.

 

Fund Raising

There are a couple of District and other fund raising events in the offing, which are listed below.  Remember, don’t be shy to drop me a line about your group fund raisers as we might be able to boost your attendance.

DIARY

Date	Event	Organiser
28 Sept 08	Sponsored Walk	Paul Howard
20 Sept 08	Charity Night (non-Scouting)	Emily Howard
04 Oct 08	Western Night at 46th Greenwich HQ	Paul Howard
08 Oct 08	District Quiz Night	Paul Howard
22 Dec 08	Deadline for the next Newsletter	Ray Fullerton
TBA	Beaver Christmas Party	TBA
TBA	Candle service at Min Ben	Paul Howard
Jan 09	Gangshow Rehearsals	Lynn Ryan
5 Jul 09	Beaver Sports Day (Date TBC at the next leaders meeting)	Ray Fullerton

 

Sponsored Walk

This is to take place on Sunday 28th Sept at 1pm starting off from the Anchor and Hope pub at the bottom of Anchor and Hope Lane in Charlton.  A walk along the river with a stop off for a picnic in Greenwich Park, Where the Beavers and Cubs can be picked up, or can continue with the older sections across Blackheath to finish at St Johns Church in Stratheden Road SE3.  Adult supervision is required for all Beavers and Cubs, who can think of it as a way of losing some baggage before the impending Christmas feast! (yes… 120 days to go as I go to print!).  Remember your waterproofs as it may catch the ‘end of summer’ rain!  A permission slip is included on the last page.

 

Western Night

Yeee Haaa !  To raise funds for General maintenance and activities, G46 are holding a Western night at the HQ behind St Nicks in Whetstone Road.  Disco provided, but please visit the General Store before you come and bring your own provisions.  Please bring your car as there is nowhere to leave horses.  4^th October, 7pm till chuck out time.

 

Charity night

Minnie Bennet are having an evening raising some charity money for Macmillan Nurses in memory of Janet Mahoney, who recently passed away.  They’re doing their bit to raise awareness and put some money in the charities fighting fund so all support and donations are welcomed.  Places are limited so call Paul or Emily Howard quick !  Food is provided but please bring your own drink.  £2 entrance with entertainment, raffle and other games so bring your purse! 20^th Sept, 7-11pm.

 

District Quiz Night

Tables are available for 6 to 8 people.  Adults only I’m afraid for this one.  Please bring your own food and drink and a bit of spending money for raffles and heads/tails.  The venue is the 46^th HQ behind St. Nicks in Whetstone Road, kick-off 7pm, £3 entry. A reply slip is included on the last page.

Situations Vacant:

G51 need someone to become their Assistant Scout Leader to help Nick before we send him over the edge!  Any offers of regular help would be much appreciated and should be aimed initially at Gwen or Nick at G51.

With Weasel and Bunny retiring (yeah –right!) from front line duties there is an excellent opportunity for new leaders at G46.  We are offering a position of just two hours a week (that’s what they told me when I started) with a 40% pay increase on that paid to the last post holders, with no expense spared (or paid for that matter!)  Any interested parties should call Paul or Julie Howard.  A labour of love, but an excellent addition to your CV!