2nd Brewood Scouts

…to the 2nd Brewood Scouts website.  the previous website savebrewoodscouts.org has been redirected here along with all the post.

 Twas the night of 12th February 2010 the cubs and scouts did a walk around Brewood along the canal to the ornamental bridge where they were fed and watered (special thanks to mick patten and alun david for their cooking efforts) before the trek back to the scout hut where the cubs stayed and slept overnight, a great night was had by all, but very little sleep.

First of all, on behalf of the Leaders, may I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Meeting dates and events

Please note that the first meeting back in the New Year will be on Friday 15 January at the normal time of 7.00pm.

In early December we held a successful sleep-over, preceded by a night hike across to Chillington and down to the canal via the Avenue and the Ornamental Bridge. Some were tired and most got a bit muddy, but there weren’t too many complaints. Beccy, assisted by Calum and Dominic, then laid on supper for everyone back at the hut. They got to sleep – eventually.

One issue that did crop up in the administration for the evening was the question of consent forms and home contact details. Most Scouts (and parents) were very prompt in returning the necessary forms, without which we technically cannot allow a child to participate in the activity. There were one or to exceptions that caused difficulty for the Leaders and which were compounded by us having ineffective contact telephone numbers. I would ask that if you change your contact telephone, please let us know. Also, if any event such as a sleep-over or camp is being held, please make sure that you are contactable on the numbers we hold.

Patrols – the scores on the doors . .

As previously advised, there are now two Patrols – Owls and Kestrels. Points have been awarded for attendance, winning games and effort in the activities. One third of the way through the “season” the scores are:

Owls 324

Kestrels 315

I am particularly pleased with the five Scouts who managed 100% attendance – including the Remembrance Day parade – showing great commitment to Scouting. They were Thomas, Sarah, Calum, William and Charlie. None of the Leaders managed 100% attendance!

Camps

The main Summer Camp has been booked for the week of Saturday 31 July 2010 to Saturday 7 August 2010. It will be at Ashworth Valley, a Scout Camp just north of Rochdale and set in glorious surroundings. The activities available on site are excellent and the staff were very friendly and helpful to us when we visited. There is a website which holds some details of the site – www.btinternet.com/~derek.redfern/ashw/index1.htm. Further details will obviously be provided in due course.

In the meantime, as practice for me as much as anyone else, a weekend camp has been provisionally booked for 5 to 7 March 2010 at Patshull. Again, details will follow.

On the subject of camps and nights away, could each Scout please let me know which camps and sleep-overs they have attended in the past as I would like to recognise their achievement with the relevant badges.

Geoff Hopwood
Scout Leader
2^nd Brewood

Christine Lockley after over 20 years service received her medal of merit on Wednesday 4th November 2009.  A well overdue award but well deserved recognition.

Brewood Scouts made an evening visit to Brewood Hall on Friday, 6th November 2009. Jan Ford talked briefly about the history of the Hall before taking the group on a conducted tour of the principal rooms. There were plenty of questions from the young people about the Hall itself and the artefacts on display. The visit concluded with orange juice and biscuits in the dining room. The Scouts impressed both with their keen interest in everything they saw and their excellent discipline. This was certainly the first visit by the Scouts to the Hall in over 40 years

It’s that time of year again, Remembrance Sunday 8^th November 2009. We will be meeting at the Scout Hut at 9.30am march down to the Royal British Legion, Shop Lane for 10.00am to leave there at 10.15am. We are usually back at the Scout Hut for around 12.00pm.

It is a great chance to show the village the full strength of the Scout Group as well as teaching the young people about paying their respects to all those who have fought in all the previous conflicts.

Full uniform must be worn or smart dress if they have not yet got a uniform. I am requesting that everybody attends as it is an important part of the groups scouting calendar.

The Government have announced that it is going to intervene to stop Ofwat’s rain tax and introduce a sensible social water charging regime.

Over the past year, The Scout Association has been campaigning against Ofwat’s planned changes to the way water companies charge community groups in England and Wales for the disposal of rainwater.

The Government’s announcement will be welcomed by all community groups across England and Wales who have been frustrated by Ofwat’s failure to understand the damage and financial hardship their policies were going to cause.

Read the full statement from The Scout Association regarding the Government’s announcement.

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Leader come to Scouts Speak Up

21/09/2009

The political party conference season got off to a swinging start with over 50 Explorer and Network Scouts, leaders and parents from across England and Wales taking part in Scouts Speak Up.
The event was a chance for Scouts and leaders to meet MPs, prospective parliamentary candidates and councillors and talk about the issues that they are concerned about, ways to change the perception of young people and climate change.

Showing support

Matt, an Explorer Scout from West Mercia said, ‘It was excellent, we got ourselves heard! To have Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Vince Cable, Deputy Leader, come and listen to teenagers and show their support for us was really fantastic.’
‘As a young person it is really inspiring to know that a decision maker wants to hear my opinion. One of the topics we voted on and discussed was how to get young people like me interested in the general election next year. Scouts Speak Up at the Liberal Democrat conference was the first step in doing that. Being part of that process was definitely the highlight for me.’

Sign up and Speak UP

Scouts Speak Up events are also happening at the Labour Party and Conservative party conferences. There is still time to sign up and come to speak to MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates. Simply email citizen@scout.org.uk with your postcode.

The next two conference dates

•    Sunday 27 September, 12 pm to 2pm, New Madeira Hotel, the Lisbon Suite, 19 – 23 Marine Drive, Brighton – Labour conference.
•    Monday 5 October, 6pm to 8pm, the Mechanics Institute, 103 Princess Street, Manchester – Conservative conference.

This year us explorers camped separately due to the recent climb in numbers, which allowed us to do our own activities, which included; Blo-Karting, sailing, rock climbing and swimming. However camp this year didn’t go without its problems,  with several people feeling unwell and ANOTHER trip to the hospital coming within reaching distance! Despite this we had a fun and enjoyable week, which was to be our last time with our lovely leader Laura, who due to university commitments is sadly leaving us. Tom Meikle.’

and more here

25th July 09 to 1st August 09 saw the annual summer camp for 2nd Brewood scouts and explorers. Aafter many months of planning the camp went ahead without too many hitches.  The scouts enjoyed activities such as climbing, absailing, air rifle shooting, and archery, along with the usual having to cook their own meals in their patrols and eat what they cook, (some things did actually look edible).  A good time was had by all especially by Ian Morris the outgoing scout leader and this was his last official activity before Geoff Hopwood takes over as the new scout leader in September 09.  See pictures of the 2009 Summer Camp here.