2nd Brewood Scout Group

Scouts winter expedition photos now in the gallery

Rob — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:56:39 +0000

see the photos here!

Update from our explorer in Mauritius

Rob — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:42:29 +0000

Hi everyone, I hope you are all OK.

I’ve now been here for 4 months, which is slightly mad, and I’m still having a great time. Work is work. I really enjoy playing with the kids but the lesson preparation is a bit of a bore. I try to make it interesting for them, bringing in maps and trying to make Maths fun but it’s difficult when all they want to do is go outside and play in the sun, which I wouldn’t mind doing myself. We have to abide by this timetable so we teach Maths, English, French, Science and History/Geography every day to a group of 5 severely dyslexic 8 year olds and a 16 year old. They really only know the basics so we play a lot of games and let them colour a lot. Their favourite TV programme is a Mexican show called Maria la del Barrio and they are convinced I’m the main actress in it. I play along. Thankfully my French Creole is improving and I can I can now have fluent conversations with the kids and staff. The girls have also grown confident with us but unfortunately with that confidence, they don’t mind bearing all. I’ve pretty much seen everything I wish to see of the female human body, including when one of the girls had piles! It’s not a nice sight. They also tell us the gossip at shelter where a lot of lesbianism is involved. You would not believe half of the stories I have heard. It has been sad recently when one girl ran away and the 12 year old pregnant girl lost her baby on the same night. It has been hard at work because the staff have accused us of not doing any work, ‘hindering rather than helping’ the staff. The frustrating thing is that the staff don’t come into the Shelter and see what we are doing with the kids. They just stay in the office, munching on food and socialising. They are meant to be the teachers but the only kids having lessons at the moment are the ones we look after!!

In October we celebrated Diwali. I was at work for 14 hours straight, dressing up in churidars, dancing, eating, setting fireworks into each other’s faces, (noone got hurt) and lighting diyas (clay lights). It was a nice day. The girls at Shelter had 2 and a bit months holiday over the Christmas period and we went on a lot of trips, going to the aquarium, various beaches, a whole day catamaran ride, a sugar factory estate and the local botanical gardens. It was nice to see them outside of the walls of Shelter and enjoying themselves. At the Shelter, it’s hard to get them from sneaking off and sleeping all day.

At work, they like to have a lot of official ceremonies. Before Christmas the Prime Minister came which was all very stressful. I had a long chat with his wife who then invited me around to her house to see her 13 dogs. The ceremony was on TV and there was an interview with the Prime Minister. I just happened to be standing a couple of metres behind, in the middle of the Prime Minister and the guy interviewing him, not paying attention at all, laughing at my friend who was hiccuping really loudly.

Before Christmas, for about 2 weeks, we had no running water in the house which was a bit of a pain but all part of the experience. Some days I couldn’t be bothered to wash because it took too much effort. My other flatmates were pretty stressed about it, but I quite enjoyed it. There’s been an ongoing drought all over the island so we’ve got nearly 50 bottles of water for the next time it happens and the chances are pretty high that it will.

Over the Christmas period we rented a car so we could travel around the island. On Christmas Eve we went to an adventure park and ziplined through the forests and mountains for 6 hours, swam through a gorge and ziplined into a lagoon. Christmas Day was fun too, I went to work to have lunch, so I didn’t have to cook, and we had a buffet with various different curries and noodles. On Boxing Day we hit the beach.

In the New Year, a lot of the girls were hospitalised because of boils on their hands and feet…unfortunately they were passed on to me and my friend Daisy. Daisy was in hospital for 4 days because she had to have an operation on an abscess and I luckily just had to take antibiotics. I was also hospitalised in early December because of a high fever and tonsilitis..it was a little bit of an overreaction by the doctor but I made sure I took full advantage of the hospital facilities and had a week off work. A couple of months ago I had a serious infestation of headlice. In one night, my friend took out over 50. It was disgusting. Thankfully they have now gone due to an unfortunate incident at the hairdressers where they bleached my hair ginger and highlighted it grey, killing the lice. My hair is now black after deciding ginger isn’t for me. However, the ginger still shines through when the sunlight hits, which is quite often. I look a state.

On the pest front, we’ve had more cockroaches and lizards since the temperatures have increased. I killed 5 cockroaches in one night the other day and we actually kept one in our lounge, underneath a cup, for 2 months. We let him free last week and he scuttled away quite rapidly considering he hadn’t eaten for that amount of time. I’ve had 2 lizards manage to fall ontop of me too.

The weather here at the moment is at both extremes. Cyclone Ethel was expected to hit a couple of days ago but all we got was a 20 minute thunderstorm one evening, where fork lightening was lighting up the sky. Other than that, it’s been pretty hot. We went to the beach yesterday and there wasn’t a cloud in sight, resulting in a lobster coloured belly.

A lot more has probably happened but I don’t want to bore you with a massive email!!

Happy New Year.

Love Freya xx

Cub Scout Saves Grandfathers Life

Rob — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:40:25 +0000

A nine year-old Cub Scout used the first aid skills he learned in Scouting to save his grandfather’s life.

Lewis’s grandfather, Graham, who suffers from varicose veins and a mild form of haemophilia, knocked his leg while his grandson was round, and began to bleed severely from one of his veins. He called out for help, and quick-thinking Lewis ran to the bathroom, fetched a bundle of toilet roll, and used it to apply pressure to the injury and slow the bleeding.

Reassuring Graham, he said ‘Don’t panic, I have learned about this at Cubs’.

Taking control

As they were alone in the house, Lewis then directed his grandfather to keep the pressure on, while he got the phone to call 999 and went out to flag down the ambulance. Once the paramedics arrived, Lewis called his dad, and it was only later on, when the drama was over, that the gravity of the situation finally hit him and he burst into tears.

Graham was later taken to hospital to have minor treatment to the vein

Skills learned in Cubs

Lewis’s Cub Scout Leader, Kim Marston, is a paramedic, and over the past two years the Group has been including the First Aid Staged Activity Badge in their Cub Scout programme. Most of the Cubs are now at level three.

Kim expressed her admiration for the way that Lewis acted quickly and calmly in a stressful and potentially very serious situation.

‘Scouting is fun, adventurous and educational at all ages, and I can only say how very proud I am that one of our Cubs was able to use his knowledge to such good effect.’

Could your Cubs do the same?

To learn more about the First Aid Staged Activity Badge, click here. To find out more about joining Scouting, use the contact page to start your adventure.

Provisional Scout and Explorer Summer Camp Dates Released

Rob — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Please go to our events page for the latest dates for your diary.

Scouting welcomes new volunteer

Rob — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:14:30 +0000

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has become Scouting’s newest volunteer and will help at local cub packs and beaver colonies, Clarence House has announced.

The Duchess, who joins 66,000 girls and 40,000 female leaders in Scouting, will help out at groups close to where she lives. Her Royal Highness also hopes to help with activities in other parts of the United Kingdom as opportunity arises.

Flexible volunteering

The announcement comes as a great endorsement of Scouting’s commitment to allow adults to volunteer their time on a flexible basis. The Duchess will help run a variety of activities relevant to her skills and interests. This could include running games, teaching first aid or cooking on campfires.

Chief Scout Bear Grylls gave a delighted reaction to the news: ‘The Duchess has an incredibly busy life, which makes it all the more inspiring that she has chosen to volunteer alongside us.

‘Over the last few years it has been our mission to make it easier for adults who volunteer with us to give as much or as little as they are able – it is how we change our society: many people doing a little bit.’

The chance to inspire

Helping give young people a taste of everyday adventure through fun and practical activities, The Duchess will have the chance to inspire the leaders of tomorrow.

Patrick, 10, a cub scout in Enfield said: ‘I have really great adventures at cubs and it’s all thanks to the leaders who help out. It’s amazing that The Duchess wants to get involved and I think she will be really good at it.’

Despite six consecutive years of growth, there is still a need for more adults to volunteer with us, to provide opportunities for over 33,500 young people who are waiting to join.

Many hands make light work

Adults of all ages are finding ways to volunteer that fit in around their lives. In Manchester, Heather Baker, 29, has found a flexible solution. ‘The demands of modern life often mean it’s harder for people to find time to volunteer,’ said Heather. ‘The role I’ve just taken on is shared between four adults to make it work.’

She added, ‘It’s great that The Duchess can find time in her schedule to help Scouting develop the lives of young people in her local community. Flexibility in volunteering is the way forward.’

Get involved

If you’d like to know more about the flexible volunteering opportunities in Scouting, visit our join pages.