Winter
Hampshire Scout News 2018 www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
Children in Need 6th Gosport Cubs held a fundraising evening for Children in Need, where we held a talent show and guessed the amount of sweets in a jar and held a massive raffle. We had all sorts of talent on display, from the cup song to violins, guitars, gymnastics and jokes! Non performers helped by taking photographs, designing posters and. Selling raffle tickets... we also held a soak the leader fundraiser. On Children in Need night we were lucky enough to be allowed to take part in the live show, it was really exciting and interesting and we 2
learnt how live TV works. We met lots of exciting people and saw the big live choir, it was amazing as there was free food! We were interviews by the presenters who asked us to show them how we soaked our leaders... it got even better when we were allowed to custard pie her. It went everywhere! It was amazing to see ourselves on television and talk about all the fun things we had done. Most importantly we raised ÂŁ415.95 for Children in need! Preparing young people with skills for life
Welcome to the Winter 2018 edition of Hampshire Scouts News
contents
2. Children in Need - 6th Gosport 4. Service of Remembrance at the 2nd Waterlooville 5. I finally finished my Queen’s Scout Award 6. Hampshire Beavers invade Paultons Park 7. Aldershot Military Cemetery 8. Damboree - Beavers In Tents 2. Children in Need - 6th Gosport 10. Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals - Sibling Camps 11. Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals (HSIH) Situations Vacant 12. Hampshire Scout Heritage 14. Action for Children 15. Changes to HSN 16. We visited FAST the Aeroplane Museum at Farnborough 18. Fair trade fortnight and our annual cooking competition 20. 23rd Hampshire International Workshop 21. Are your details correct on Compass? 22. Undercover Lord Mayor 24. Exploration of London – 3rd Portchester 27. Armistice 100 We will remember
The next deadline is 23rd Feb 2019 for the March edition
About Us Hampshire Scouts provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for over 20,000 young people aged 6-25, promoting the physical, intellectual, social and spiritual well-being of the individual, helping them achieve their full potential. Scouts take part in a wide range of activities as diverse as kayaking, abseiling, expeditions overseas, photography, climbing and zorbing. As a Scout you can learn survival skills, first aid, computer programming or even how to fly a plane. There’s something for everyone. It’s a great way to have fun, make friends, get outdoors, express your creativity and experience the wider world. Get Involved To join the adventure of Scouting whether as an Adult or Young person then contact us at: www.scouts.org.uk/join e: county.office@hampshirescouts.org.uk or t: 023 8084 7847 Registed Charity Number: 1015788
Have you got any news for us?
Do you have a story or success that you’d like to share? Help us to highlight and celebrate your achievements in growth, exclusivity, youth shaped and community – email us your team’s successes along with any photos to: county.office@hampshirescouts.org.uk, please keep emails less than 30mb, if they are bigger we can share our Dropbox link with you, please get in touch. Photography Acknowledgements Where we can, we strive to acknowledge the owner or source of pictures used in this publication. We use them under the terms ‘for Scouting use only’. If you would like pictures acknowledged, please let us know the owners name when submitting. Thank you.
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Service of Remembrance at the 2nd Waterlooville In the evening of Saturday 17th November, Armstrong ESU part of Waterlooville District Explorers, put on a Service of Remembrance at the 2nd Waterlooville Scout HQ to celebrate the service and sacrifice of all those who were involved in conflict from the Great War to the current day. The evening began with World War I and continued through World War II, the troubles in Northern Ireland, the Falklands conflict, the Iraq wars and Afghanistan. Videos were played, some showing images from the various conflicts and some more light hearted songs were played for the audience to join in with. These were punctuated by Explorer’s standing up to read poems and letters written by soldiers and families. We were honoured to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Havant together with members of 4
Hampshire Scouts and Waterlooville District Scouts represented. We were also joined by families of the Explorers and members of the public that had their own stories to tell. The evening was in aid of Action for Children which is the Armstrong Explorer’s chosen charity. The Explorers should be very proud of themselves as they put a lot of effort in to make the evening a success by creating their own designs to decorate the hall, serving hot drinks and homemade cakes during the interval and of course those who stood up to read the very moving poems impeccably.
Peter Knott District Explorer Scout Leader 2nd Waterlooville Preparing young people with skills for life
I finally finished my Queen’s Scout Award Six years ago I joined Beaver Scouts as an adult volunteer so that I could inspire a new generation of young people and work towards something special. Last weekend I finally finished my Queen’s Scout Award. It’s a journey that has seen me meet scouts from other countries, pass my driving test, cycle around the New Forest every weekend for 6 months, train young leaders, present to other volunteers and climb mountains in Dartmoor and the Brecon Beacons. Scouts pride themselves of giving young people and adult’s skills for life. In these past six years I’ve gained teamwork, leadership and communication skills; I’ve learned to drive, save a life and talk on television; it’s helped me find my limits and then push on through to something infinitely more rewarding and has helped me find a passion for so many new things. On Saturday 20th October it was a pleasure to be presented my Queen’s Scout award by the County Commissioner for Hampshire, Martin Mackey, in front of my Beaver Scouts after one of the best sleepovers I’ve seen these past few years. There’s more excitement to come but I’m so relieved right now. Thanks to everyone who’s been part of this ride these past 6 years. Steven Osborn Beaver Leader, 5th New Forest North & Pegasus Network member, New Forest North
For more info on the Queen’s Scout Award visit: www.scouts.org.uk/qsa www.hampshirescouting.org.uk
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Hampshire Beavers invade Paultons Park
October saw another visit to Paultons Park for hundreds of Beavers from across the County and their adventurous leaders. New attractions include rides in Peppa Pig World and a new African area including the adorable Fennec Foxes. There were also hundreds of pumpkins as the Halloween season was swinging into action including the Boo Barn which was great fun and not too scary and Mr Pickles. Our Beavers scaled new heights on the huge roller-coasters in The Lost Kingdom and some might have been eaten by the wild dinosaurs.
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Saturday was very sunny and a popular day in the park meaning our Young Leaders were very busy supporting ratios on the bigger rides while Sunday saw a return to ‘Paultons weather’ which gave a much emptier, if somewhat wetter, park. With attendees from right across the County this visit remains popular and we are already in discussion for 2019. Michael Collins ACC Beaver Scouts Hampshire Scouts
Preparing young people with skills for life
Aldershot Military Cemetery On Sunday 11/11/18 some of the 14th Aldershot scout Group were asked to help out for an afternoon they would never forget. We arrived at Aldershot military cemetery where we were met by the organiser who told us that he had been planning this afternoon for 4 years. The Beavers’s, Cubs and Scout’s were given boxes of battery tea lights. We then placed just under 700 tea lights on graves of Commonwealth soldiers. Once this was done and with the going down of the sun prayers were said and last post was sounded which was very
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emotional. We then made our way back down the hill to see all the tea lights lighting up the gone but not forgotten heroes. I would like to say a big thank you to Keith Bean for letting our group help on this special day.
Paul Stillwell Assistant Scout Leader 14th Aldershot Scout Group
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Damboree - Beavers In Tents 2018 has proven to be a very busy year for the Beaver section with a nationally focused event to encourage the youngest section to get out and camp. The event was masterminded by the Scout Association’s national Technical Advisor for Nights Away, Andy Sissons, who passionately believes that every Beaver Scout should have the opportunity to camp under canvas. With a small band of likeminded leaders, including one of Hampshire’s County Nights Away Advisers, Ben, we have managed to pull off the impossible task. With over 14,000 Beavers participating, as well as support from many thousand leaders, 218 new campsite permits with 21 from Hampshire, have resulted from this initiative.
Cub section joining the Damboree fun and games.
Organised predominantly via Facebook, there is also a supporting site at Damboree.co.uk as well as support group. With the excellent response received from the Scout Associations AGM back in September, Damboree is now moving into being officially recognised as an Active Support Unit to enable further development of this endeavour. 2019 promises to be even more involved with the inclusion of the
Our Damboree Story by Chewy Colony 14th New Forest East
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Odiham District Beavers held their Damboree on the focus weekend of 23rd June. Over 90 Beavers came and nearly 40 adults and we had a Whacky Olympics theme. Activities included parachute games, Welly throwing, tug of war, hockey, relays and catapults. We even had a visit from Ben who brought his axes with him and gave the leaders a chance to have a throw! Sleep was optional, feeding times were pretty chaotic but fun was compulsory. Blue, silver and gold badges were earned and the future of beavers camping in tents was secured.
Excitement, apprehension and happy voices filled our pitch at Ferny Crofts. An arrangement of new scouting skills and life skills being taught and learnt from our youngest beaver to our oldest leader. New tastes developed for the love of making their own breakfast, dinner and pudding on the fire pit, the Preparing young people with skills for life
shock on their faces when realising how simple it was to make and how tasty it was. The thrills echo around, the pride on their faces when they could finally unpack their kits and jump into their sleeping pods knowing and being proud of themselves for erecting their sleeping quarters. It may have only been a basic 24 hour camp but the memories and skills with learnt will last them all a lifetime! A fabulous idea became a national event, we love Damboree! Many of the Liss, Petersfield and Harting Beavers were spending their first ever night away from home, let alone in a tent, and they all rose to the challenge.
District camp.. So onwards to 2019 and beyond. Damboree as a concept promises to increase its scope and improve on getting Young People out in tents. To that end Damboree ASU will be looking for help and assistance in spreading the initiative to all corners of the country. If you would like to get involved further, please contact Badger@Damboree.co.uk (Known to some as Ben Knowles CNAA) or find us on Facebook. Happy Camping to All..
As well as camping, the Beavers were kept busy getting to grips with some basic Scouting skills, including fire lighting, marshmallow roasting, map reading, hiking and sitting around a campfire in the evening. All these activities will boost their confidence when they move on to the older sections in the movement. The Beavers were joined by South Coast Damboree champion Ben. Meanwhile, 20 Scouts from Liss had hiked to the site at Stedham to bivouac under the stars. Eastleigh District held their all sections camp at Lyons Copse over the Damboree focus weekend. Amazing time was had by all with incredible weather and great fun and games had by all. Lots of adventurous activities, wonderful food and new friends. Many first time campers took the challenge in their stride and really engaged with the whole event. Looking forward to the next www.hampshirescouting.org.uk
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Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals - Sibling Camps
For nearly four years now HSIH has provided Scouting activities to children in hospitals. In October our new section at Queen Alexandra Hospital celebrated a year of Scouting and the Scouting afternoons at Naomi House have become part of the regular activity calendar there. However we became aware that siblings 10
of chronically sick or disabled children often miss out on activities due to the amount of time and energy required to care for a child with additional needs. After discussing this with various relevant agencies and securing funding from a local Freemasons group we are thrilled to say that in 2019 HSIH is planning to run four scouting activity Preparing young people with skills for life
afternoons exclusively for siblings of patients at Southampton General and Naomi House. The intention is that these will run at a weekend, freeing up parents to spend time with their other child, or have some time to themselves. We are looking for helpers from
every branch of scouting and we also need someone to take on the role of coordinating these afternoons.
Sara Sullivan Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals
scoutinginhospitals@scouts-hants.org.uk
Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals (HSIH)
Situations Vacant
We have three key roles free at present. Our mantra is flexibility and so each role can be split between two or more people as required. If you fancy a fresh challenge without the weekly commitment or just want a new rewarding way to deliver scouting, then get in touch. Lead Volunteer at Queen Alexandra Hospital Cosham (QA) Take charge of fortnightly activity evenings at QA; liaise with team members, Lead Volunteer at SGH and Manager of HSIH to plan meeting activities; liaise with Manager to organise materials for activities; communicate with key staff at Hospital as necessary; attend HSIH Exec meetings (3/4 per year). Lead Volunteer at Southampton General Hospital (SGH) Take charge of fortnightly activity evenings at SGH; liaise with team members, Lead Volunteer at QA and Manager of HSIH to plan meeting activities; liaise with Manager to organise materials for activities; communicate with key staff at Hospital as necessary; attend HSIH Exec meetings (3/4 per year). Sibling Session Co-ordinator Organise and manage activity sessions for siblings of patients in hospitals and hospices as part of the offering of HSIH. Initial offering 4 camps in 2019 (probably two in Southampton and two at Naomi House Hospice) For a no obligation chat and more information please contact Sara Sullivan at: scoutinginhospitals@scouts-hants.org.uk. You can see more details of our work on Instagram and Facebook www.hampshirescouting.org.uk
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Hampshire Scout Heritage Heritage Members have had a busy summer period, as most were involved in preparation and participation for the Heritage tent at H0018 the County Camp in Dorset. Due to lack of access to the main store of heritage items at Dukes Keep in Southampton, the display items required for the Dorset display took up virtually everything which was held at Ferny Crofts. Just at the same time the new premises at Ferny Crofts were internally finished and targeted for opening to coincide with the start of the main camping season. Through the whole hearted efforts of Ron Preston, Judith James and Ken Sherman, enough artefacts, posters etc, were gathered together over the weekend of 21st July to enable ‘Heritage’ to open on 1st August. It was then manned and opened from 10.00 am to 3.00pm on Tuesdays , Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout August. 12
Preparing young people with skills for life
During this period some 174 Scouters, Cubs, Scouts, & Guides came through to see the display. During September on three weekends the display also opened. On November 1st & 2nd all items were packed up and removed from Dukes Keep to Ferny Crofts. Over the winter months the new Heritage Centre will be laid out ready for opening for the new season from Easter 2019. Much appreciation must be acknowledged to County Chairman: Peter Moody, County Commissioner: Martin Mackey for their tremendous support, encouragement and financial backing. Also to the welcome, and encouragement by all the management and staff at Ferny Crofts. The ongoing help, and support has been and is much appreciated. Brian Calver Manager Hampshire Scout Heritage
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Action for Children support disadvantaged children across the UK, through intervening early to stop neglect and abuse, support children in care, provide mental health support and also help to make life better for children with disabilities. We support over 300,000 children and provide over 500 services. Action for Children will be celebrating its 150th anniversary next year! In Hampshire we have a Fostering service called Wessex Fostering which is based in Fareham. Wessex Fostering provide mainstream and therapeutic foster placements to children aged 8+. Therapeutic foster placements are needed when children have experienced neglect and/or trauma. It is the role of the service to place children into a loving foster home and also provide the extra support that they need. Armstrong Explorer Scouts have chosen Action for Children as their ‘Charity of the Year’ and all the funds raised will go towards creating a more therapeutic feel to the Wessex Fostering Service such as buying sensory equipment including calming lights and therapeutic toys as well as providing garden equipment and days out for the foster children. If you would like to find out more about the work we do at Action for Children, please visit our website: www.actionforchildren.org.uk and please do take a look at our Christmas Campaign where you can become a Secret Santa for a vulnerable child this Christmas by donating £10 by texting Santa5 to 70607.
County Archivist - Newspaper Clippings
For many years County Archives has been adding to the collection of newspaper cuttings of the Scouting activities of Groups, Districts and the County. Please send any clippings to: Ken Sherman, County Archivist, C/O, Hampshire Scouts, Ferny Crofts, Beaulieu Road, Beaulieu, Hampshire. SO42 7YQ 14
Preparing young people with skills for life
Hampshire Scout News going online Did you know HSN costs Hampshire Scouts £4000.00 per year to print and post? The County Leadership Team, in line with other Scout Counties across the UK, have decided, for an initial period of 6 months, to go “online” only. This will mean the magazine can be kept more up to date with information, with more flexible deadlines. At the end of the 6 months period we will ask for feedback. Printed copies will still be sent out to Libraries and other key organisation supporters. We are also happy to send out a printed copy to anyone who does not have access to a computer, and for anyone in this situation please complete and return the form below. We would like to thank everyone who has been involved with helping to print and distribute HSN over many years, with special thanks to Mary & Pete Vango and Chris Scott, who for many years have packed and posted HSN. The Deadline for the next Edition of Hampshire Scout News is Wednesday 20th February 2019. If you have something to add to HSN please send it to: county.office@hampshirescouts.org.uk
If you have don’t have access to view Hampshire Scout News at: www.hampshirescouting.org.uk/hsn/. Then please fill out your details below and return it to: Hampshire Scouts, Ferny Crofts, Beaulieu Road, Beaulieu, Hampshire, SO42 7YQ. Name................................................................................................................... Membership number...................................................................................... Address.............................................................................................................. ........................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................................................ ...........................Postcode............................................................. www.hampshirescouting.org.uk 20
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We visited Aeroplane Museum at Farnborough
Panther Patrol with F22, Spitfire, Hunter, Hurricane, Concorde, F14
This term the 22nd Odiham Fleet Scouts have been learning all about aeroplanes, how they started, improved and developed into the amazing machines of today, some can carry over 500 passengers, some fly half way round the world and some at supersonic speeds. First of all they recognized the different forces which enable an aeroplane to fly and how its control surfaces allow it to pitch, roll and yaw. These movements were first explored by making different sorts of paper aeroplanes. Then we had a guided visit to the FAST Aeroplane Museum at Farnborough which started with a talk in a small hall about the first aeroplanes to fly. This was well illustrated by a full size Cody plane suspended from the roof of the hall. We then went outside to look around several military and civil planes on display there. At our first Troop Meeting after the tour we talked about the different types of plane we had seen and how their shapes enabled them to carry out their design requirements. All the scouts individually completed the aircraft history RAF quiz published in the Autumn Make Do Share magazine. The most interesting and important part of our badge work was that each scout had to chose a favourite aeroplane, find out all about it and make a model of it. Nearly all the Troop did this and some very good models were created. Most of the models came from kits but some used Lego, Meccano and normal household materials. All the Scouts had resourced information about their planes such as its role, size, performance, country of origin etc. We needed two sessions at consecutive Troop Meetings to hear all about their findings. 16
Preparing young people with skills for life
To finish off our Aeroplane knowledge, we had two very interesting talks. Firstly about aeroplane engines starting from the famous Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine right up to modern high-bypass turbofans and reheated military engines. The second talk was given by our Group Chairman who holds a Private Pilots Licence and he told us about the training involved in getting this Licence. After all this activity, we were pleased to be able to present Air Researcher Badges to 19 of our Scouts. Ray Oldham GSL 22nd Odiham
Falcons with Spitfire, F18, Bristol Beaufighter
Woodpecker Patrol with Hurricane, Spitfire, Bleriot XI, Spitfire, Folland Gnat
February Freezer
Friday 15th – Sunday 17th February 2019 Preparations for February Freezer are well underway and we have some brand new activities lined up along with a few of the old favourites. With quad bikes, bungee trampolines, laser quest and segways, your Scouts will be so busy there will be no time to stand around and worry about the cold! The Meal Deal is on offer again giving you all more time to have a go on all we have to offer or if you do prefer to do your own catering, altar fires can be made available without charge (please indicate on your booking form). Time is running out and there are only a few spaces left! Book now so that you don’t miss out! Prices: Participants: £38, Leaders: £20, Meal Deal: £22 Contact Cliff Brooke at: office@paccarscoutcamp.org
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Fair trade fortnight and our annual cooking competition In 2019, Fair Trade fortnight will be held from 25 February to 10 March to create awareness and promote the purchase of fair trade products. Products carrying this mark ensure that the producers are paid a premium which they use inter alia to buy further seed, food and pay for their children to go to school. So buying products which carry the fair trade mark is one way in which Scouts can make a difference and activities based around the sampling and use of fair trade products makes for interesting sectional activities. Our annual fair trade cooking competition will be held on Saturday 23 February 2019 from 11.00 to 15.00 at Cranborne College, Basingstoke whose food preparation rooms are well equipped. Entries are invited from teams of 4 Scouts, Guides or mixed and the challenges include making a poster, undertaking a survey in 3 shops and preparing and serving a 3 course meal using as many fair trade products as possible. As the competition will be held at the start of Fair Trade fortnight, many food shops promote extra fair trade products. So if you do your survey some weeks in advance, you could ask the store manager to request some extra Fairtrade products for your team. Whilst the variety of fair trade products grows each year, neither fish nor meat is suitable for this type of labelling so it does mean that dishes have to be vegetarian in nature. Whilst this might seem to be a handicap, for many people in developing countries they produce dishes around what’s available locally. The challenge is for teams to source as many fair trade ingredients as possible, devise your own recipes and bring along all the necessary ingredients. If you undertake the survey, design and display a poster advertising Fair Trade fortnight and produce some meals either in your Hall or at home then you will also qualify for the Scout Global Challenge award. To enter or get further information contact Rayner Mayer, International Adviser, email rayner@sciotech.demon.co.uk. Space only available for 7 teams so don’t delay, enter today. 18
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23rd Hampshire International Workshop This annual workshop was attended by 25 Scouts and Leaders at the URC Church in Basingstoke. As usual it provided an opportunity to network, to exchange ideas about going abroad and activities within the global programme zone. Visits Among this year’s visits abroad was to participate in the Haarlem Jamborette, Ypres (France) to visit the World War 1 graves and see the play based on RC Sherriff’s Journey’s End and to the west Coast of Sweden between Gothenburg and the Norwegian border. Contact was made with Scouts from other countries and friendships formed. Chloe Pimlett described how she has been training for the World Scout Jamboree in America next year and how she was able to raise the funds to pay for her attendance. Human needs The needs to sustain life was considered in small groups and the list included not only food, water, shelter and warmth, but also of equal importance was judged friends and friendship, belonging to and participating in a community and freedom of movement. This list was contrasted with 4 freedoms cited by President Roosevelt in January 1941 as freedom from want, freedom of fear, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Refugees The plight of Syrian refugees was encapsulated by two U tube clips about the humanitarian disaster still unfolding there and how local Scouts were still trying to hold communities together. We considered how UK Scouts could help refugees in our midst by inviting them to our meetings and helping their families settling within their new communities. Also described was the gift of 100 footballs by 1st Copythorne Cub Scouts which was given to the Ambassador at the Turkish Embassy in London for onward transmission to the Turkish Scouts who would distribute these to refugees in camps on the Turkish/Syrian border. Austerity Following publication of the UN’s rapporteur on extreme poverty in the UK, we also considered how Scout Groups could support such suffering families whose children were Scouts. We agreed that leaders needed to identify such 20
Preparing young people with skills for life
families and offer to help possibly by providing food. Global village is a creation of David Smith in which he imagines the whole world as a global village of 100 persons with each person representing 70 million people. We considered amongst others, the age distribution of this village, how many could read or write and how many went hungry some or all of the time. Scouting is reaching out to some of these people less fortunate than ourselves and examples in which Hampshire Scouts are involved include the Clean Water Project in the Masindi District of Uganda, the Community Project in Soma, Gambia and the Scouting against Malaria campaign. Conclusion The workshop concluded by recalling the words of BP who observed that ‘By making other people happy, we could make ourselves happy’. These activities amongst others can be downloaded from the SAM website www.scoutsagainstmalaria.com and you should diarise the date of the 2019 workshop as November 16 if you wish to attend. Rayner Mayer International adviser
Are your details correct on Compass? Compass is the Scout Association’s membership database, and it is important that all leaders and supporters in Scouting keep their personal details up to date to ensure you receive all the appropriate information to enable you to carry out your role effectively. This information includes email addresses. Access to Compass is via: scouts.org.uk/compass or rigister here: https://compass.scouts.org.uk/login/User/Register www.hampshirescouting.org.uk
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Undercover Lord Mayor As part of the third training weekend for Team Squishy (Project 19) we were very kindly joined by the Lord Mayor Portsmouth, Councillor Lee Mason who helped support us on a number of activities throughout the weekend and take part in “Undercover Lord Mayor”. As we could not access our overnight venue until 21:30 on Friday we had arranged for the young people to have lots of fun at Flip Out. After this we retreated back to 3rd Portchester HQ where the training weekend started as many other weekend camps do with the young people catching up on what they have been up to since they last met before settling down for the night. The following morning we were joined by the Undercover Lord Mayor who with the support of leaders within Team Squishy helped prepare and serve breakfast. Due to another engagement that morning the
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Lord Mayor was unable to join us when we set the young people on a team task and then went for a guided tour around the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson. While at Fort Nelson we got to find out about the history of this Victorian Grade 1 listed building, along with finding out about the history of some of the artefacts in the Museum’s collection. Before leaving we had lunch and got to witness two rounds being fired from a World War II Ordnance QF 25-pounder Howitzer which was very explosive. The Undercover Lord Mayor then re-joined us to help with transport in to the city of Portsmouth for our next activity. This saw the young people in Team Squishy exploring the historic city of Portsmouth trying to locate various landmarks as part of a Portsmouth Monopoly Run, and was won by 5 intrepid explorers who amassed £3,402 worth of property in 2 hours.
Preparing young people with skills for life
The next part of our training weekend is where things got really interesting. We were invited up to the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Chambers by the Undercover Lord Mayor. Despite passing a prominent picture of the Lord Mayor on the entrance to his Chambers, none of the young people realised who he was. The young people were then given time to get changed and were asked to wait for the Lord Mayor at the dining table in the Lady Mayoress’ Parlour. While waiting for the Lord Mayor who at this time had popped out to get food for Team Squishy a number of the young people started to get very nervous and anxious about meeting the Lord Mayor. When the Lord Mayor arrived back with food a number of the young people recognised the Lord Mayor from earlier in the day, however for several of the young people it wasn’t until part way through their food that they realised that “he cooked me breakfast”. Following supper with the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, we then got a tour of the Lord Mayor’s Chambers and the city of Portsmouth Council Chambers. The young people got the opportunity to ask the Lord Mayor lots of challenging questions, followed by an opportunity for lots of formal photos and signing the Team Squishy Code of Conduct at the desk in the Lord Mayors Parlour. Similar to “Undercover Boss” the Lord Mayor recognised some of the Team Squishy members for putting in additional effort. We got to present the Lord Mayor with a Team Squishy Necker which is now on proud display in the Lord Mayor’s Chambers for all to see who visit the Lord Mayor until May 2019.
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After this very unique opportunity which we are eternally grateful to the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth for, Team Squishy retired back to 3rd Portchester HQ for movies, popcorn, birthday cake and sleep. The following day 3rd Portchester supported by 2nd Fareham very kindly gave us the opportunity to try our hand at a number of water activities including kayaking, dinghy sailing and pulling. Despite the colder weather at the start of October, great fun was had by all while afloat and words could not express how thankful we are to the leaders that gave up their time to support Team Squishy on a beautiful Sunday morning. The final part of our training weekend was a picnic inside the walls of a 3rd Century Roman Fort followed by an audio tour of the later additions at Portchester Castle, thanks to English Heritage. From the top of the Keep it was possible to see all the other places that we had been exploring as part of TW03, along with where we had been on the water earlier that day and appreciate the tide. Throughout all of this training weekend a number of us learnt quite a few valuable lessons: 1. You never know who you might meet and when. 2. Pack the items on your kit list (there is a good reason why they are there). 3. That young people actually want to help do the washing up. Thank you so much to all those that made this training weekend possible, especially the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and 3rd Portchester for use of their HQ and boats. Yours in Scouting Team Squishy, Project 19
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Exploration of London – 3rd Portchester
With the Expedition Challenge Award being updated to also include an alternative option of an Exploration, the Leaders at Ellen MacArthur Troop, 3rd Portchester set their Scouts a unique opportunity to find out more about London and complete their own Exploration of the UK Capital City. This is what the young people had to say about this unique opportunity. After spending the previous Monday planning our trip, we met outside our Scout HQ and headed up to London. When we reached the South London Scout Centre (SLSC) we split into two teams and navigated our way to the local train station (West Dulwich) where we collected our Oyster Cards that we would each be personally responsible for the next 2 days. We then travelled into Central London using one of the mainline routes and worked out which tube line would take us to the Science Museum. We spent the morning exploring the Science Museum, experiencing different activities. We learnt about aviation and technology through hands on experiments. In the afternoon we explored the Natural History Museum, trying out the earthquake simulator and seeing an animatronic T-Rex as we made our way through the exhibits. The girls especially enjoyed the diamond exhibit. We walked to Hyde Park from the Museums to have a rest, but very soon we went 24
Preparing young people with skills for life
on to Princess Diana Memorial Park to burn off some steam. The park had a pirate and boating theme, which was perfect for the Scouts and we all enjoyed climbing all over the huge pirate ship in the very centre, including our leaders!!! We caught the bus to Regent Street and from there walked down past all the shops into Piccadilly Circus. We watched some street performers and got to enjoy our pizza sitting at the feet of Anteros (the Greek god of requited love), admiring the lights and sounds of London including several Lamborghini’s that drove by. After eating we moved on to St Paul’s Cathedral to visit the nine 15’ Harry Potter wands between the Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge. This linked nicely with our Harry Potter themed Summer Camp (August 2018). We then travelled over the Millennium Bridge (which was attacked during Harry Potter: The Half Blood Prince) and from there travelled back on the bus to the SLSC and promptly went to bed. The following morning, we woke up excited and packed up very quickly, including having a hot breakfast and making our lunch. We made our way back in to Central London and then to Downing Street where we met our local MP Suella Braverman, who very kindly arranged for us to meet her on Downing Street which is a very rare occurrence for members of the public. We took lots of photos with our MP, the world famous door of 10 Downing Street, and we even manged to get a photo with the Police Officer who stood guard at Number 10.
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From there we walked to the Palace of Westminster where we had a personal tour around the entire complex. We got to see where all our laws and big decisions are debated, in both Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords). Watching the budget on TV 7 days later was a very surreal moment having stood in the House of Commons on the exact same spot as the budget was being delivered, and then also in the same spot as the opposition when it was being challenged. We also visited the Jewel Tower, one of the few buildings to survive the Great Fire of London, where we got to see where Henry the Eighth stored all of his possessions. We got to have lunch on the south bank of the River Thames, and from this spot we had a clear view of the Shard, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, HMS Bristol along with a number of other London Skyscrapers. We headed to Covent Garden tube station at which point when we arrived we discovered that there were no escalators at this station, so choose to take the lift instead of 193 steps. From here we headed to one of the highlights of the trip, being M&M World and visiting Leicester Square. After purchasing lots of chocolate we went to Covent Garden Market where we watched another street performer. The last place we visited before heading home was the Sky Garden at the top of the Walkie Talkie Building. From here we got to watch the sunset from one of the highest points in London and see all of the places we had been. Finally we made our way back to the SLSC and travelled out of London and arrived back at our Scout HQ at the end of an amazing adventure around London. Leaders thoughts; “After having successfully completed a water based Expedition in May 2018, where the young people navigated 22 miles along the Wey Navigation & River Thames, this seemed like a perfect second opportunity this year to allow the Scouts to complete their Expedition Challenge Award. Listening to the feedback from the Scouts in our Section we know that these are some of their most memorable moments. Now to look for new opportunities for 2019 and beyond.�
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Preparing young people with skills for life
Armistice 100 We will remember The 70th Portsmouth Scout Troop had the privilege to take part in the 24-hour honour guard for the fallen of Portsmouth in the 1st World War, organised by The Pompey Pals Project, the scouts stepped up the challenge and did very well. The troop had a sleepover at the scout hut that was split by a minibus ride to the Guildhall WW1 memorial, to do our bit when we left the scout hut the rain was coming down very heavily to the point I had to reduce speed to 20mph to see out of the windscreen. However, when we arrived at Portsmouth Guildhall carpark the moment I put on the handbrake the rain stopped. We took over the Honour Guard at 2 am standing post on all 4 corners of the cenotaph with the first leader and three scouts marching out to the cenotaph, bowing their head to www.hampshirescouting.org.uk
the current guard before changing places. We swapped the scouts over every 7 ½ minutes and the leaders over every 15 minutes. All of the scouts had two opportunities to take part with some having three goes before more volunteers took over our guard at 3 am. The moment I got them back into the minibus the heavens opened and the rain came back again very heavy, someone was watching over us, we then took them back to the scout hut to bed, 4 ½ hours sleep before a quick breakfast, we then paraded with flags flying to our local church St Andrews, to take part in the remembrance service, #Armistice 100, #wewillrememberthem. Craig Humpleby Scout Leader 70th Portsmouth 27
Carers in Scouting requires applicants to be new carers, aged 18 + Providing 1-2-1 support to young people with additional needs to attend: Beavers 6-8 years | Cubs 8-11 years Scouts 11-14 years | Explorers 14-18 years Carers will support young people to participate in the full range of weekly Scouting activities, apart from overnight stays & camping. Caring experience is not essential but a caring personality and a willingness to work with the parents/guardians & Scout leaders is essential. Applicants Over 18 years only. Hourly rate ÂŁ15 per hour, term time only & a zero hours contract. Hours vary between 1 & 2 hours per week depending on the Scout section where support is required. Enhanced DBS is essential and will be processed through Carers in Scouting. For more information please contact: Lynn Email: carers.administrator@hampshirescouts.org.uk Supported by Hampshire County Council
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Hampshire Scouts Registed Charity Number: 1015788