The newsletter of the 1st Wokingham (St Paul´s) Scout Group. See us online at http://www.firstwokingham.org.uk
Be there or miss out
Our next event is the Wokingham Town Walking Quiz on Sunday October 5th. This is an easy Sunday morning walk to see how much you know about our town. Takes a maximum of two hours. See Wokingham Town Walking Quiz for full details and entry form.Entry form is provided at the end of this newsletter.
Chairman´s report by Bill Forfar
AGM and BBQ
Thanks to all the parents and boys who joined us for the AGM and BBQ. The weather was (nearly) good with only a short shower to dampen the proceedings. District Chairman, Andy McBain came to check we were doing the right things and also presented Debs Parker with the Harry Row Cup, a District Award, for the person who has made the most significant contribution in the last year. We are still solvent and your committee, ably aided by Alison McRae, the Treasurer, have managed to keep an emergency fund ready in case there is an unexpected happening at the HQ. Not a spiritual happening but some sort of inclement weather happening which might cause damage. Please continue to assist the Leaders on the Parent Rota, it makes such a difference to the sessions when they can delegate control of a smaller group of boys to a responsible adult. The Scouts especially have lost the older boys (14 to 16) who used to do this supervision.Lease from Wokingham Town Council
This expires on 23rd June 2009 and we will have to start negotiating with WTC for a new lease or extension by the end of 2008. The last one ran from 1981, a curious length I know, and we shall be using the Legal Dept of the Scouting Association to help during the process. Is there any parent/guardian who has expertise in this area?Kit from Reading Festival
My thanks go to Dave Shortland, Dick Moodie and Keith Winter (ED: and Bill Forfar) for their help in salvaging Tents and Camping Equipment on Monday after the Reading Festival. We collected some 2-man, 3-man and even larger tents, sleeping mats, extra poles, boots, and I don�t know what else. The Festival Goers abandon their tents and things after the event because they can´t carry it all home or something... We help the organisers to clear it and give 10% to OXFAM to pass on to the needy in other parts of the world.PARENTS - Next year please help us and we can collect even MORE. This will SAVE on the money we have to spend replacing kit for Cub and Scout Camps and KEEP COSTS DOWN.
Maintenance
Things we have identified for future replacement include -- Floor Screed. The cement floor covering under the carpet in the Main Hall is beginning to crumble again in places and will need re-laying soon. The last such problem gave us the yellow and black patch in the middle of the floor.
- Roof. We are not sure how long this will last and, with tongue in cheek, are wondering if a handy tree could damage it ... Not that we would want the upset caused by an unplanned hole in the roof of course.
Group Scout Leader
Debs Parker. GSL
I hope everyone had a good holiday despite all the bad weather. Though luckily neither of the camps were effected to badly, Scouts did have bad rain on their day of coming home, so it meant very soggy kit to be dried and sorted before it could go back into the stores, so a BIG thank you to Keith and Dick who spent every day up there afterwards to get it all sorted. Plus also dealing with all the cubs stuff too. Oh it does make the leaders lives easier.I also like to say thank you to all of you who did come to the BBQ, again the rain stayed away. During this we held our AGM and luckily for me all the committee decided to stay for another year at least. Though what we did have there which people saw, was job descriptions which a parent asked for the year before, to try and get some more volunteers. I know on the night we had no takers, but please do consider helping us, the more people we have to call on, the easier things run. So I ask you to look at our web site to see if there is anything you can do, even if it is just to turn up cook sausages at next year BBQ.
On that note, I know I have sent you all a CRB form to fill out and I did have quite a few back last term, but please can you fill one in if you haven´t. I know I am thinking of doing a parent and son camp next year, if I can persuade my leadership, but that can only happen for those parents who have filled in a CRB form, and they take 3 months to get processed, so last minute panic will not help out. If you need another form then do speak to your leaders. It would be nice to follow Finchampstead group who have got their entire parents CRB´d with out any hassles.
Hope to see you all soon, maybe walking round town taking part in the town quiz, or on bonfire night, where I try not to go up with a rocket!
Scouts
supplied by Editor
We had a very successful term which ended with us saying goodbye to four older Scouts. We held a very successful summer camp on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset from 26th July to 2nd August with our friends from the 4th Wokingham Scouts. As well as canoeing, climbing and pioneering we also spent a very hot and informative afternoon on Brownsea Island, the home of Scouting. We entered two teams in the District Football tournament for Scouts and came First and Second! An excellent effort by all the boys.
Cubs
supplied by Editor
After learning how to use a compass and map the Cubs then put their knowledge to use by doing some orienteering. We also had two sessions where the Cubs learnt all about how to look after their bicycles, what and what not to do when riding them, leading up to gaining their Cyclist Activity Badge. Fire lighting and tent pitching skills were practiced ready for a very successful camp that was held at Ellis Farm. See reports below. A visit by the Police in their van was really exciting for many Cubs and everyone learnt a lot about what the Police do and how they do it.
Cub Camp
Report by Dan Allen
I had a great time at cub camp. I loved all the games such as Danish Long Ball, Dodgeball, Capture the Flag and I also enjoyed singing around the campfire. The worst bit was the toilets which were very smelly. I liked making the bivouacs and sleeping in them although Glynn was a loud snorer! I tried lots of different foods I hadn´t had before and the curry which Akela made was very tasty - she is a great cook. I am going up to scouts soon and I will really miss everyone and will be sad not to go on cub camp again - it was brilliant.
Report by River Philips
Hi, this is my second camp and I was looking forward to it. Last year I was ill, so I had to miss some and I broke my toe the day I was meant to arrive and it was painful to do some of the activities. I missed capture the flag which all my friends said was the best so this time I really wanted to do everything, which I did.
When we arrived we found out what the theme was; it was American Indians, our teams were Mohawk and Apaches, these also were our tent groups. Later that day we ate then we started to make our bivouacs, they were made from sticks, ferns and waterproof sheeting we spent most of the afternoon making it. After dinner we went to campfire and sang songs.
The next day we did our athletes badge which was enjoyable, then we went on a hike. In the afternoon we did Danish long ball (a cross between Cricket, Rugby and dodge ball) and we did a sound wide game where we had to find the leaders by following the sound of the noisy thing. Then we had another camp fire and slept in our bivis.
We woke up early from our cramped up bivis to hear the wonderful sound of people singing happy birthday to Matthew who had just turned 11. We did more work on our bivis then we did backwoods cooking (cooking in the back woods on fire) we cooked baked potato with a poached egg inside and we also got to gut a mackerel which was messy, all served with a bread twist. It was all good fun. That night we played capture the flag, Mohawks v Apaches. It ended in a stalemate, we were all too good. Then we went back to our bivis again.
On Tuesday we packed up camp, even the toilet tents (not nice).Then it all went too fast and that was the end of an awesome camp. My favourite thing was making and sleeping in the bivis. My least favourite was the toilets!!
Report by Will Robson
This was my first year at cub camp as we´ve been away on holiday on previous years. It was really exciting and I am slightly sad that I missed last year´s camp now I know how much fun it was.
There were so many activities, that I can´t remember them all. But the best were:
- Back woods cooking
- Bivouac building
- Building and lighting fires
- Lot´s of fun games and wide games
Bivouacs are small shelters made from wooden frames that keep you dry and warm in the woods. After making the frames we layed plastic sheets over them and then covered these with ferns. We built them in groups of three and had to take great care as we had to sleep in the bivis we built. The weather was so nice that we actually got to sleep in the bivis every night after they were built - this was so cool!
In the centre of the bivis we collected firewood to make a fire to sit around in the evening (don�t tell Mum & Dad a bit beyond normal bed time!) and keep warm. We sang camp songs and toasted marshmallows to eat as we drank our hot chocolate - it was paradise!!!
It was great fun and I can´t wait to go to camp again when I am a scout.
Beavers
Becca House. Beaver Scout Leader
What a busy term we had. We have celebrated St George´s Day and had an artist visit to show us how to draw self portraits of each other. I can tell you we definitely have some budding artists amongst us! We caught bugs and tried to identify them, and yes a few did catch HUGE spiders (won´t be doing that again!!). We also tried various different ways of communication.
In May we visited Wokingham Fire Station and met Fireman Brett. He gave us all a talk about fire safety, Christian got the chance to put on a complete fireman´s outfit and said it was very heavy. We then went outside and saw everything on the Fire Engine and had a look inside. They have invited us back in the warmer weather to get the hose pipes out.
On 3rd June we had a visit from our District Beaver Leader Wendy Preston. She said "You run a wonderful Beaver colony. I thought the children looked really happy and all ran really smoothly. You should be very pleased with yourself". Whilst she was there she took part in running our Sports Day and she also invested Jake Hughes as our new Young Leader.
In June, as part of our Promise Challenge we visited All Saints Church. All the Beavers took part in completing a questionnaire which they found really interesting. They all also brought along some wonderful prayers to read aloud at the end.
As well as all that we learned all about healthy eating by making various different sandwiches and growing cress. Fourth of July we decorated donuts and played baseball. Scout Leader Dave visited and showed the beavers how to put up and take down a tent whilst the scouts showed them how to lay tracking trails. Finally we finished with our annual Beach Party. The beavers had an absolute blast trying to soak each other, and the leaders! We ALL ended absolutely dripping � it is the wettest I have ever got. They all went home happy and wet with an ice cream.
Forthcoming Events
For full details about these events then please visit our web site at http://www.firstwokingham.org.uk/group/events or look on the notice board in the entrance hall to the HQ.
| 5th Oct 2008 | Social | Town Walking Quiz (Wokingham Town Centre). A gentle stroll around Wokingham Town Centre looking for answers to the provided clues. |
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| 5th Nov 2008 | Social | Group Fireworks |
WANTED AD
Thank you to the family that donated us some cutlery. It was much appreciated.
We are still looking for:1) China Mugs
When we have events in the hut we often need mugs to serve tea, coffee etc. but never seem to have enough. If you have any unwanted mugs, even if it is only the one, then please can we have them.
DATA PROTECTION
In order to facilitate the electronic dissemination of termly subscription reminders the 1st Wokingham group has collected email addresses of most of the parents/guardians of our boys. Please note that this information is used solely to communicate with you and will never be supplied to any third parties. We will not disclose your email address to any other email recipient.
Walking Quiz around Wokingham Town Centre
This is an easy Sunday morning walk to see how much you know about Wokingham Town Centre.If you would like to take part, please fill in this form and hand completed form and payment to any leader.
We would like to join in the Wokingham Wander on Sunday 5th October.
Please complete and hand slip with £5 to any leader.
Name:
Telephone Number:
Section: Beavers Cubs Scouts:
(please tick appropriate section)
Email:
Please make cheques payable to 1st Wokingham (St. Paul´s) Scout Group
1st Wokingham Centenary Tea Towel
Our Group Centenary tea towel, made from unbleached cotton and supplied in a cellophane sleeve, is still available at £3.50 each, or £3 if you buy 2 or more. A sample is on the notice board in the entrance hall of the hut.If you would like to order, please fill in this form and hand completed form and payment to any leader.
I would like to order ............tea towel(s).
Name:
Telephone Number:
Section: Beavers Cubs Scouts:
(please tick appropriate section)
Email:
Please make cheques payable to 1st Wokingham (St. Paul´s) Scout Group
1st Wokingham Centenary DVD
Our Group Centenary DVD, is still available at £7.50 each This contains pictures of the group and boys covering the whole of our history.If you would like to order, please fill in this form and hand completed form and payment to any leader.
I would like to order ............DVD(s).
Name:
Telephone Number:
Section: Beavers Cubs Scouts:
(please tick appropriate section)
Email:
Please make cheques payable to 1st Wokingham (St. Paul´s) Scout Group