There is a Wilverley Working Party weekend on Saturday the 5th of March 2016 from 9am to 5pm.
Come and join us in some basic maintenance at the Southampton City District camp site at Wilverley. Free camping and facilities for the Saturday night, or just come and join us for the day! Wear old clothes and bring work gloves.
Please call to tell Colin Floyd if you are coming so we can arrange refreshments and lunch on 07770364711 or email colin@colinfloyd.com
The search for a new District Commissioner has begun!
A letter from our Assistant County Commissioner, Margaret Patrick, is being sent by email or post to all adults in our district.
You can read the letter and attachments by following these links:
We are running several courses in January and February 2016. Please take advantage of these opportunities to becoming chilled and skilled!
Let me know if you are interested in any of these courses.
Nico Chart
Local Training Manager
Email: training@southamptoncityscouts.co.uk
Mobile: 07776 207187
Our new years resolution is to finally learn how to fold a map properly! We challenge everyone in Southampton Scouts from Beavers to Leaders to fold an Ordnance Survey map as quickly as possible.
Our best time so far is 14 seconds, achieved by the 2nd Southampton? Can you beat it?
What a great year we have had!! And next year should be even better.
Congratulations to Sarah Durham and Gary Coen for receiving their 10 year Service Award and to Nico Chart for 20 Years’ service – Very well deserved.
Congratulations to Alice Mintoff and Claire Baker on receiving their wood badge.
A big well done and be proud message to Oli Bills, Josh Smith, Catriona Gibbon who have just completed the Queens Scout Award I am looking forward to the presentation evening and the parade and service at Windsor Palace in front of the Queen. Fantastic
I am delighted to welcome Sarah Granger and Rob Wayman as the Assistant District Commissioners for the Cub Section. I am sure that the cub section will go from strength to strength under their leadership.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Remembrance parade at the Cenotaph or at your local churches and to those that helped with the selling of poppies with the Active Support Unit. You did us proud.
The District swimming gala took place and the group award went to the 14th Scout Group in Highfield congratulations to them. The event was very well attended and was great fun thanks go to all the groups that took part.
The scout Walkabout competition was great fun and a big well done to the Scouts who took part and to all the leaders for the night exercise. The event was won by the 1st Scout Troop Well done to them.
The new district web site is launched please take a look at it and Oli and I are looking for suggestions I how we can improve it further. The group pages are well worth developing this is a place to promote your group and shout load how good you are. So please send us LOTS of good news stories about what you have been up too in your groups. We have a new district directory and we are looking to get everyone’s details on the website in a secure area rather than producing a paper copy. That will hopefully be launched early next year.
The Compass data membership system is turning back on in January to me and group scout leaders so we need to get the adult records back up to date especially the clearances that are outstanding. When it goes live please would GSL’s check the records are accurate. If you need a hand with that please ask me or Graham and we will show you.
In January the District and the Hampshire Scouting will be starting the process of appointing the next DC. It is a great job and a good opportunity to shape Southampton Scouting for the next five years. I ask you all to consider taking up the challenge.
BUT………. The National Lottery – # Please Not Him
If anyone would like to talk to me about the DC role before they apply and clarify anything, I am always pleased for you to contact me by email or by phone or in person just ask away.
I hope you all and your families have a wonderful Christmas and a joyous new year See you all in 2016.
Yours in Scouting,
Colin Floyd
District Commissioner
At the end of December 2015, for one of their largest camps as a growing Network, Southampton City Network welcomed in Christmas with a relaxed camp at Wilverley, from board games by torchlight following a full Christmas Dinner, to geocaching and hiking around the New Forest, to contributing back to Wilverley and looking after our lovely district campsite. We even had a visit from Father Christmas himself!
On Friday night, after loading up the minibus, we set off on the long and quite bumpy journey to Wilverley. We arrived very late and in the dark, which meant it was a lot of fun trying to find the keys! After unloading and unpacking we had a quick hike around the Wilverley enclosure and came back to a large dinner of Bolognese. Almost immediately after this was lights out, but we of course decided to stay up playing board games until nearly 4am! Not all of us, the sensible ones went to bed far earlier.
We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to a fry up which was greatly needed for our morning of site services. We painted the toilets, chopped wood, raked leaves, creosoted some posts (91 of them!), set up new carbon monoxide detectors and most importantly, started on the Christmas dinner prep. In the afternoon we once again had a range of activities to choose from; geocaching around Wilverley; pioneering and creating an obstacle course; playing a wide variety of board games; playing table tennis; sewing on our badges; and even more Christmas dinner preparation.
In the early evening, when we were all back in the cottage we had a surprise visit, from none other than Father Christmas himself! He came bearing presents for all of us and lots of Christmas cheer. Father Christmas even stayed to help us eat our huge Christmas dinner! As we began to slowly digest our huge meal we sat down to watch some festive movies. After lights out we began to play board games again, although this time we only stayed up until the rather more sensible time of 2am.
On Sunday morning, we woke once again to a fry up, although a little later than the previous day. We welcomed our new Network members with an investiture outside Wilverley Cottage. Following this, we all went for a walk, half of us went off to Burley and visited a nice little pub, the other half (all Beaver leaders) took a slightly shorter walk around the Wilverley enclosure so that they could run off in time for the Christingle. After our walk we came back to a lunch of whatever leftovers we could manage.
Our afternoon was spent playing a few board games and returning Wilverley to its original pre-Network state. We packed up and left in the early evening. (Our minibus driver looked quite familiar)
Network Christmas camp was great fun and everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves, we all left feeling far more Christmassy.
Founders Day 2016, our chance to celebrate the birthday of our Founder of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell, will be held on Friday 19th February 2016 at the Mansel Park Primary School Culver Close in Millbrook.
After the success of last years celebration kindly led by the 29th Scout Group I would like all the other groups and sections Young Leaders, Explorers, Network and Active Support to consider putting themselves forward to lead next years event – This is your chance to shine!
Please contact Colin before by the 5th January if you are up for the challenge!
Thank you to everyone in the district who assisted Active Support in selling poppies for the British Legion. Special thanks to my own members of Active Support, Cubs, Scouts and Leaders plus some non-uniform members, from the 7th, 13th and 26th groups for all the help and long hours spent selling.
I am pleased to announce we collected the marvellous sum of £4,256.82p. That is a magnificent effort that not only helped the British Legion in their work but showed to the public that we as a youth movement are willing to help others.
Well done and thank you
George Longhurst
Active Support Manager
As the year comes to an end, it’s great to take a look back at all that’s happened this year.
The 14th Scouts have put together a great video looking back at everything they have been up to over the past year, including their caving camp, survival camp, a hammocking and hiking camp and many other adventures!
We are pleased to announce that we have a new badge secretary starting her role with immediate effect. Her name is Lisa Johnson and she will be operating the badge shop on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, excluding august, from her house which is: 3, Strawberry Fields, Hedge End, Southampton SO30 4QX. The opening times are the same as before 7pm-8.30pm and she will be receiving and sending orders by post as before. Her phone number is: 01489789486and her email address is: inbadgesecretary@hotmail.co.uk
Asa Moore
District Commissioner
Itchen North
Southampton