Category: In Action

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In Action

Why I’m Proud to be a Scout – A Message for Founder’s Day

Today is Founder’s Day – the birthday of the man who founded the worldwide Scout Movement – his name is Lord Robert Baden Powell.

You may think all I do each week is stand around in a silly uniform with a rolled triangle around my neck singing ‘ging gang goolie goolie’ with a bunch of children, nah – Scouting today is SO much more than that…

We make fire. We whittle sticks. We cook in the ground. We grow in confidence. We learn from each other. We teach others. We create memories. We as adults shape the way kids look at the world and how they interact with others. We’ve even taught them lifeguarding skills and how to use saws and drills! We camp – it’s not just a weekend away in a smelly muddy field – it’s a weekend of adventure without your family. A weekend where kids and adults alike can be themselves and try new things.

Scouting gives us skills for life: independence, teamwork, leadership and problem solving to name just a few. Who would have thought that at 9 years old a kid had never spent a night away from home before? Had never slept in a tent with their friends? Had never burnt a sausage on an open fire? I can tell you from experience that the confidence and pride it gives a kid to know they can survive a night without mum and dad at that age is incredible. These are experiences that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Once upon a time that kid was me and I’m proud to be passing on that knowledge as a leader.

I am a Scout and I’m proud of it! 🏕

Written by Olii – Asst Scout Leader at 14th Southampton Wednesday Troop.

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In Action

Apollo ESU & 2nd Southampton Scouts Go Caving!

Take a look at how Scouts and Explorers got on for a day of caving at Goatchurch Cavern and the famous Swildon’s Hole. Mendips, Somerset

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In Action

14th Wednesday Scouts Kick-Off #YouShape Month

14th Highfield Weds PLs spent this weekend at Lyons Copse for a PL/APL ‘training’ camp organised by County.

It was an exceptionally well organised and structured weekend where each Troop was split up into smaller groups of 7, each with a facilitator to help guide ideas etc. YLs and some of the County team ran mini workshops on developing skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, promoting positive behaviour and running activities safely. Each activity was split up into 30/40 minute chunks separated by a break/game/run around time.

Each Scout got the chance to lead on a task (for example: building a bridge out of newspaper, organising people into height order for a game, running a game etc.) The theory behind the skill/activity was presented, the kids then had a series of tasks to complete to work on that skill, for example one of the ‘teamwork’ tasks was to build a tower out of newspaper and sellotape – they had to decide if someone was going to take charge (leadership), any ideas of how to complete the task (teamwork and communication) and then do the task (again communication, teamwork and leadership). After each task, the group’s facilitator gave them structured feedback as to how they did. The kids then got the chance to review the activity and occasionally repeat it with a different leader/idea.

Saturday evening was dedicated to a PL forum with their leader (or someone from County if they came without a leader) where we talked about what problems PLs may face back in their Troops, ideas that they’d like to see implemented, how their leaders can help them and vice-versus. We also discussed 5 challenges that the PLs will be responsible for between now and next year. Some suggestions: PLs running a number of evenings; running games at the start of the evening and teaching their Patrols how to tie a friendship knot.

Overall a fabulous weekend – would 100% recommend to any leaders thinking of developing their PLs/APLs ‘soft skills’!

Have a look what we got up to!

 

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In Action Left Handshake

29th do Food Collection for the Basic Bank

The 29th Immaculata Scout Group took part in this year’s Basic Bank food collection to help support and make sure that local families who are struggling to put food on their table this Christmas, had enough food for this special festive time. It started with Baloo organising a visit from the Southampton Basic Bank branch, to kindly pop along to Cubs one evening and explain more about what they do and why.

From this, the Cub section decided that they would like to start up their own Food Bank like supermarkets do and make a donation from the 29th Scout Group. The other two sections got on board and a lot of food was kindly donated by the members and parents of the group. These including food for special dietary requirements as well.

Akela kindly offered to drop it around to their warehouse, so it could be distributed in time to the families that were in need for it.

A good job all round and thank you to each and every one of you who supported this cause from the 29th Immaculata Scout Group.

Below is some of our food collection in which we managed to put together in two week!

Russ Andrews.
29th Immaculata Group Scout Leader.

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Fun In Action

#MannequinChallenge

The Mannequin Challenge is sweeping the nation! Last weekend 14th Southampton Friday Scouts freeze-framed during 2 night hike across the New Forest… Take a look below at how they got on. (nobody move!!!)

Great hike today – 18km from Wilverley to Ferny Crofts (basically one side of the New Forest to the other). Mannequin challenge & various Bear Grylls documentaries on route! All back safely, eating & making fire.

Posted by Ed Jellard on Saturday, 12 November 2016

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In Action

Explorers Complete DofE Bronze Expedition

On the last weekend of October, 9 Explorer Scouts from The Southampton District put on their hike boots and rucksacks to embark on their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition.  The two teams completed their training and a practice expedition earlier in the month and spent several evenings planning routes and preparing route cards.  Each team had to carry everything they needed for the two days, including tents, first aid equipment, cookers, food, and all their personal kit.  

The Explorers set off from Ferny Croft on Saturday morning, navigating across the forest to arrive at Wilverley campsite mid-afternoon.  After cooking a hot meal they settled down to good night’s rest.  On the Sunday morning the teams packed away their equipment, making sure they left the site spotless and continued their Expedition to Pickets Post.  As they navigated through the forest they gathered information and photographs ready for a group presentation, which will complete the requirements of the D of E Expedition.

We were lucky to have dry and mild weather for the weekend, with an added bonus of an extra hour of sleep, due to the change of the clocks.

We will continue to support the Explorers with the other sections of the D of E Award:  Volunteering, Skill, and physical, and hope to be able to present their Bronze Awards along with Chief Scout’s Awards soon.

As well as all 9 Explorer Scouts completing their Expedition; Explorer leader, Jake Toomer, has successfully passed his assessment as a D of E Expedition Assessor.  We now have 4 qualified D of E Expedition Assessors in the District who look forward to seeing more groups next year.

Thanks to Mark for assessing Jake’s Assessed Assessment. Also thanks to Vicky and Rozy for acting as D of E Supervisors on the practice and Assessed Expedition.

Amanda Toomer,  AESL Endeavour

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In Action

Cerebrating Cubs 100 at the home of UK scouting!

Over 120 cubs and 50 leaders travelled to Gilwell Park on the weekend of the 10th September to celebrate 100 years of cub scouting with a Birthday Party and many adventurous activities like the 3G swing!

It was a real team effort with Network catering for us and Active Support helping with transport.

The cubs had an amazing time and we commemorated our visit by leaving a stone in the promise path for the cubs to find when they visit Gilwell in the future.

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In Action

Scouts shine at activity hike

Hello Autumn! You simply can’t beat spending time in the forest at this time of year. The changing of the seasons brings about some stunning colours and wildlife. We love it and the Scouts section makes the most of it by holding many activity days in The New Forest this term, starting with Maddison Hunt.

Earlier this month, teams of Scouts aged between 10.5 and 12.5 hiked around Wilverley Inclosure. Along the way they stumbled across challenges to complete by working as a team and using their initiative and skills.

This year we made pancakes, built towers, constructed bridges and administered first-aid. The sun shined and our young people outshone themselves… Well done.

Congratulations to everyone who took part! It’s a huge achievement. This years Trophy was won by 1st Aldermoor.ctytljgwiaazbyj

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In Action

7th Southampton Beavers Sleepover

Beavers from 7th had a sleepover in hall on Saturday 15th October. They all gained the Communicator Activity Badge learning codes, sending emails and making sure they knew the home phone number. A bug hotel was made and bird feeders. Due the wet weather they had painting competition which the leaders also joined in with and made paper aeroplanes and had competition to see which went the furthest. Time was also enjoyed with our very large box of Lego and dragon flies were made from pegs and pipe cleaners. A very large breakfast was eaten on Sunday morning, could not keep up with the large amounts of toast consumed. They made their own sandwiches for lunch had one last game with the Lego before parents arrived to collect them. Everyone went home tired but happy, that included the leaders!

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In Action

Jamboree on the Internet

18 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the 29th Immaculata took part in the largest Scouting event across the world, Jamboree on the Internet. Joining over 1 million scouts from across 150 countries, they made live video contact with Scouts from all across the world, including America, Mexico, Canada, India, Finland, Australia, Italy, Bangladesh, Columbia, as well as more local Scouts across the UK.

Those attending took part in all forms of communication – including text-based chat, video-based chat and video conferences, with a chance to talk with their new friends about Scouting in their country, where they come from and who else they had already met throughout the event. Every participating group was given a special ID, a JamPuzz ID, which they could swap and collect, incorporating countries and regions which they could tick off as part of a Bingo game as they made links across the world. Making use of the facilities available, some also worked towards their Digital Maker badge, making use of Scratch, the online development platform, to build their own games and distribute them with others who they had met online.

Embracing modern online technologies, Scouts also made use of Minecraft to connect to the digital online world of JOTI where they could build and explore an online Scouting world, in addition to communicating with those occupying this online world.

In addition, they had the chance to sample JOTA, Jamboree on the Air, by listening to both morse code transmissions and vocal greetings by other groups over amateur radio. Although without their own license and facilities to transmit themselves, it still gave a good chance to see this exciting and older part of the Jamboree.