SCOUTING IN 4th FULWOOD

SCOUTING IN 4^th FULWOOD (METHODIST)

SCOUT GROUP UPDATE

The Scout Group at the Church is flourishing with full membership in all 3 sections: we have Beaver Scouts (aged 6-8 years), Cub Scouts (aged 8-10½ years) and Scouts (aged 10½-14 years). All the sections have leaders and assistants who voluntarily provide a fantastic programme of activities for the young people.

The Beaver Scout section is run by Fiona Jackson assisted by leaders and helpers and they currently have 28 Beaver Scouts. Activities arranged for the Beaver Scouts recently and in the future include:

We had two teams take part in the District Fazackerley Challenge afternoon on Moor Park. One team came joint first with a team from 5^th Preston.

We visited Brockholes Nature Reserve at the end of June; brilliant visit, lovely place, will look to go back on a weekend and spend a bit longer.

Programme for the Autumn term will be focused on the Promise challenge.

Some Beaver Scouts are joining in with the County Big Birthday Bash celebrating 25 years of Beaver Scouting in September.

We have a new Assistant Beaver Scout Leader – Cath Hargreaves, who is already Assistant County Commissioner for Beaver Scouts, so she will bring in a wealth of expertise to the Colony.

The Cub Scout section has a new Leader, Karen Smalley, who has just taken over from Peter Newton as Akela. Peter is continuing with Cub Scouts and is also joined by a new Assistant Cub Scout Leader, Sharon Blinston, who is starting her training in September. There are 28 Cub Scouts and activities include:

The Cub Scouts participated in the District Sports Day in which we came joint 4^th.

A visit to the Brockholes Nature Reserve gave an insight into the different species of wildlife that can be seen at this newly opened reserve, along with floating hides, workshops and bug hotel.

3 Silver Awards have been presented recently to Euan Hudson, Tom McGill and Kamran Patel. This is the highest award to be presented to a Cub Scout.

Some of the Cub Scouts are attending the County Cub Camp in October, where they will encounter some spooky going’s on. They will be transformed into Mad Scientists on this Mad Science themed weekend.

In September we will be looking forward to our jam-packed programme in which we are planning lots of exciting activities such as a visit from The Bat Woman, Outward Bound Day at Great Tower, October camp, a visit to our local swimming pool, as well as lots and lots of other activities in our run up to Christmas……..

The Scout section is run by Steve Williams, assisted by 2 leaders and they have 18 Scouts in the Troop currently. Here are some of the activities the Scouts have been doing.

On a Saturday in May, the Scouts went to Madame Tussaud’s in Blackpool and then went on the Waltzer.

The Troop came a close 2^nd in the District First Aid Competition.

The evenings in the summer term we were mainly out and about, some of our fun was had ghyll scrambling, rock climbing and raft building. Following on from these varied evenings, all the Scouts in the Troop, even those who are not yet invested, have the Adventure challenge Award.

The Scouts went orienteering in Avenham Park

On the last night they had burgers and a film.

The next camp for the troop is a Back to Basics Camp in October.

Joint Activity – Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts

Beaver Scouts and Cub Scouts went to World Wide Waddecar on 2^nd July – fabulous day, enjoyed by all, a bit too warm perhaps but we shouldn’t complain! The Beavers and Cubs enjoyed making, tasting and having their faces painted, as well as learning about the various Projects and Charities on their travels around the world

Group Events have included

Roller skating at Fulwood Leisure Centre with the Cub Scouts and Scouts after June’s church parade.

Our 1^st Family Camp!!!

One of the recent highlights, our 1^st Family Camp, was held in July. What a fantastic weekend we had; about 70 children, parents and leaders took part up at Waddecar Scout campsite. There everyone could do activities such as pioneering (didn’t those Dad’s just tackle this so well), climbing, archery, hiking, cooking on an open fire, bouncy castle, sumo wrestling, camp fire, raft building ......and eating of course! The weather held pretty well for us and we all had a great time together. During the camp we held our 1^st Annual General Meeting, which was very well attended by parents (a captive audience helps) as well as our District Commissioner and Peter Sheasby (the Church being our sponsoring authority). The Section Leaders reported on activities for the previous year, I was presented with my GSL Appointment and had to renew my Promise. Following the meeting many parents stepped forward to form a full Executive Committee.

The Exec. is there to support the leaders and enable us to do more for the young people in the Group. The Exec. supports by fund raising, managing the finances and managing the equipment (we have a new Quarter Master). In addition to Exec. members we also received offers of assistance from parents to help at one off events, i.e. camps, or specific evenings, or even driving the mini-bus. Scouting is very flexible; we don’t just need people for weekly meetings but also less frequently, for individual occasions. If you would like to help in any capacity then do speak with me or another leader.

Read the first issue of the Scouting newsletter here

Lesley Thomas Group Scout Leader

email her