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The monthly newsletter of the 4th Worcester Park Scout Group June 2003Sections
Peter Kinton - Group PresidentAll the members of the Scout Group congratulate Keith upon the award of the Silver Acorn and his attendance at the St George's Day Parade at Windsor Castle. Keith DalyGROUP SCOUT LEADERAGMThe Group AGM will take place at 12.00 on Sunday 8th June. If you would like to hear how the Group is doing; if you wish to ask questions about what is happening; if you would like to make comment or suggestions about the future; or if you just want to show that you support the leaders in what they are trying to achieve; then why not come along and join us. There will a barbecue afterwards for those attending the AGM. The family is welcome to the Barbecue so you don't need to cook the Sunday lunch. It really would be nice to see some parents attend. 70th Anniversary DinnerThere are still a few places available for the Group's 70th Anniversary Dinner on 19th July 2003. The event is to be held at the Restaurant in the Park in Morden Park and tickets are £20. There will be a disco after dinner for the more energetic but there will also be facilities for those who just want to sit and chat. Tickets are available from me. The easiest way is via E-Mail on gsl(at)4wp.org.uk or through the section leader. 70th Anniversary Fun DayLetters have now been distributed inviting boys to this event. If you would like your son to attend please ensure he sends in the return slip by the closing date of 8th June. The event is being held on Sunday 13th July from 11.00 to 18.00. The event will start with a Scouts' Own followed by a number of organised activities for all ages run by the sections. Lunch will be provided. There will be no charge for the boys but they will need to reserve a place. ASPEN COLONYAnne Mays (MAYO) Carol Salter (HOLLY)Owing to the Easter break and Bank Holiday, we have only had two meetings since our last report. On our first meeting after Easter we had a belated pancake making evening (it was originally planned for the day before Pancake Day, but had to be postponed and the boys kept asking when they were going to make pancakes!). With help from Holly and Tom they made a pancake each and then had a choice of jam, lemon and sugar or chocolate sauce to smother it with. Some decided to try all three together and then found they didn't like it with such an assortment. We then had a cycling skills evening. This was organised by Peter Fordham who runs a Cycling Club for children. The competition involved weaving in and out of bollards and underneath three limbo poles. Mathew Bowers, Mathew Ryan and Jason Keehn achieved the best times. BIRCH COLONYAnne Richardson (MAPLE)At the beginning of the month we made Easter baskets and for our last meeting before the Easter break we had a very enjoyable visit to Worcester Park Library. The Beavers behaved extremely well. I was a little apprehensive about the visit, as it's a small library and at that time of evening tends to have a proportion of people working in it who would understandably not be tolerant to noise disturbance. In the event the boys didn't let us down and behaved impeccably. Thanks to Mr Sharpe for helping and also to the Librarian, Debbie, who read us a story. Last week we practised fire drill and had some games. More than half the Beavers have been looking after a pet in the school holiday for their 'Animal Friends' badges and we hope to be giving them out in the next week or two. Also Aaron Wade has received his Musicians' badge. Keith came to help us invest Stuart Grigg, Daniel Lipscombe, Mark Dawson and Myles Mitchell, also Douglas Chittock (Elm) said his promise and received his scarf. I'm very pleased to say that all six of the new boys who have started with us since Christmas have gone on to be invested. We're hoping to give any boys who are interested the chance to get the IT badge with the help of Mrs Wade in the next month of two. We said 'goodbye' to Edward White at the last Scouts' Own and wish him luck in Brownsea Pack. I'm sorry to say not may boys turned up to say goodbye to Edward, and Sheila and I were feeling very lonely at the 'Promise Renewal' when we thought Edward Yelf was going to be the only one of our Beavers there. Fortunately Mrs Poles arrived in the nick of time with Thomas and William, so we didn't feel quite so silly, but where was everyone else? Thank you to those who did come and let's hope we do better next time! CEDAR COLONYValerie Clarkson (CHIPMUNK)Many, many congratulations to our Cedar Treasurer, Alison Thomas - Jack's mother - on the safe and eventual arrival of baby Amy who came large and late and very much awaited. Well done!! Only three weeks to write up on. Firstly thank you so much to William Eyre's mother who will be helping out this term. We planned the programme then threw her in at the deep end, yes it all changed. We made Henry Hutton a BIG 'get well' card with all the boys drawing a picture and we sent the card and Benny Beaver into hospital to Henry, who is now out and making steady progress. On the same evening we tried some Sri Lankan food made for us by Lakshman's mother - thank you! The next Friday I brought home two men from work, Graham Dyke and John Paul Adams, who played three goal football in the field with the boys: then they had a few games of hide and seek. The last Friday we had a 'High Tea' party; food made, cut, buttered and served by the boys. William's mother's name, now that she is helping and with us is 'Badger.' Get well soon Henry and look after yourself Jo 'Otter' Hutton. ANGLIA PACKBrenda Hunt (AKELA)No news item this month. BROWNSEA PACKLes Prescott (KERICK)Just before Easter we had an evening devoted to the theme of chocolate - a very popular theme! This involved Easter egg tasting and then we had the hunt for the eggs. On our first meeting back after the Easter break we delivered Jumble Sale notices and caught up with some test work and the following week we had a training session about care of tents and pitched some on the field. This was in preparation for our weekend camp held on 10th and 11th May. The camp went very well indeed and the Cubs who attended had a brilliant time. We camped at Park Farm campsite near Banstead and our programme revolved around "I'm in a Cub Six - Get me out of here". The sixes were Ant and Dec and after putting up our tents we went on a trek through the jungle over Colley Hill with test questions on the route. This was followed by cooking our tea over open fires, a good old singsong around the campfire and a night walk - again through dense jungle (Banstead Woods). In the morning (after an inspection) we had to lay and follow trails through the woods as our forfeit and then we ventured onto an obstacle course (thanks to Michael and Ben). In the afternoon we took our tents down and at the closing ceremony discovered that Ant Six had won - Dec Six had to go back to the hotel... well actually we all had to go home as it had started to rain. Well done to all the Cubs who attended and thanks to the helpers - Sally, John, Hazel, Ben and Michael. Congratulations to former helper Dawn Casali and husband Andy on the birth of Isla Luisa on 1st May. Reminder: Sunday 27th July to Friday 1st August Summer Camp - details will be issued soon. CHARTERHOUSE PACKMargaret Pennington (AKELA)I am really, really sorry that I missed the deadline for last month. My excuse is I fitted in a holiday with my family and although I know it's a bit feeble, it's the only one I have (you can suggest sheer incompetence, but that would be small-minded - go for generosity!). Throughout March the Cubs worked towards various badges. The Local Knowledge Badge, which replaces the Local Historian, was led by Kim (Peter) and Baloo (Fred) - everyone now knows the history of their own road and, as a bonus, addresses and phone numbers had to be learnt. The Home Help Badge had Marion and Peter up to their elbows in soapsuds while the boys learnt how to safely help at home. I hope they have all kept this up! Rama (Kay) helped Cubs understand safety on the roads and some interesting posters were produced. Sue and Bagheera (Ian) worked hard instilling into some Cubs the basic requirements of first aid. If I do collapse and there are no adults around then I would be happy that they know how to help me. No, on second thoughts, I think that they would be before the adults as my first choice. I have seen how some 'first aiders' react; the boys are much more sensible. Lastly, but most importantly we had Brenda teaching the cooks who chased around after me to ply me with tea and goodies. They were excellent. Everyone agreed all the boys worked very hard and deserved their badges. We had no outings with the boys but the adults had a very busy time. We all attended a course on disruptive behaviour and how to manage it. On my honour I tell you that the adults in our section are not disruptive, they all behaved beautifully throughout the course. Then under Fred's management we all turned out to help him run a really excellent Race Nite, which raised lots of money for the Group - well-done Fred! At the end of the month, we all turned out again to attend an Adult Skills days arranged by the County. We had excellent weather and learnt lots of things to pass on to the boys. The following day was the Group's Scouts' Own. Well done to the boys who attended; it was definitely worth it and well done to the Leaders, who were quite weary but made the effort anyway. April was a quiet month by comparison with two weeks holiday in the middle. We still managed to field a very good, smart turnout for the Promise Renewal. We were all very proud of the boys marching up to the arena. Richard Moverley deserves a mention as he stood proudly and spoke our law clearly - a definite tear to the eye moment. As the weather turned nice the following Wednesday at 6.15pm, the indoor egg hunt became a massive outdoor egg hunt down in the field before we had our Easter break. The quiz night was very good (who took my teams share of the prizes?). We certainly enjoyed it. Next month, if we get our report in, you will hear about the Sixers and Seconders Camp organised by the District and our own very early Summer Camp. If I miss that deadline there's always the month after! PURPLE TROOPAlan Avery (Scout Leader)We did route cards, in preparations for Mountain Camp. Together with the Explorers, the trip went very well and a lot was achieved. We climbed Tryfan, a 3000ft scrambling mountain, climbed Snowdon and got soaked, went indoor rock climbing on 40ft pitches and went over to Anglesea and went up a lighthouse. The place we stayed in was an old cotton mill by a river - whenever anyone was at a loose end they played by the river - guess how many got soaked!!! My thanks to Roland Smith for saving the day at the last minute as I was without help - he was extremely helpful. We did our usual collection of rare trinkets for the Jumble Sale. We did a Masterchef when some rare delicacies were cooked, and then kindly sampled by Margaret Pennington. Unfortunately I have had to defer Summer Camp, as when the cost of getting van and trailer to Guernsey costs £1026 I need definite numbers. Everyone has known verbally and via the Newsletter for a long while and I couldn't dilly-dally, as the boat needed booking. Instead we are going away 27-31 August to Torquay for a slightly shorter but much cheaper camp. I shall want definite numbers in good time. SILVER TROOPPaul Green (Scout Leader)No news item this month. EXPLORER UNITAlan Avery (Explorer Scout Leader)Thank you those lads that assisted at the Work Morning - a special thanks to Ben, Daniel and Gary Heron who stayed till 7.30 in the evening - a remarkable amount of pruning, felling and clearing was done. Some lads attended the Mountain Camp in North Wales. The details of which are in Purple Troop's Newsletter. Several lads ran a Rock Evening, which was very successful and raised over £70 for the Group. Someone came down who trains the Police in self defence, to try and train the Explorers - things were learnt which in this day and age could come in useful. I did an evening on behavioural problems with teenagers, which ended up in quite a health debate! We had a video evening using the Group's new projector connected with the HiFi! Magnificent! PARENTS & FRIENDSRichard Marston (Chairman)How are we doing?Up to and including the Book Sale our total profit for the year is now around £2,500. This leaves us roughly in line with the budget forecast for this point in the year. As you will have heard at Scouts Own, and seen in previous copies of 4th News, the Bingo evening planned for April had to be cancelled, as nobody was willing to run it. A short-term solution was to bring the June Quiz forward to fill the gap. The Bingo is now scheduled for June but at the time of writing it looks likely to be cancelled and any income from it lost. If there is a decline in the number of profit-making events we run the Group will need to reduce its budgeted income from the Parents and Friends. Consequently it will be forced to take steps such as reducing expenditure on your children's facilities or increasing subscriptions to cover the shortfall. Recent EventsQuiz Night Sat 12th April. There was a good turnout again for this popular event. Thanks to Graham and his team for running the event and adding almost £200 to funds in the process. Book Sale Mon 5th May, Cheam Park. A large number of books from our book mountain were sold and £50 profit made. Thanks to those that helped before, during and after the event, I know carrying books is heavy work. Jumble Sales Sat 10th &17th May, 14.30. Coming SoonBingo Sat 14th June 20:00. This event may be cancelled if we are unable to find someone to manage it. See above. Summer Fete Sat 5th July. Still a long way off but planning and work has already started. Large numbers of helpers are always required so please contact us as shown below or at fete(at)4wp.org.uk Internet www.4wp.org.uk.Don't forget you can help Group fund raising by using the shopping links on the site. CDs, DVDs, books, wine, flights etc. all at competitive prices and they all provide money for the Group at no extra cost to you. We are still receiving some income via the website but the number of people buying this way is fairly small. It would be useful to get some feedback on why you do, or don't use the shopping links on the site. Personally I have come up with some excellent bargains including cheap British Airways flights from Opodo and half-price wine from Tesco. Please note these Tesco wine offers are only available via the Internet. Comments or suggestions?The Parent and Friends section of the Group is running events with the aim of providing enjoyment while raising vital funds for the Group. Please let me have your comments and suggestions about the Parents and Friends section and the events it runs. Your views enable the Parents and Friends Committee to schedule events you want to attend, and improve existing events. Please contact me via p-and-f(at)4wp.org.uk or by telephone on 020 8337 2641. FELLOWSHIPGraham SmithThe Fellowship was well represented at the Work Morning on Sunday 14th April and much clearing up was completed as well as preparation being made for a further clearance of what has been called by one senior member of the Fellowship, 'Steptoe's Yard!' One or two members had attended the Quiz Night on the previous evening, Saturday 13th, and again it proved to be a very enjoyable event with an excellent quality of prizes. Our April meeting was held on the 24th and was extremely well attended, the Den being about full to capacity. Recent events in which members of the Fellowship had been involved were reviewed and we discussed our participation in forthcoming events - Jumble Sales on the 10th and 17th May; the catering arrangements for the Group AGM on the 8th June; the Summer Fete on the 5th July and, briefly, the Fun Day on the 13th July. Under AOB the format of the new Membership Cards was discussed and finalised. These should therefore be ready for distribution very shortly. Our Treasurer, Alan, asked those members who had not yet paid their subs if they would perhaps now like to do so, whilst John Green confirmed that both dates suggested for a visit to the Hindu Temple at Neasden were acceptable and therefore the actual date and numbers wishing to go would be finalised a little later in the year. Ron Kinton suggested that a visit to Gilwell Park might be of interest to members and this was thought to be a good idea. This was to be looked in to. With the business of the evening completed, we adjourned to the Hall to listen to Gary Heron telling us about his experiences at the World Jamboree in Thailand. It was an extremely well presented talk, supported both by slides being projected through the Group's new multi-media projector, as well as by a remarkable collection of scouting badges representing dozens of different countries. We congratulated Gary on his presentation and thanked him for sharing his experiences with us. Our next meeting is on the 29th May when Shirley and Peter Cornish will tell us about the project in which they participated in Namibia, whilst we venture outside for our June meeting, on the 26th with a walk around Cheam conducted by Ron Kinton. The evening of Saturday 26th April, was the occasion of the St George's Day Supper and once again there was first-rate representation from the Fellowship. Carol Salter and Anne Mays provided an excellent supper, whilst Val Clarkson provided the delicious sweets. A most enjoyable evening was had by all - even taking into account the fact that we almost had to work for our supper in answering the quiz questions set by GSL Keith! In closing these notes all Fellowship members congratulate Keith on the well-deserved award of the Silver Acorn, which will be presented to him some time in the near future.
Information for June 2003 Newsletter to be with Keith Daly by Monday 12th May
This page was last updated on 12 July 2003 |