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This page provides access to current and past copies of the the monthly newsletter of the 4th Worcester Park Scout Group plus other reports relating to life at the 4th. The Friends of the Fourth page has copies of their own section's newsletter. 4th News, March 2004Sections
Keith DalyGROUP SCOUT LEADERCensusEvery January the Group has to submit returns to Scout Headquarters of the number of members it has. This enables us to keep a check on the ups and downs in the Group. The total membership is down slightly on last year with surprisingly the biggest drop being in the Cub section. The good news is that the number of Scouts has risen for the second year running. Given that the age range of the Scouts has reduced, this a remarkable effort. Congratulations to leaders in the Scout Section who are obviously doing something right. Despite the drop in numbers the Group membership still totalled 232 which means we are faced with a bill of some £4700 for membership fees to Scout Headquarters. This is not an insignificant sum of money and takes some raising. Please support the Group's fundraising efforts. Scouts' OwnI was very disappointed with the overall turnout for the last Scouts' Own on 1st February. Scouts' Own services are run six times a year on dates published well ahead in the Group Calendar and all boys are expected to attend. It is considered part and parcel of membership of the Group. Older boys in the Group may well need some encouragement from parents to attend and I ask parents to provide this encouragement. Younger boys generally are happy to attend providing parents do not put obstacles in their way by making alternative arrangements on the day. Please allow your son to participate fully in the Group by attending these events. The next Scouts' Own is on 28th March 2004 and I look forward to a much better attendance. PianoThose of you who were at Scouts' Own will have noticed a distinct improvement in the quality of the musical accompaniment. This was due to the new electric piano that the Group has purchased after years of struggling with second hand pianos. It is a considerable investment which has already shown its value. My thanks to the Group Executive for agreeing to this purchase and to Neal Oxley and Patrick Jacobs for surveying the market and arranging the purchase. ASPEN COLONYAnne Mays (MAYO), Carol Salter (HOLLY)We started back at Beavers on 12th January and already it seems that we have been back for ages. We have been so busy already. I was not here the first week back but thankfully Fred stepped in to help Holly. We made some lovely cakes but I don't think many of them got home, as soon as they were taken from the oven they were eaten! Harry King has now received his scarf and we hope he will be very happy with us. Holly has had a week's holiday and again we called on Fred. Only this time we enlisted the help of Alan Avery the Scout Leader of Purple Troop and we organised a personal challenge for the boys. They had to tie shoe laces and learn to tie two knots - as you can imagine it was no mean feat trying to get all the boys to get it right on their own. After showing them about 100 times finally they all managed the task and so another badge is on its way to be sewn on their sweatshirts! We really did have a good evening and I would like to thank Alan and Fred and of course Tom and Philip. We need a parent to be on the Parents and Friends Committee so they can relate the function details to us and the help that will be required. It is almost impossible to run a section and keep abreast of what is needed. They meet once a month so if anyone can possibly be our representative we would be very grateful. We would also like to say well done to Silver Troop for their very informative presentation about Lord Baden Powell at Scouts' Own; I think it was enjoyed by all. BIRCH COLONYAnne Richardson (MAPLE)We made a good start to the year by making bird feeders, performing our Twelve Days of Christmas for the parents and having a beetle drive. The Beavers greatly enjoyed the Christmas Pantomime and are looking forward to the trip to the cinema next month. We were pleased to invest Adam this month and hope he will enjoy his time with us. Introducing him to the Beavers enabled Miles Mitchell to gain his Buddy Badge. Brynmor Chittock has left us to join Brownsea Pack; we shall miss him but are sure he will enjoy being a Cub. CEDAR COLONYAnne PriceJanuary saw me take over officially as the Leader and I would like to thank Valerie for her handover and all the helpers for their continuing support. Please bear with me as I learn the role and everybody's names! Many thanks also to Daniel Robert's dad, Chris, who is now helping out on a regular basis. We began this year with two new starters, so welcome to Liam Richards and Callum Jones. At Scouts' Own we said farewell to Toby Merritt who has moved up to Charterhouse Pack, and Jamie Smart who has moved up to Brownsea Pack. Congratulations must also go to Ben Purahoo and Jack Thomas for achieving their Bronze awards this month. Activities this month began with name games and making name plates and craft activities with string. We had a visit from Ed Spevock, a Professional drummer and percussionist, who enthralled everybody with his demonstration of his drum kit and bravely split the group into four sections playing different percussion rhythms all at the same time!! We have started a Space theme learning about the planets and the order they are from the sun. A look at the moon and planets through a telescope was unfortunately postponed due to rain. There was a good turnout for the District Panto and a very enjoyable and noisy time was had by all. ANGLIA PACKBrenda Hunt (AKELA)For our first meeting of the New Year we took the boys to Richmond Theatre to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A really good show and thoroughly enjoyed by us all. We spent one evening playing board games generally and chess games in particular, in order to select two boys to represent our pack at the District Chess Competition. Good luck to Scott Adams and Harry Sneath. Another evening was spent delivering jumble notices. Jack Martin and Ashley Batten both went up to Scouts. We wish them good luck and I'm sure they will make good Scouts. BROWNSEA PACKLes Prescott (KERICK)We kicked off our 2004 programme with an evening of games masterminded by Michael who also trained each six in handball at our following meeting. We rotated this activity with learning knots and also mapping and compass work. We also started work on the Home Help badge and at a Pack meeting each Cub ironed a scarf, laid table for dinner, cleaned windows and sewed on buttons. We hope every Cub is also undertaking chores at home which will earn them the badge. More news on this next month. We delivered Jumble Sale notices one evening in the snow, followed by more games, concluding with the investiture ceremony for Rhys Mohr and Jamie Smart. We welcome both boys into the Pack and wish them Happy Cubbing!
Congratulations to the following Cubs on gaining badges:
Dates for your diary:
CHARTERHOUSE PACKMargaret Pennington (AKELA)No news this month. PURPLE TROOPAlan Avery (Scout Leader)
I was very concerned to see only 4 lads at the Scouts Own - have we forgotten the Scout Promise says about "Duty to God".? We did Clockface orienteering - I think a few people lost their bearings. With the loss of the P/L's to the Explorer Unit the new Patrol Leaders are Nic Tomlin, Phillip Thorne, Jack Chasty and Graham Richardson. We did a couple of bursts on woggle making with a possible view to lads making their own woggles - a bit more practise is needed! Mountain Camp 13th - 18th April - applications are coming in and I will give everyone an equipment list in due course. SILVER TROOPPaul Green (Scout Leader)We started the year off easily with a games evening including a mini assault course followed by some programme planning for the rest for the term. The following week saw the boys practicing their handball skills. Handball is a traditional sport for the 4th Worcester Park and we used to regularly win the county championship. Recently however, this hasn't happened so we are keen this year to get a crack team together and regain our crown. Other activities during the month have included preparation for Scouts' Own (run by Silver troop) and a meeting run by the boys themselves. They were responsible for planning and occupying their complete evening. Apart from the predictable computer games we also saw a number of board games, some skateboard instruction and one patrol cooking a meal for the leaders. EXPLORER UNITAlan Avery (Explorer Scout Leader)We had the pleasure of the Sutton Rangers when we did Clockface Orienteering and a talk by myself on puppy breeding as I had a certain red setter with me. We went Ice Skating at Spectrum - no major bruising! We spent an evening doing an exercise in pairs costing our trip to hopefully the Czech Republic. On the information I gave the costings all were quite consistent. Please note the dates are 6th - 22nd August. PARENTS & FRIENDSRichard Marston (Chairman)Recent Events - Christmas BazaarJumble Sale This was our first fund raising event of the year and thankfully provided a very successful start. There was a lot of good quality stock, enough helpers and, equally important, people to buy it. Thanks for your help in providing, selling or buying the goods. Coming SoonGrand Auction, Sat 6th March - Always popular with over 300 lots to bid for, so come down and pick up a bargain. Please contact us if you are able to help for all or part of the afternoon. Ladies Pamper Evening, Thursday 18th March 8 pm 'til 10 pm - A fun evening of pampering for all ladies from a massage, to demonstrations on colours and a few Easter treats thrown in. An Easter cosmetics tombola, glass of wine and a few nibbles. Bring a friend or two. £5 per lady, tickets available from 23rd February. Any queries contact Mandy on 8337 0863. Keep a look out for the posters as tickets will be limited and there is already a lot of interest (from the ladies, the gents are just feeling left out!). Book Sale Sat 20th March 2.30pm - Come and find a good book to read - lots to choose from - hardbacks and paperbacks - something for everyone! Race Night Sat 27th March 7.30 pm - Have some fun without losing your shirt. Ticket numbers are limited so make sure you buy yours in advance. Internet www.4wp.org.ukThe following e-mail was received from a member of the Group: "I've never done it before, but I ordered some software via Amazon, saved my company £150+ and got it delivered in just a few days. Very impressed, and delighted that the Group got commission too!" The rates of commission we receive vary with the company and the goods purchased but in this case the Group gained £4.00! There are plenty of top suppliers to choose from so have a look at our shopping page. STOP PRESS We have negotiated a deal on new cars and vans which will give the Group £50 for each new vehicle sold. The offer is provided by a Peugeot main dealer but all makes can be supplied. Buy a fleet for your company and the P&F can have a year off! How are we doing?Following the Jumble sale we have now raised around £500 towards our target of £8,500 for 2004. We have along way to go, and a lot of work will be needed to get there, but with all of you helping we will get there! ContactAs usual, I am pleased to receive any comments, suggestions and offers of help by e-mail to "p and f" at "4wp.org.uk" or by telephone on 020 8337 2641. FELLOWSHIPGraham SmithWith January being a quiet month as far as Group activities are concerned, the only Fellowship event I have to report on is the Annual Dinner held on the 29th January, once again at the Kingswood Arms. But what was so hard to believe was that having had to that date such a mild winter, the day we had chosen for the dinner proved to be almost, but not quite, as icy and snowy as on the same event last year held on the last Thursday in January. Thirty four members of the Fellowship (together with GSL Keith and Val and Richard and Wyn Marston - representing the P & F) sat down to the dinner in The Study and enjoyed an excellent meal from a very varied menu. Unfortunately, from our point of view, one or two regular attendees from the Fellowship were unable to be with us due to their being away on holiday in somewhat warmer climes. As with all Group social events the evening proved to be most enjoyable. Our thanks were expressed to Mary Root in her absence, for having made all the original arrangements for what again proved to be a very successful evening. Now, with January over, we have to look forward to assisting at the Jumble Sales taking place in February, a Work Morning and then the Auction in March.
Information for March 2004 Newsletter to be with Keith Daly by Monday 1st March
This page was last updated on 27 March 2004 |