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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, June 2004
Sections
Keith Daly
GROUP SCOUT LEADER
Group AGM
This year's Group AGM is to be held on Sunday 13th June at 12 noon.
All Parents are encouraged to attend, listen to what has been happening over the
past year, what will be happening over the next year and have your say about the
way the Group is run. There will be a barbecue afterwards for those attending
the AGM and their families.
New Minibus
Those of you who have cause to visit the HQ will have noticed that the Group
has purchased a new (to us) minibus. The new minibus is an LDV Convoy with a
high roof which will make it more comfortable for the taller amongst us. It will
replace the blue transit which has done us proud but has come to the end of its
days. We are also considering changing the other minibus as and when funds
allow.
The minibus has cost the Group £6000, the bulk of which has been raised by the
Parents and Friends Committee and I ask that all parents support the fund
raising activities run by the committee. The major fund raising event is of
course the annual Summer Fete which takes place this year on 3rd July. It is
well-organised and great fun for all, so do come along. If you would like to
help the P & F Committee would love to hear from you. (See the P & F
report later in the newsletter.)
St George's Parade and Promise Renewal
My thanks to all those boys and leaders who turned out for the annual St
George's Parade and Promise renewal Service. The Parade walked form St Dunstan's
School Cheam to Cheam High School where the service was held. The attendance
from the 4h Worcester Park was quite good with some sections doing very well but
overall there was only about a 50% attendance. Where were the rest?
The weather was very kind to us but I am afraid the organisation left a
little to be desired. My apologies to any parents who had to wait longer than
expected to collect their sons.
My thanks to the Group Fellowship who acted as stewards at Cheam High School and
did an excellent job in quite difficult circumstances.
The District
In line with what has been happening elsewhere in the Greater London South
West Scout County it has been decided that our Scout District, Sutton and Cheam,
will be merged with Wallington & Carshalton to form one borough wide
District. The projected date for the merge is first quarter 2005.
This change is largely administrative and will not noticeably affect the boys in
the Group. They will still be in the 4h Worcester Park but will have a different
District badge. The full details of the change have still to be worked out.
ASPEN COLONY
Anne Mays (MAYO), Carol Salter (HOLLY)
We spent a couple of weeks in April getting ready for St George's Day - one
week all the boys made St George's flags to carry at the parade and the next
they drew pictures of dragons, swords etc to decorate our board ready for the St
George's Day Supper. There was a quite good turnout for the St George's Day
Parade and the boys who came took it in turns to carry the Beaver flag. We have
made Easter nests, planted cress and also had a search in the field to see how
many different things the boys could find and put in their plastic containers.
Mayo and Holly spent half an hour or so outside Dorchester Primary giving out
leaflets about the Group to parents with children who might be interested in
joining Beavers or Cubs and since then four boys have joined us from Dorchester
and two were brought along by other Beavers, earning Oliver Newton and Elliot
Todd and Max Burton the Buddy Badge. With a few more that have been on the
waiting list we have now taken in nine boys so welcome to Luke Adams, Reece
Deacon, Connor Duncan, Gavin Eade, James Mason, Henry Mullins, Jack Newton, Andy
Villabona and Matthew Wall. Welcome to Aspen, we hope you enjoy your time with
us.
BIRCH COLONY
Anne Richardson (MAPLE)
Only two meetings this month because of the Easter holidays. Sarah, Mrs
Cooney and Mr Marshall ran the first meeting as Sheila and I were both away. The
boys made St George's flags for the Promise Renewal, and played games. Many
thanks to all the parents for stepping in that evening, and also to Keith Daly
for helping out. Last week we planted some sunflower seeds and measured the boys
again to see how much they'd grown since the beginning of term. I'm glad to say
that they've all grown, but not as much as we expect the sunflowers to!
Only six boys for the St George's Day Parade, but at least the sun shone.
CEDAR COLONY
Anne Price
With the Easter break, April has been a quiet month. We prepared for the
Promise Renewal by talking about St George's day and making flags for the
Parade. Well done to all who attended on the day. We have also made marzipan
animals this month and handed out several more animal friend badges.
Unfortunately, we will be looking for a new leader for the Colony from September
as I am due to have a baby in October. If anyone is interested in finding out
more about the role, please contact me.
ANGLIA PACK
Brenda Hunt (AKELA)
No news this month.
BROWNSEA PACK
Les Prescott (KERICK)
We had a really successful weekend training camp at the Park Farm campsite
adjoining Banstead Woods. The weather wasn't too good, but we managed to dodge
the rain for much of the weekend, but couldn't avoid the mud! The Cubs pitched
their tents when they arrived, then had a packed lunch before going on a nature
walk along the North Downs at Colley Hill. Returning to camp, the Cubs cooked
their own turkey burgers over open fires (which took some lighting in the wet!)
After some field games, we had a campfire with favourite songs followed by a
night walk through the woods.
On Sunday, we had more games run by Harry and Daniel and went on an assault
course built by Ben and Michael and a blindfold string trail as well. After
lunch it was time to take the tents down and return home. Congratulations to
Saturn Six (Sixer: William Jackson) on winning the points competition, followed
very closely by Jupiter (Sixer: Joss Newman) and Mars (Sixer: Grant Hamilton).
Thanks very much to the leader team, particularly Sally for organising the
catering and much more and John for his help in many ways. We also had help from
former leaders Hazel and Dawn - thanks.
As a consequence of the camp the following Cubs gained their Nights Away Award
Stage 1: Rhys Mohr, Elliot Williams, Ben Purahoo, William Eyre, Joseph Finn,
Jamie Smart and Brynmor Chittock. Congratulations also to William Jackson on
gaining his Outdoor Challenge.
During May we invested Ben Purahoo as a Cub, and we also said goodbye to Grant
Hamilton who went up to Silver Troop at the Scouts' Own. Grant had gained the
Chief Scout's Silver Award and his Moving On Award. We wish Grant "Happy
Scouting".
I was delighted that we had almost 100% attendance at the District St George's
Day Promise Renewal event. The spectacle of the quarter-mile long parade walking
down Malden Road in Cheam was an amazing sight! Our programme since the last
newsletter has included an evening practising tent pitching, delivering Jumble
Sale notices and an evening run by the Explorers where we were able to use their
aerial runway. Thanks to Alan Avery for this.
Dates for your Diary:
- 25th to 30th July - Summer Camp - details shortly
CHARTERHOUSE PACK
Margaret Pennington (AKELA)
April was a very short month with the school holidays taking up so much time;
we did however manage three meetings which were taken up by having lots of fun
and getting ready for Camp.
The Promise Renewal while not well attended was an interesting event - my thanks
to all those who did appear and also to those who did let me know they were
unable to attend - only one boy did not have a very good reason for
non-attendance.
As we were all applying for our nights' away permits - Kay ran Charterhouse
Family Camp which took place at Walton Firs Campsite near Cobham. Saturday
morning was a bit dull but not cold as boys arrived with their parents in tow.
Tents were quickly put up and parents were amazingly enthusiastic enquiring what
other jobs needed doing; they were promptly told!
Two teams competed throughout the weekend (and what a fierce battle that was),
Climbing, abseiling, archery, orienteering, skittles, the adventure course, the
maze, sports, fire lighting (and cooking lunch on it), washing-up and general
cleaning and tidying! That was all during the hours of daylight.
The dark hours were taken up with a campfire and wide games - a blindfold
obstacle course (where you really do have to trust your sighted guide who is
some distance away) and another searching through the woods with torches finding
treasure. Most of the above were undertaken with enthusiasm and inter-team
rivalry was vocal (you had to be there)!
After a quick wash the boys were encouraged to go to bed and really didn't take
long before they were sound asleep. Parents and leaders sat soberly around
discussing global warming and other important topics (well something like that).
All of us had some sleep during an exciting weekend - it didn't snow but we had
all types of other British weather - glorious sunshine (sunscreen and big hats)
- torrential rain (wet weather coats and boots). Throughout it all boys, parents
and leaders stayed amazingly cheerful and one of my abiding memories with many
excellent to choose from, has got to be in torrential rain with waterfalls
cascading down tents and bodies, everyone got on packing up tents, transferring
everything through the mud carefully to the van and not racing down to the car
park once personal kit was packed and escaping to a nice warm dry place.
From a weekend of many firsts - Kay's first camp which she ran, as a first
family camp where we had parents and boys who were first time campers - an
excellent weekend very well run - there is real hope for the future.
Last Wednesday the Explorers kindly allowed the boys to use the zip wire which
they had set up. Thank you all, great fun had by all.
PURPLE TROOP
Alan Avery (Scout Leader)
During the month we learned to use axes and saws, put up various hike tents
and collected jumble. It was remarkable that a new and modern style hike tent
weighed 1/7th of the tents used by the Explorer Unit on the 4-day expedition!
Well done the four lads that turned up to the St George's Day Parade - a note
has been given you regarding Scouts' Own attendance.
I was pleased to take 31 people to North Wales. Everyone seemed to be buzzing
and during the course of the 6 days we did a navigational hike from Aberfalls (a
huge waterfall), indoor rock-climbing on Anglesey, mountain biking and climbing
Moel Siabod, Tryfan and Snowdon. The ascent of Snowdon drew home to everyone how
you should be prepared for bad weather on the mountains. The wind really knocked
us around and I fell 25ft bouncing off a rock - yes we had 1st Aid Kits and
there weren't even any bruises but you always have to " Be Prepared ".
My thanks go to Jo Blackwell for yet again catering, to Roland for excellent and
sensible adult help and in particular Sarah Tomlin and Julian Caulder - both
parents - for driving the minibus - without them around 12 boys would have
missed out.
SILVER TROOP
Paul Green (Scout Leader)
Firstly, my apologies for the lack of a news item last month (I wrote it but
forgot to send it to Keith….)
During the cold wet nights of February and March we have been concentrating on
the various Scout progress badges and the boys have been thinking about what
activity badges they would like to work towards.
At the beginning of March we spent an evening at Sutton Fire station where the
staff covered all aspects of basic fire prevention and safety. This allowed all
boys that attended to gain their fire fighters badge.
April saw the end of term break and several of the Silver Troop boys went on the
Mountain camp in Wales. I believe they had a very good time and thanks go to
Alan Avery for once again organising and running the event.
The following badges have recently been awarded: -
Sean Ryan Expedition challenge
William Howford Expedition challenge
Tom Newman Stage 5 Swimmer
The next few weeks will see us preparing boys and equipment for summer camp
(only 3 weeks away at the time of writing). This will include checking patrol
box kit, training the boys to safely light and use Tilley lamps and practicing
pitching and striking a patrol tent.
We also have the water weekend to look forward to for those boys who wish to go.
This is always a good weekend. It is held on the Thames between Kingston and
Richmond and allows the boys to have a go at various water activities including
sailing, canoeing, dragon boat racing and raft building.
EXPLORER UNIT
Alan Avery (Explorer Scout Leader)
During the last few weeks we assisted Charterhouse delivering Jumble leaflets
and put up an aerial runway which the Unit has helped various sections have a go
on it.
Leigh ran a challenge evening and the Rangers visited and ran an ice-breaking
evening. We had a fine display of Explorers at the St George's Day Parade and
being District based we were the only Unit there except for one other Explorer.
We catered for the St George's Day Supper which we decided would be a carvery.
You lads put great effort into it and we greatly appreciate Margaret
Pennington's efforts in assisting us. Nine of the Unit went on Mountain Camp -
report in Purple news.
PARENTS & FRIENDS
Richard Marston (Chairman)
Family Quiz Night
A successful return of this popular event. Even though this was not a
fund-raising event the 60+ attendees managed to generate a profit of over £60.
Thanks to Graham for organising and running the event and to Mandy for preparing
the prizes. Judging from the comments of those attending it looks like we will
be running another quiz when time and resource allows.
Summer Fete Sat 3rd July
The Group's largest event of the year and our most important financially, is
it in your diary? Work is already underway so please contact us if you can help
with the preparations. As always, we also need a large number of helpers during
the days leading up to the Fete and more to build, run and take down stalls on
the day. We would also appreciate donations of items that would be suitable for
use as prizes.
The site continues to be updated on a regular basis so that it provides a
reliable source of information about the Group.
The number of items bought via the shopping section is growing slowly but
steadily. Interestingly trade via Amazon far outweighs the items bought from all
the other suppliers.
To help improve communication within the Group please make sure you have
registered your email address via the 'Email' page on the web site.
Parent Representatives
We are aiming to have a nominated parent representative for each
section in the Group to improve communication between the sections and the
Parents and Friends committee.
Parents, please identify your section's representative and let them have your
comments and suggestions. If your section does not have a representative yet,
please talk to your child's leader in order to put forward your best candidate.
How are we doing?
Although the start of Fete preparation has made it a busy month for the
Parents and Friends' committee members we only ran one, 'non-profit', event
during April. As this made a profit of £60 our total income for the year now
stands at just over £2,800 with £2,000 already handed over to the Group.
Contact
As usual, I am pleased to receive any comments, suggestions and offers of
help by email to "p and f" at "4wp.org.uk" or by telephone
on 020 8337 2641.
FELLOWSHIP
Graham Smith
There was an extremely good attendance at our April meeting on the 29th, the
attraction to some extent, surely being the opportunity to look at a selection
of 4th Worcester Park archives at the conclusion of the business part of the
evening arranged by Peter Kinton. It was a great pleasure to welcome back Jack
and Molly Grey following Jack's recent spell in hospital.
John Green, reporting on the last Group Executive meeting, brought us up to date
on the Group's vehicle situation which included information on the recently
purchased minibus.
In referring to recent Group events those Fellowship members who attended the
Racenite had a very enjoyable evening, a few even achieving a slight profit on
the evening, whilst the St George's Day supper again proved to be an excellent
event with the meal provided being of a very high standard, as were the
"waiting staff".
Some Fellowship members acted as Marshals at the Promise Renewal, this year
taking place for the first time at Cheam High School. Whilst there was a good
turnout of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the Groups in the District, it was felt
that the organisation left a lot to be desired. However, we as marshals carried
out what was required of us without a problem. The District Commissioner,
through Dave Sweetland, thanked us for our involvement.
Earlier in the month there was a reasonable turnout for the work morning and the
Scouts' Own.
Turning to forthcoming events, the two jumble sales in May were imminent
followed by the Scouts' Own on the 16th May and the Work Morning on the 23rd. A
reminder also that our next meeting takes the form of a visit to Gilwell on the
10th June, this replacing our end of May meeting. This is to be followed by a
Boules evening on the field at 7.30 on the 24th June.
With the business completed we moved into the Apeldoorn to look at the
Archives. Immense interest was shown in all that Peter had selected which
included items from the earliest days of the Group through all the intervening
years to the Chief Scout's visit last year. Many were the comments - "Who's
that?", "Do you remember him?", "I that really
so-and-so?" It was a fascinating walk down memory lane for all those many
Fellowship members who attended and our grateful thanks go to Peter Kinton for
planning such an interesting evening.
Information for July 2004 Newsletter to be with Keith Daly by
Monday 7th June
This page was last updated on 01 July 2004
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