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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, December 2004

Sections

 

Keith Daly

GROUP SCOUT LEADER

Walter 'Bill' Rush

I am sad to report the death, at the grand age of 95, of Bill Rush, Vice President of the Group and for many years Ground Warden.
It was during the war years that Bill assisted the Group in the management of the HQ land that had been converted to allotments. He was very active in helping to raise funds always making the event fun whatever it was. He was also a very inventive stage manager for a series of very successful Gang Shows. His sons Alan and Geoff were active members of the Group and his wife, Gladys, gave great support and in her latter years when she was badly crippled Bill gave her wonderful care. He was awarded the Bar to the Medal of Merit for his services to Scouting.
Bill was also an active member of the team from the Group engaged in the restoration of the Service Wing at Nonsuch Mansion and the horizontal mangle bears witness to his skills.
A few years ago Bill was admitted to a nursing home at Bookham near to Jenny, his daughter, herself a member of the Friends of the Fourth. A strong contingent of leaders and members of the Group Fellowship attended his funeral, which bears testimony to the regard with which he was held within the Group.

Elsie Willis
Many members and friends of the Group will wish to know that Elsie Willis, a long term supporter of the Group, died in Truro on 30th September at the age of no less than 98. Together with her late husband, Geoff, she was an active worker for the Group for over twenty years from the 'fifties' through to the 'seventies'. Her skills as a seamstress made her indispensable for many Gang Shows: on one occasion she almost single handed remade scores of costumes that had been destroyed in a fire at the headquarters just a few days before Curtain-up. She worked in many different areas of the P & F 's activities and was recognized by being awarded the coveted 'Thanks Badge', which she treasured for the remainder of her life. Two of her three sons, Christopher and Graham, were active in the Group from 1951 through the next two decades. Her funeral was held in Truro on 11th October 2004, and was attended by Les Prescott.

Group Scout Leader

This is my last Newsletter, as Group Scout Leader and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those many people who have supported me over the past ten and a half years. It has been a privilege and for the most part a pleasure to serve as Group Scout Leader of such a vibrant and thriving Group. I am proud of many of the things that we have achieved together over the time. I am sure the Group will continue to be successful in the future under its new Group Scout Leader, Fred Fletcher, and I wish him and the Group all the very best for the future. I would also ask that all of you reading this newsletter give Fred at least the same level of support that you gave me.

Merry Christmas

Finally may I wish all members and supporters of the Group, and their families, a very Happy Christmas.

ASPEN COLONY

Anne Mays (MAYO), Carol Salter (HOLLY)

This month has been a busy one for us, we seem to have been on the go all the time.

Tom and Philip organised a games night for us. We have been collecting conkers with our carrier bags, although some of the bags were really heavy and we ended up carrying some of the bags home. When we returned we put string through them and had a little game; I think they all enjoyed it.

A big THANK YOU to Chris Jukes who came down for the second time with a new group of Beavers to organise their computer badge for them. Most of them have now gained their computer badge so the evening was very successful.

We have been to visit the Fire Station before firework night so the boys should understand the dangers and will hopefully remain safe. They talked a lot about fires and the importance of fire alarms and how to contact the services they require in an emergency. They also learnt that all pay phones are free if you are ringing an emergency service. After that we were taken on a guided tour of the Fire Station and then the boys were allowed to use one of the hoses and climb aboard one of the fire engines and try the masks and helmets on. Some of them even had the boots and coats on but found it very restricting and had difficulty in moving a bonus for the leaders!
THANK YOU so much to Alan Avery for driving the mini bus for us and to Gavin's Dad who drove some of the Beavers in his seven seater with Holly. The evening was a great success.

We have also had an experimental badge morning in which the boys visited approximately 12 different bases to try out different experiments. It was a great success as we had roughly 112 boys down at the Group from all over Sutton and Cheam District and all the boys were given their experiment badge.
Most of the boys have been given their creative badge and their explorer badge for different tasks undertaken during our meetings. They have all worked very hard and Holly and I are both very proud of them all.

We would also like to say thank you and well done to the boys who attended the October Scouts' Own. Holly and I were unable to be there for the first time in years and Philip sat with the Beavers so thank you one and all.

BIRCH COLONY

Anne Richardson (MAPLE)

This month we've made Autumn Leaf pictures to decorate our notice board, made rice crispy cakes and had a meeting about clocks and time during which the boys made a paper plate clock.

We have been joined by Laura who's helping us out for a while as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award and is already proving to be a great asset, and also by a new boy - Joseph Start.

Our Scouts' Own on 10th October went very well, thanks to the Beavers for learning their parts so well and the parents for helping them. Special thanks to Keith for stepping in as our speaker, and to Mr and Mrs Marshall and Sarah Yelf for their help on the day. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

Michael Cooney, William Singer and Thomas Sharpe have all gone up to Brownsea Pack having achieved their Chief Scout's Bronze Awards. We'll miss them and wish them well in Cubs.

CEDAR COLONY

Valerie Street (BADGER)

Cedar Colony leader is happy to report that she now has her own purple and silver scarf! Keith Daly joined us one evening and enrolled Ben Burlinson and Joshua Smart.

We have looked at how to keep fit and tried some yoga. We had great fun with a parachute and the boys made wonderful cats and mice. Before half term we made boxes, which the boys decorated with pumpkins and spiders and made sweets to go in them. The boys were very creative and produced white mice, pumpkins, very scary spiders and even rabbit droppings; all out of coloured fondant icing! We are now planning for the Christmas season.

ANGLIA PACK

Brenda Hunt (AKELA)

We spoke about the world in general and how lucky we all are, and we tried to solve some of the problems other people face.

Eight Cubs and one 'Masquerading' Cub came along to M & S in Kingston to collect for Breast Cancer Awareness. I am very proud to say the boys collected £368 in just over one hour. Many thanks to: - E. Long, J.Lockyer, M. Ryan, L. Smith (Scout), M. Chubb, J. Dukes, J. Thompson, and T. Smythe.

We had a news evening where the boys acted out their own news show - reporting live on world events and crime scenes. It was great fun.

BROWNSEA PACK

Les Prescott (KERICK)

Our assistant leaders, Ben and Michael, organised a series of evenings for us in October: Ben organised an evening of outdoor and indoor games, and Michael organised a swimming session at the Rainbow Centre at Epsom. Our helpers Harry and Daniel then organised a night wide game for us in Nonsuch Park which the Cubs really enjoyed.

We were due to take part in the District Funsplash event at Cheam Baths but owing to a misunderstanding, I had the wrong starting time. My sincere apologies to those who attended fruitlessly. We'll be organising another evening where the Cubs can take their swimmer's badge.

During the month we said "goodbye" to three Cubs - Michael Cornish and Joel Bastable who went up to Purple Troop, and Joss Newman who went up to Silver Troop. We wish them well in their Scouting. We welcomed David Nosworthy, Michael Cooney, William Singer and Thomas Sharp up from Beavers. We also welcomed Brynmor Chittock's cousin, Cameron, into the Pack. The following week, we invested David, Michael, William and Cameron as Cubs. Our sixers are now Matthew Bowers, Charlie King, Jason Keehn and Elliot Williams.

 

Some dates for your diaries:
Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th May 2005 - Weekend training camp
Sunday 24th July to Friday 29th July 2005 - Summer Camp

CHARTERHOUSE PACK

Margaret Pennington (AKELA)

No news this month.

PURPLE TROOP

Alan Avery (Scout Leader)

 

INo news this month.

SILVER TROOP

Paul Green (Scout Leader)

This month we have been busy preparing for the District 5 a side football competition in which we have entered 3 junior teams. During the last month the boys built their own assault course in the hall and completed a time challenge. I am also pleased to welcome several new boys to the Troop who were all invested at the last meeting. Some of these boys are new to the Group and have been brought along by current Scouts.
We are preparing for the Christmas Bazaar where we will again be running the chips and burger stall, please could all the Silver Troop parents be aware that we need 5 lb of chips from each boy to run the stall. A new addition from Silver Troop for the bazaar is a set of quad bikes that will be on the field for all to use, please have ago and tell us what you think so we can get them again next year.

I have now been involved in 4th Worcester Park for more than 15 years and a leader for over 3, I owe much of what I have learnt and experienced to Keith. I am very happy to have worked with Keith while he has been GSL and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his hard work and help, not just to me but the rest of leaders and scouts in Silver troop. I would like to wish Keith all the best when he retires as GSL and moves onto pastures new, he will always be welcome on Fridays at Scouts and I hope he stays in contact.
From the boys, leaders, and myself thank you and all the best Keith.

EXPLORER UNIT

Alan Avery (Explorer Scout Leader)

No news this month.

PARENTS & FRIENDS

Richard Marston (Chairman)

Coming Events

Christmas Bazaar Sat 27th November
I have included the Bazaar under coming events on the assumption you will read this before the 27th November. It is our second biggest fundraiser of the year and a large amount of help is always needed. Can you spare a few hours during the day to help run a stall? A great deal of hard work goes into the Bazaar, and it benefits the boys immensely, but it cannot be done without your help.
If you are unable to help run the Bazaar then please support the Group by bringing your family and friends to this enjoyable and reasonably priced event.
Offers of help to Mike O'Donnell on 07815 184 663 or bazaar at 4wp.org.uk

Committee

The Parents and Friends Fund Raising Committee aims to have representatives from every section within the Group. Please find out who your representative is and ask how you can get involved. If your section does not have a representative why not join us at one of our monthly meetings and make sure the voice of your section is heard. Dates are available in the Group calendar and on the Calendar page of the web site. The next meeting is on Wednesday 15th December at 20:00.

How are we doing?

With the October Jumbles slightly ahead of budget we are in a strong position to break our target of £8,500 for 2004. With plenty of support for the Firework Display, Auction and Christmas Bazaar we could also break the £10,000 barrier for the second year running. Watch this space!

Internet www.4wp.org.uk.

The web site continues to attract new members and the run up to Christmas is starting to bring in orders, and therefore commission, via the shopping page. If you haven't finished your spending yet then go shopping via our web site to obtain lower prices for you and income for the Group. We are trying to make more use of email communication within the Group, please register your details via the Email page of our web site.

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

Our October meeting was held on the 28th of the month with attendance being slightly down on our usual numbers, Panto rehearsals and the usual Thursday evening meeting of Sutton Camera Club (to which four of our members belong) being contributory factors.

The business part of the evening included a review of certain points arising from the last Group Executive Meeting including the decision to be represented at the Remembrance Day Services on Sunday 14th November.

The Group's forward programme was then discussed in which was included the very important date of Sunday 19th December, the Christmas Scouts' Own at 6.00pm when the Group's new GSL will be appointed. Equally important, but from a different angle, is the Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 27th November.

The meeting confirmed its wish to return to The Study at the Kingswood Arms for the Fellowship's Annual Dinner on the 27th January and the necessary arrangements are to be made.

Nominations are still being sought for the positions of Secretary and Treasurer and also for a newly introduced post - Vice Chairman.

The meeting recorded the sad death of Bill Rush who in his active years had been such a strong and lively supporter of the Group and the Fellowship.

Mike O'Donnell from the P & F had expressed a wish to speak to the Fellowship about arrangements for the Christmas Bazaar which he was organising this year and had therefore been invited to attend this meeting. We discussed various aspects of the event and the Fellowships' participation.

With the business of the evening concluded there followed "Have I Got News for the Fellowship" organised and presented by Peter and Marion Phillips. This proved to be a bit of a brainteaser with a quiz based on the popular TV programme adapted for our enjoyment - and enlightenment for some! Peter had done an immense amount of preparatory work and he was warmly thanked for what was an enjoyable and humorous evening.

With our November meeting on the 18th (brought forward one week because of the Christmas Bazaar) our December meeting takes the form of our traditional Christmas Eve Service in the Den at 7.30pm.

News from New Zealand

Friends might like to know that Peter and Shirley Cornish recently went to New Zealand. Whilst there they stayed with George Foreman a former Cub and Scout with the Group. George now runs a Cub Pack in Wanaka in the South Island. Their HQ is right on the lake so they do a lot of kayaking and forest camping. George is shortly going to take over the Scout section leaving the Cubs to the helpers he has brought into the Group. He says he never dreamed he would end up running a Cub Scout Pack, but he loves it.

 

 

Information for January 2005 Newsletter to be with Keith Daly by Monday 6th December

 

 

This page was last updated on 15 May 2005