February 2016
t c a t n o C n i g n i Scout
d a e h n Birke
Reading
Contact online?
www.issuu.com/birkenheadscouts
Places are limited and courses are filling up fast so early booking is recommended. Since I still do not have access to training records due to the problems with Compass, if any leaders think that they have completed all their Wood Badge training please let me know and I am happy to check over requirements with you and validate your training.
• • •
Use the slider on the left to zoom in and out. Click the arrows to turn the page. Press the outward pointing arrows on the bottom right to fill the screen.
• • •
ON YOUR MOBILE Just swipe the pages left and right. Pinch the screen to zoom in and out. TIP: Turn your device on its side to see two pages at once!
Wirral Scout and Guide Shop
Leader Training All training courses are now live on county website. The information can be found via Adult Support and Course Information.
ON A COMPUTER
We must first of all congratulate Wendy Taaffe on receiving the British Empire Medal for services to the community in Guiding in Wirral. What an achievement and a well deserved award. More items to commemorate 100 years of Cubs are now in the shop including free posters, please come to the shop to collect your poster, one per group to place in your HQ where it would be seen by the Cubs.
Hopefully it will not be too long until Compass is fully functional which will make things much easier. Vicki Coleman vicki.coleman@merseysidescouts.com
Merseyside Scouts Speak Up Liverpool Town Hall http://www.merseysidescouts.com
We are in need of help in the shop, so if any Scouter/Guider wishes to join our team of willing helpers, then please get in touch with Jane Whatling on 0151 677 4166 or email on pejawhat@aol.com
On Saturday 27th February at Liverpool Town Hall, ‘Speaking Up’ is back and is open to all Scouts, Explorer Scouts and Network members. Want to have a big influence? Come along!
3
Hello and welcome to my first edition as editor of
Contact.
Quite a few people have joked about me taking this over, with ‘you must be mad’ being said more than a few times. I like a challenge! I think that ‘Contact’ is an important part of our District and I’m really looking forward to continuing a long tradition in Birkenhead. I’d like to thank Mark Easdown for his hard work with the magazine over the past few years and also to the Pauls, Jones and Coleman for helping me during the handover. You may have noticed a change in appearance of the magazine. It is a work in progress and I welcome any feedback - good or bad!
Contact is published by
Birkenhead District Scout Council 15 Balls Road, Oxton, Wirral CH43 5RF Compiled by: Paul Ellis Tel: 07720 555885 Please email content to : SMO-MediaTeam@ birkenheadscouts.org.uk
Over the coming months I hope to introduce some new features and maybe bring back some old ones! I raided the archives at District HQ for a couple of issues from days gone by to see how things have changed over the years. I intend to take a look back through some of those editions in the near future. For now I am just concentrating on getting everything in on time and not missing anything out! For those of you who don’t know me, my main Scouting role is as leader of the Viking Explorer Unit. I left the 64th Birkenhead at the end of 2013 to help start the new Unit. I’m involved in Gang Show as Stage Crew and as the cast photographer. Or you may have seen me taking photographs on the District Challenge Weekend.
I’d like to thank those groups who have sent stories and pictures for this issue. There are plenty of groups in the District who aren’t represented here. Please send me something for the next issue. Cameras on your mobile phones now means that everyone is a photographer. In fact I’m pretty sure that every picture in this issue was taken using a mobile! So there are no excuses to not share with everyone what you are getting up to! It’s your magazine and I really want you to be in it! Having our young people producing stories and pictures can be part of our section programmes and I will be happy to publish what they send in on the Group pages.
Contents
Page 4 District Commissioner Page 6 ADC Beavers Page 7 Scout Post Page 9 ADC Cubs Page 10 Compass Update
Paul Ellis
Page 11 Bear’s Grill Page 12 Scouts Diary Page 14 Explorers Page 16 Around the District Page 18 Scout Shop
The DC’s Ramblings
Contact
February 2016
Greetings, Happy New Year and welcome to the first Contact of 2016! Also welcome to the first Contact under our new Editor, Paul Ellis! I am sure you all join me in thanking Mark Easdown for the sterling work he has done with Contact over the years, and will also join me in welcoming Paul to his new role! Contact is moving to a bi-monthly format from now on, with editions coming out in February, April, June, August, October and December. Please be aware of this when using Contact for advertising forthcoming events. The main reason for this change is to concentrate on the quality of our copies rather than the quantity! It does mean that important information which needs to be circulated between copy dates will be sent out in the form of a Contact+ email. It’s the year of a couple of Big Birthdays! Cubs are 100 years old this year and lots of amazing things are being planned, the trip to Blackpool being the first. It’s not all about big events though, I would like to see this birthday year being one where every Cub Pack in the District grows! Not just for the sake of growth but because we have fantastic programmes, because we have enthusiastic leaders but mostly because we all believe that what we do REALLY makes a difference to the lives of young people and therefore we should offer it to as many young people as we possibly can!! Beavers are celebrating their 30th birthday this year too, with an exciting programme which will also encourage growth, for the same reasons!! This year will see Birkenhead Scouts section taking part in a variety of different events and competitions, with more groups than ever attending the Challenge Camp in May. If your troop has never been then I would encourage you to find out more! An exciting programme has already been planned for the Scout Section.
Scouting in
d
Birkenhea
5
This year both of our Explorer Units will also be attending Challenge Camp, where a new competition will be introduced for them! This will be alongside their already full programmes of Camps and activities, more to come out in this and future editions of Contact! I am pleased to announce that Matt Proctor has agreed to take on the role of District Scout Network Commissioner and work towards the formation of our brand new and ‘rebooted’ District Network section. I am sure that you will all join me in wishing Matt all the very best in his new role and all those eligible should be hearing very soon about the plans for Network. Don’t forget that ALL 18 to 25yr olds in the District are now Network members. Watch this Space!! For the rest of us, 2016 will give us all the chance to take part in all of the above, to encourage the young people in our District to make the most of their time in Scouting, to experience new challenges and to grow as individuals. That’s All!! Here’s to a Great Year!! Danny Holland is standing down as ADC Cubs from the beginning of February. I would like to thank Danny for all he has achieved in the role and wish him all the best in the future. It does mean that there is a vacancy to be filled and I would like to ask if there is anyone out there who would like to be considered for the role of leading a team to support Cub Scouting in Birkenhead, then please contact me. Compass is back, more from Steve Robinson, the District Super User in this edition. Please log in as soon as your access is confirmed and check that the data contained which relates to you is correct, including permits held and training achieved. Also check your personal details are correct. Well, we made it through Scout Post again! A big thank you to all of the groups, their supporters and everyone else who has helped make the post the success it is today! Apparently the total number of cards delivered this year was 432,427 across the whole of Wirral! The Charity presentations are on Tuesday 2nd February at 7.30pm at Wallasey Town Hall, The thoughts of the District go out to Barbara Quick on the untimely death of her husband George. Our prayers are also with Lisa Jane, Simon and the Family. Finally, can I ask that all groups please let either me or PJ know the dates of your AGM’s as soon as possible so that I can ensure attendance at all of them. Paul - DC
2016 Beaver Diary Next leaders meeting Tuesday 8th March to discuss Badge Day.
I trust you all had a pleasant Christmas with your families. The New Year brings new challenges for the Beavers with the new badges available. All the District Beaver Leaders held a meeting last week to plan for the year ahead. Our first Challenge will be on 8th May 2016 when the district Beavers will attend a Badge Day and hopefully complete the New Outdoor Challenge Badge, and join the Welly Wang competition. The next Challenge will be our Beavers Day trip which this year will be to Gulliver’s World in Warrington on Saturday 25th June 2016. Hopefully you will be setting your own challenges within your meetings each week so that the Beavers gain plenty of badges this year. I look forward to attending some of your meetings and see if there is any help I can provide. Denise - ADC Beavers
Beavers Badge Day Sunday 8th May 2016 11-4 McAllister Field, Outdoor Challenge Badge to be completed and the Welly Wang Competition (Please return the Trophy to me on 8th March. Beavers Day Out Saturday 25th June Gullivers World Beavers Bonfire Saturday 29th October To be held at Birkenhead School Playing Field, Noctorum Road. 5pm till 7pm Best Guy and Tug of War competitions Carol Concert St Saviours Oxton Rehearsals Wednesday 30th November 6pm, concert following week Wednesday 7th December 6.30pm Beavers Christmas Party 4th December Trinity & Palm Grove Oxton
7
Scout Post 2015
Thank you to everyone who helped in any way with the Charity Post in December. I would like to thank all who sortied mail at McLachlan Hall. In particular, the help provided by the young people including the Scouts from 1st Beechwood and Explorers was much appreciated. Everyone worked so well together and it was a tremendous team effort. In addition to the income each participating group will receive we will distribute £30,000 to local charities at Wallasey Town Hall on Tuesday 2nd February beginning at 7.30 p.m. Anyone who helped in December is invited to attend this event and each participating group is asked to send a representative to collect their group’s cheque. If possible this representative should be a young person in uniform. Ken Richards
West Wirral Gang Show 2016 Hello from across the M53! The cast and crew of the West Wirral Gang Show had a great time at the 2015 Birkenhead Gang Show last year and can’t wait to raise the curtain on our show this April, and this time it’s a very British affair...
The show is being staged, as usual, at the Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight from Thursday 7th April Saturday 9th April including a Saturday Matinee performance that’s perfect for groups to attend!
What is a “Gang Show”? Well coming from Birkenhead, I’m sure you all know, but for those that don’t - Gang Shows are variety performances staged by Scouts & Guides and performed in theatres each year across the world. Here in Wirral we alternate year by year between the Birkenhead show and the West Wirral Show and this year it’s our turn to entertain! Gang Shows are a great night of singing, dancing, acting and comedy all performed by young people within Scouts or Guides.
520 655 or by downloading a booking form from our website www.wwgangshow.org.uk Shows start at 7.30pm (finished by 10pm) for evening performances and 2.30pm (finished by 5pm) Saturday Matinee. Don’t forget if you’re booking as a group let us know your Group name and we might give you a mention on stage. We hope to see you at the Gladstone Theatre this April! The Cast & Crew of the West Wirral Gang Show
The 2016 West Wirral Gang Show has a very British theme, with James Bond, The Vicar of Dibley, Oliver, King Arthur and even a trip into the world of Jane Austen too, so start practising your Morris Dancing and wave your Union Jacks as we present “The Best of British” Tickets cost £10 for adults and £8 for young people with a 10% discount for groups of 10 or more when booking together and you can book by telephone on 07954
Birkenhead District Executive Committee BIRKENHEAD DISTRICT SCOUT COUNCIL Executive Committee 2016/2017 Nominations are required for 2 people to serve on the District Executive for 3 years from 2016/2017. The Nominee can be Uniformed or Non-Uniformed. Nominations must be proposed and seconded and have the agreement of the Nominee.
The proposer and seconder must not be a family member
To make a nomination please complete the form below and return to me by the 16th April 2016 at the latest, no nomination received after the date will be accepted. Alan Wright District Secretary
Mr A J Wright, 17 Hillingdon Avenue, Heswall CH61 6XA Nomination for the District Executive 2015/2016 I wish to nominate the under mentioned to serve on the District Executive for 3 years from 2016/2017 Name................................................................ Proposer........................................................... Seconded............................................................ Nominee’s Agreement........................................
9
Cubs 100 There is a dedicated website to help you prepare your packs from Cub 100, this can be found at: http://www.cubs100.org
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Arrangements We will be travelling on two coaches provided by Carvers. Drop off: Ashville Road, Birkenhead Park. 08:00 Pick up: Ashville Road, Birkenhead Park. 17:30 Please ensure all Cubs bring a packed lunch and drinks, in addition to wearing appropriate clothing for the event. Any Cub who hasn’t filled in a health forms needs to do so. We still have a few spaces left, if there are any last minute Cubs wishing to attend then let me know ASAP.
Wingdings 100 Date: 17th-19th June Location: Tawd Vale Cost (Camp fees): £40 per Cub, £10 per Leader Registration: Open in February, deposit will be required of £20 per Cub and full £10 for leaders. Details: Four zones, Adventure, Fun, Water and Creative. County are due to release more information about this event in the coming weeks.
Role Changes As some of you are are aware I’m stepping down as ADC Cubs, due to increased work commitments and I’m starting a part time MSc in Aircraft Engineering sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering. My last event will be the Blackpool Pleasure Beach Trip. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the leaders that have been supportive. It’s been great to meet leaders, see packs in action and run some events. I wish my successor the best of luck taking on the role. Danny - ADC Cubs
Are you ready for Compass… Again? It’s been a long time coming but Compass, the new Scout Association Membership Database, is making a comeback. By the time you read this, key users (Commissioners, Appointments Secretaries and Superusers) should have access, and Line Managers (GSLs, Local Development Officers and SAS Managers) should be able to logon shortly, if not already. Those in training roles and all other roles will follow shortly afterwards. Initially Compass will only provide adult data and functionality – a date hasn’t been set for the return of the youth data aspect.
There will be a lot to do after ‘Go Live’ and we need to try to prioritise the following: 1. ROLES: Ensure all adults are accurately recorded on Compass, and ensure that every appointment is at Full. This may require some actions regarding Appointments Committees, Getting Started Training, References, Disclosures, etc. 2. PERMITS: All permits need to be recorded on Compass. 3. ADULT TRAINING: Adult training also needs to be recorded on Compass.
Where possible please continue to follow the current local support channels/ hierarchy but do feel free to give me a shout if you need help. Failing this, the next line of support is the Scout HQ Information Centre. More information and support resources can be found here : http://compassuserguide.scouts.org.uk Steve Robinson Birkenhead District Compass Superuser Email: steve.robbo@hotmail.com Mobile: 07935 984 002
11
Bear’s Grill Mongolian slow cooked beef This recipe was originally for a slow cooker but with some experiment it could be adapted for a gas hob, a camp fire or ideally, a haybox!
Ingredients
2.5 lbs of stewing steak,sliced into stripes against the grain. 1/4 cup cornflour 1Tbsp minced garlic 1Tsp chilli flakes 3/4 cup packed soft brown sugar 1Tbsp grated ginger 2tbsp olive oil 3/4 cup water 3/4 cup soy sauce
Method
Put steak in to a large plastic bag,ideally a ziploc. Put the cornflour in and seal the bag shake to ensure even coating Put all the other ingredients in to the cooking pot and stir Put the meat in the pot and mix to ensure the sauce also covers the meat Cook for 2-3 hours on ‘high’. 30 minutes before the end of cooking time add a cup of grated carrot and mix in. Serve with boiled rice Happy eating! Will Redfearn
Event Calendar for 2016: 27th February Speaking Up 18th – 20th March Great Escape 24th April St George’s Day 8th May Shelter Box 13th – 15th May Challenge Camp 13th May Backwoods Cooking 14th May Challenge Hike 15th May Pioneering Competition 11th June * 5 A Side Football 17th June * Fishing Competition 17th September Crazy Golf Competition 30th Sept – 2nd October Beavan Challenge 30th Sept – 2nd October* Chariot Race 7th – 9th October Feast Of Lanterns 15th – 16th October JOTA / JOTI 10th November 10 pin Bowling Competition 13th November Remembrance Service
Liverpool Town Hall Tawd Vale TBC Liverpool Hadlow Field Hadlow Field Wirral Way Hadlow Field Prescott Road Thornton Hough New Brighton Sandiway Bispham Hll Tawd Vale TBC New Brighton Prenton
C C D R D D D D C D D C C C D D
Events to be confirmed: Lord Derby Skills Challenge District PL’s Forum’s County PL Forum Events with * means the dates aren’t yet confirmed. Key: D = District C = County R = Regional
District Challenge Camp 2016 The closing date for entries to the 2016 Competition is: Fees should be paid by this date too please.
Friday 29th April.
Costs: Scouts Camping £16 Backwoods Cooking £10 per team Leaders Camping £11 Challenge Hike £10 per team Pioneering £5 per team (max two teams) An electronic troop return form is available to make entering easier at : https//goo.gl/lGfVgf
13
November saw a re-invention in Birkenhead......... Paxton Explorers had a change about. New leaders, new Explorers and new ideas! The first meeting saw a new name decided by the Explorers and Wizard Explorer Unit was born. All the leaders have a host of experience and ideas to bring to the unit. We are all super excited to make this the most Wizard explorer group that there has ever been! The Leaders are - Richie Branch who’s been in Scouting more years than he has hair Richie has a range of experience from Beaver level right up to Explorers and even Network.Then we have Matt Cowan who also brings years of experience, most recently at the Viking Explorer Unit and we have Fiona Riley who brings youth to the team as well as her experience as an Explorer. Kev Jones and Nick Brown also help out as and when they can, both bringing some great skills, enthusiasm and ideas to the group. We’ve had forums with the Explorers and have gathered all their ideas and planned out a programme, worryingly they seem to want to
put the Leaders through some tough challenges like I’m an Explorer leader, get me out of here! I wonder if they’re planning on bringing in a huge snake, or some spiders?! Do Iceland sell Kangaroo ‘parts’? We have planned our first weekend camp for February, and even Summer camp has been booked. We are getting to know the Explorers right now, finding out their skills and what they want from the unit. We’ve had some interesting ideas. We split in two teams and did a word board from a random word (Purple and bubble incidentally!) the only two things that matched were that both groups wished Justin Bieber didn’t exist anymore! (and who knew Biffy Clyro was Scottish not Welsh?) The Explorers want to enter competitions and take part in many nights away and they all want to go ‘back to basics’ on at least one camp so plenty of fire building and pioneering..... someone PLEASE remember the marshmallows! You can follow us through social media at @ WizardESU or search Wizard Explorer Scouts on Facebook. For more information please email wizardexplorerscouts@gmail.com Fiona Douglas - AESL
15 Explorers has been very busy within the past few months since I took over, with an active programme and relaunching a whole new unit. I appreciate due to several changes in the Explorer team, people may have questions about the Units so please feel free to contact me.
e Viking and leaders from th Thirty five Explorers tmas me from their Chris Unit on their way ho Ho ndo’s in Liverpool. Ho Dinner - a cheeky Na
Recently the Viking Unit have enjoyed Quiz Nights, Scout Post sorting and delivering, planning for the new year and their Christmas Dinner!
Wizard Unit was relaunched in November from some of the old members of Paxton and Scouts moving up. The Unit decided their own name and are currently in discussions of logos! They are being led by Richie Branch who has moved over from Viking and is held on Fridays at MacAllester field. At present we have 13 young people regularly attending which has been a brilliant number to start with and all of them seem to be having a great time. We are hoping to invest the Explorers within the next few weeks and plans are under way for the unit’s first camp in February half term. I’m hoping there will be some good photos for next issue. Thank you to the several groups who have helped in supporting us to launch this unit, however I am aware that I had no replies from other groups about their older scouts who would really enjoy what is on the programme for the next term. Viking Unit continues to go from strength to strength with 27 young people regularly attending. Plans are under way for their summer camp and planning for foreign shores next year. They are completing a service weekend at Barnstondale in February and are hoping to get back on the water in April. At some point, the plan is to create a presentation advertising explorers to the Scout section and we will be in contact about attending your Scout meeting to advertise explorers to your Scout section. Explorers will again be in attendance at the Challenge Camp and this year are planning on having a bit of inter unit competition. Long term plans include taster link up sessions between Explorers and older Scouts. Please could you let me know if you have any older Scouts so we can support in transition to Explorers. Heather - DESC
Around The District... Winter Warmers Appeal The 25th Scout Troop would like to thank everyone who supported their Winter Warmers appeal for the homeless. The response was overwhelming and our appeal was a huge success. Special thanks must go to Joan Quaile and the ladies of the Inner Wheel for their most generous donations and support. Our headquarters quickly became filled with bags bulging with blankets, sleeping bags, duvets, pillows, bedding, coats, jumpers, shoes, boots socks, scarves, gloves, hats, children’s clothes. The scouts had quite a task to sort and bag it all up. We had so much donated that no one charity had enough storage to take it all so we were able to support Wirral Homeless, The Ark Project, Charles Thompsons Mission and Syrian Refugee Children. Kat and Robyn, from Wirral Homeless, came to collect some of the donations and we helped them fill their car. There was so much that we had to follow them to their storage unit with the rest. We delivered the rest of the donations to the other charities who were really grateful. We think that our Winter Warmers appeal was a great success and it showed us that even small actions can have a significant impact on our community.
17
The 21st/40th Beaver and Cub Group have been busy working on their chef badge. Our Beaver’s made a selection of toasties and some made beans on toast. They decided what equipment they need along with their ingredients and then the following week put their plans into practise and made some delicious food. Our Cubs then had their turn at making a simple Spaghetti Bolognese. They finished off with a selection of fruit kebabs and chocolate crispy cakes for pudding. Everyone had fun learning new skills and enjoyed sampling their hard work.
February 2016
act
Cont ting in Scou
d
nhea
Birke
Please send your group news and photos to: SMO-MediaTeam@birkenheadscouts.org.uk by 24th March for inclusion in April’s edition
scout shop advert