June 2017
n i g n i Scout
d a e h n e k r i B
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Hello and thank you
for reading the June edition of
Contact. 2
District Agm
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The DC
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St Georges Day
News from our District Commissioners
Apologies from me that this issue is late reaching you. We held off publication to be able to bring you the results of the Scouts Challenge Weekend but work commitments have meant
The District gathers to celebrate - and create an impact on our community
8 Challenge Weekend Our annual Scout
competition weekend
10 Beavers
News from our Beaver Section
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Bear’s grill
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Explorer Update
Our monthly tasty treat! Our Explorers take part in the annual Explorer Challenge Trophy
13 Explorers Nepal Appeal Wirral Scouts to take
part in charity mission in 2018
Contact is published by
Birkenhead District Scout Council 15 Balls Road, Oxton, Wirral CH43 5RF Compiled by : Paul Ellis Tel: 07720 555885 paul.ellis @birkenheadscouts.org.uk Please email content to : SMO-MediaTeam@ birkenheadscouts.org.uk
a further delay. However, we have been able to squeeze in more details from some of our biggest events of the year in this issue so read on and enjoy seeing what we have been getting up to as a District. Paul Ellis
WIRRAL SPEAK UP!
Saturday 15th July 2017 9:30 - 4:30 Birkenhead School 58 Beresford Road, Oxton, CH43 2JD This is a FREE special new event for Scouts, Explorers and Network Members to get their voices heard and have a positive impact on their local community. This is a joint event with West Wirral District Scouts. The day will have several bases with a range of discussions happening! We also have several charities visiting as well as the Mayor of Wirral and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service.
We will also be running a climbing wall session, so sensible shoes must be worn! Light refreshments will be provided but all young people and adults will need to bring a packed lunch! To book places email Matt Proctor, ADC Scouts, with the names of all young people and adult leaders attending the event. All YP must be accompanied by enough adult leaders from their own group. matt.proctor@birkenheadscouts.org.uk Deadline for registration is 2nd July.
QUEEN’S SCOUT AWARD FOR CLAIRE Claire Redfearn has been honoured by the Chief Scout at Windsor Castle for gaining her Queen’s Scout Award. The Queen’s Scout Award is the highest honour in Scouting and is awarded for outstanding personal achievement.
This honour is achieved by young people aged between 16 and 25 who have completed a range of challenges, which includes service to their community, completing an expedition in wild country, undertaking a five-day residential project in an unfamiliar environment and learning a new skill or developing an existing talent. Claire said: “I was extremely pleased to receive my award. It was a long day from start to finish but definitely worth it. “It’s been my greatest achievement and if there is one thing in Scouting you should do I think it should be the Queen Scout Award.”
... s g n i l b m a R ’s The DC
Hello All, What another brilliant two months of Scouting! April and May have seen the start of the Camping season with some brilliant activities and camps planned or have already happened! We have already begun to plan our Wirral Speak Up event which is happening on Saturday 15th July 2017! Wirral Speak Up is a joint event between Birkenhead and West Wirral and replaces the county run event. It gives our young people (this year in Scouts, Explorers and Network) to speak up and engage with local councillors, politicians and charities to shape our local community. See page three of this issue for details on how to book on to the event It will also give West Wirral and Birkenhead an insight into what our young people think about Scouting and how we can continue to develop and become even more youth shaped. So save the date – the event will be free to attend and all Scouts, Explorers, Networkers and Leaders will be invited to attend at Birkenhead School! We have held our annual St George’s day celebration at Birkenhead Park… and what a day it was! We won’t say too much as there is an article later in this issue with all the details! But it was great to see more than 150 young people and over 50 adults coming together to celebrate St George and do some brilliant community impact work. Our thanks go to our ADC’s and everyone who came and attended the event!
Challenge camp was a huge success for the Scout and Explorer section! Well Done to all the teams who entered, it isn’t about the winning it is all about the taking part. Everyone who entered pushed themselves and achieved things they never thought they could so every credit to all the participants. Challenge Camp also saw the second Explorer competition, this year in the shape of backwoods cooking. Well done to all the Explorer teams from our two district units! All our Scouts and Explorers did us proud! The final thanks are to all the leaders who took our young people to attend the events and all the leaders involved with planning the event in particular Matt Proctor and PJ! Well Done. Our Scout Network has continued to meet after its very successful relaunch! Ben Attwood has agreed to take over as DSNC after Matt Proctor has stood down to focus his efforts on the Scout section! We wish Ben all the best in his new additional role – as he will continue to be a Scout Leader at the 2nd Birkenhead. Matt represented Birkenhead Scouting at the Wirral Girl Guide county AGM and celebrations, it was lovely to see lots of service awards and awards in general being presented to lots of brilliant adult volunteers in Girl Guiding! Well done to all the recipients. We had a brilliant Beaver fun day at Hadlow Fields, well done to Denise and her team for organising a brilliant event!
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Unfortunately work got in the way for Matt and a Christening for Jordan so neither of us were able to attend but we hear from the other members of the district team that were there that is was a fantastic event! Thanks to everyone who took time out to run the event and/or take their Beavers there. Well done to those Scouts who entered Shelterbox – another fantastic event! Matt and a few others from Birkenhead have attended the first County Commissioner search event, this event was a name generator to allow the search team to approach some people over becoming the next County Commissioner for Merseyside. Matt is also on the dedicated Search Team and interview panel so we are sure Birkenhead will have a big say in the appointment process – our current Chair of the District Exec, Joan Quaile, is also on that panel. The AGM season is also well underway! Matt and Jordan have both already attended at Wallasey and West Wirral district AGMs and are looking forward to attending the AGM for Bebington District as well as the AGMs of our Groups! Please do let them know ASAP the date, time and location of your Group AGM so they can ensure the district is represented! Email – dc@birkenheadscouts. org.uk with the info and Matt or Jordan will get back to you.
Matt Jones and Matt Proctor went along to the 20th Birkenhead to visit their sleepover which looked like lots of fun! It’s great to go along to group events so please don’t stop sending invites – we will always attend when we can! Jordan and Matt have also started the GSL catch ups which have been going really well and it is great to see how your groups are planning on developing over the next 5 to 10 years! We will soon be pulling together a district development plan which your groups will all be part of. And finally, Matt Jones, PJ, Jane Richards and Matt Proctor represented Birkenhead Scouts at the Wirral Third Sector Business Awards on Friday 19th May – we were shortlisted for Organisation of the Year but unfortunately were unsuccessful as we were beaten by Involve North West. However to be shortlisted at such a prestigious awards ceremony is such an achievement and is a credit to all of our Adult volunteers for continuing to volunteer your time to the organisation as well as to our young people who are making this positive impact on our local community! So our thanks go to every single member of Birkenhead Scouts for all you do! And hopefully next year we will be able to take a trophy home! Don’t forget to check out some important updates regarding Nights Away Notifications and PC3 forms in this edition! Matt and Jordan
Some of you may have seen the incredible fundraising effort of the counties within the Manchester area after the devastating terrorist attack on Manchester recently. The three counties have joined together to show solidarity and support for all those affected and have produced an occasional badge that you can buy for just £1 (plus £3.99 P&P). Peter Oliver, Acting CC, has authorised the display of this badge on the uniform of any member of the Merseyside County, this means that this is an official occasional badge that is allowed to be worn on official uniform as per other occasional badges. To join in on this fundraising effort you can purchase them through their Virgin Money Just Giving page - where there are full details of how to buy them. Link below. So far they have raised more than £20,000! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ charity-web/charity/displayCharityCampaignPage.action?campaignI
... e f i l e h t n i k A wee
Our new feature is going to focus on a member of Birkenhead District (it could be a member of the district team, someone from a group or maybe even a shop volunteer or a member of an exec) and it’ll show us all what it takes to be a volunteer in Birkenhead over a typical week. A week in the life of.... Matt Jones Role – District Commissioner Real Job – Health & Safety
Monday – So the week starts as many others, in work, so I was up and out of the house by 7.45, arriving at work just before 8.30 ready to start my week. After four meetings I left just after 5.00 After arriving home at about 6pm I had enough time for a quick dinner before leaving for the first Scouting meeting of the week! It was the final St. George’s day prep meeting with the ADCs. I arrived at DHQ at about 7pm and the meeting started at 7.30pm. Tuesday – Day 2! Again my day started with the normal routine of leaving for work at 7.45 and arriving just before 8:30. No meetings today so I was able to get lots of work done before leaving near enough dot on 5pm (love it when that happens)! Tonight is a pretty similar set up – getting home with an hour or so to have my dinner before shooting off to another meeting - this time it was with our ADC for Development, Jane Richards, trying to plan out her role and look at some of the groups she might be able to work with and assist. Again getting home after 10pm! Wednesday – Same routine for work, another 8.5hrs before more Scouting! This time there were five meetings to get through before home time! But I got there. Tonight was a tad more leisurely as Jordan and I were having a catch up and seeing where everything is up to… We tried to get away early but ended up arriving home just after 10!
Thursday – Pub Quiz night… Again same routine a 7:45 leave for work and arriving home at about 6:00. No meetings today so lots of time to get through some work and catch up with the rest of the team. Thursday night we had a meeting with Simon Richards our Scout Active Support Manager to see where the ASU was going and what they can do to support groups and district events. Tied the meeting up in a reasonably quick time and so Jordan and I were able to shoot straight down to the quiz that we go to and were able to have some down time!
Friday – No work for me today! (I don’t just work Monday to Friday as I regularly support our operational team in work on Saturdays and Sundays)… So a nice relaxing day off for me… or some thing like that! I managed to get some emails answered and meeting notes typed up! As well as having some time to myself. We were also able to get a Contact Plus together for St George’s Day!
Saturday – Another busy day in work for me today, I was onsite for about nine hours supporting teams out in the Zoo! Sunday – A day of rest! I gave myself one full day off to get on top of personal things such as shopping etc. before another week of much the same to follow… If you would like to be featured next time, please email Matt.jones@birkenheadscouts.org.uk
7 On Sunday 23rd April, Birkenhead District Scouts celebrated St George’s Day by helping out the local community, following the example set by St George himself. Whilst there were no Dragons to slay, there was plenty of work to be done at Birkenhead Park. Over 150 young people and 50 adult volunteers walked from four different Park entrances to a central location where they renewed their Beaver, Cub and Scout promises before getting stuck into the community impact projects with the Park Rangers and fun and games with their leaders. Hannah Shakeshaft, Park Ranger and Forest School Practitioner said “It was fantastic to see so many young people working together to expand our wonderful Forest School Class oom and help maintain this glorious grade 1 listed landscape. Considering the time the participants had, they managed to plant 30 Trees, move three tons of woodchip, dig three pole lathe beds, make a new path and move a couple of hundred logs from around the forest school area, there were also the litter picking groups and the Explorer Scouts who cut fishing lines out of the trees and pulled in litter from the lakes edge.
St George’s Day in Birkenhead Park
We had a really good day and it was a pleasure to meet all the young people, they were very well behaved and helpful and it would be great to work alongside them all again.” Jessica McNab, an 11 year old Scout, said “It was a great day as we all got to work together and do group activities with Scouts across Birkenhead making a difference for all the people who use the park and everyone who will use the Forest School in future” The Founder of Scouting, Baden-Powell, thought St. George epitomised the qualities of selflessness and both moral and physical courage which he saw as being among the aims of Scouting and that is why St George is the Patron Saint of Scouting. Creating opportunities for young people to have an impact on their community, develop social skills, independence and form friendships is central to scouting philosophy and has long term positive impact on young people lives
Challenge Weekend 2017
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The past few months have been the busiest time of year for the Scout Section. St George’s Day was a great success, seeing all sections in the District take part in a day of community impact, fun and adventure. The rangers at Birkenhead Park were overwhelmed with the hard work you all put in to regenerate the popular forest school area, so well done and thank you for all the hard work those involved put in. Our annual Challenge Camp took place on the last weekend of May. With a new campsite and hike route I was so impressed with how well every team did, the results are posted below! Just want to say a massive thank you for everyone who helped make the weekend such a success! And thanks again to all our young people who came along, took part, and enjoyed a great weekend! Our next District event is the fishing competition on the 30th June, more details for that will be with you soon! As always please keep inviting me to any events or troop nights, hope to catch up with all of you soon! Matt Backwoods Cooking 1st – 25th Birkenhead - #Drop the Panda 2nd – 64th Birkenhead - Daring 3rd – 5th Mighty 5th / 25th Jamaican Bacon Challenge Hike – Skills 1st – 25th Birkenhead - #Drop the Panda 2nd – 25th Birkenhead – Red Raccons 3rd – 5th Birkenhead – Mighty Fifth feat. Abz
Challenge Camp Results:
Challenge Hike – Fastest Hike 1st – 25th Birkenhead - #Drop the Panda 2nd – 64th Birkenhead - Moooooooooo 3rd – 25th Birkenhead – Brazilian Bacon
Challenge Hike – Overall 1st – 25th Birkenhead - #Drop the Panda 2nd – 25th Birkenhead – Red Raccoons 3rd – 25th Birkenhead – Brazilian Bacon Challenge Hike – Quiz 1st – 64th Birkenhead - Moooooooooo Pioneering – Large Scale 1st – 25th Birkenhead - #Drop the Panda 2nd – 64th Birkenhead – One of those Groups 3rd – 20th Birkenhead – Pink Fluffy Unicorns Pioneering – Gadget Scale 1st – 265th Birkenhead – Pretty Pioneers and Will 2nd – 64th Birkenhead - Moooooooooo 3rd – 21st Birkenhead - Wilfred
Hatton Trophy Winners 2017 - 25th Birkenhead
Our first Beavers District event this year was a Fun day held at Hadlow Field Willaston on a glorius day. We had 92 Beaver scouts attend, they had a number of fun activities to get through on the day in order to gain their My Adventure Challenge Badge. They had lots of fun with Archery, Go Carts, Welly Wang, following a laid trail, roasting marshmallows and den building, Obstacle Course, Treverse Wall, Aerial Runway to name a few. Our Next fun adventure will be on 24th June 2017, when we go to the Welsh Mountain Zoo. Here’s hoping for a good turnout for a fun day with friends.
On the 11th May 2nd Thingwall Beavers visited Heswall Fire Station. The crew showed the Beavers around the fire appliance and they were allowed to sit inside. After learning about all the apparatus the Beavers were given the opportunity to spray water from the hose, everyone enjoyed splashing the leaders!! We were shown how the firefighters use some of the equipment and the Beavers were able to have a try, they especially enjoyed getting dressed up in the full kit. A talk was given about fire safety and what to do in an emergency, then because they behaved they were allowed into the engine for a ride around the outskirts of the station with the sirens and lights on. Thank you to the team for putting on a great evening.
Group AGMs
Please do send your AGM invites to the district team! We are really keen to support all your AGMs so send the invite to dc@birkenheadscouts.org.uk and Jordan or Matt will get back to you and let you know who is attending. We aim to attend every AGM in the district. Thanks, Matt and Jordan
Bear’s Grill Cowboy Caviar FOR THE DRESSING: 1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil 1/3 c. lime juice 3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro 1 tbsp. hot sauce (such as Cholula) 1/2 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. kosher salt FOR THE SALAD: 1 c. black beans 1 small red onion, finely chopped 1 c. corn 1 c. cherry tomatoes, quartered 1 c. black eyed peas 2 orange bell peppers, chopped 1 avocado, chopped Corn chips, for serving In a small bowl, make dressing: Whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, hot sauce, cumin, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Toss with dressing until well combined. Enjoy, Will Redfearn
The winning Explorer team are presented with the Birkenhead District Explorer Challenge trophy by DCs Matt and Jordan
As part of the District Scouts Challenge Weekend our Explorer Units took part in the now annual Explorer Challenge Competition. This year they faced a Backwoods Cooking competition which involved teams prepare and cook sardines and mackerel, potatoes, lemon and lettuce on an open fire. Two teams drew level when our guest judge, Chief Petty Officer Ste Derri tasted each effort. The winning team of Alex, Tori, Archie, Ella and James won the trophy with a tie break question. The Explorers who attended the weekend were once again a credit to their Units and worked in teams involved in catering, washing up, hike bases and the cycle sweeper team. Thanks to them for their effort over the weekend.
Fantastic news! Ten Birkenhead Explorers and six leaders are part of a Merseyside scouting expedition to Nepal in March next year. The trip will be an unforgettable combination of trekking through the Himalayas and working with the charity CEN UK in a part of Nepal still recovering from the earthquake in 2015. The charity work involves working in a village school and staying with a local family. The 16 Birkenhead participants have joined forces with fellow Scouters across the Wirral to raise money to help pay for the expedition. We have raised £1,000 in our first month including at Oxton Secret Gardens (courtesy of the 64th Birkenhead), Wirral Live at Tranmere Rovers and at Tam O’Shanters Farm. The Explorers have a mobile tuck shop that they can bring to any beaver, cub or scout meeting. If interested please contact me below. Wish us luck and follow our fund raising efforts in future editions of Contact. Alison Lee Trustee Birkenhead District Scouts alison.lee@birkenheadscouts.org.uk
Important information regarding: Nights Away Notifications From 1st June 2017 all Nights Away Notification Forms (NAN) must be sent to the District Commissioners mailbox. Please send NAN forms to dc@birkenheadscouts.org.uk and either Jordan or Matt will email back to acknowledge. We will also no longer require PC3 forms – your camp registers should be kept by the group / unit and these should form part of your filing process. Event Leaders and Permit Holders should always be aware of who is on camp and this should be detailed on your register.
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires handlers to: · Only collect personal information you need · Ensure the information is relevant · Only hold as much information as you need Compliance with the DPA is a legal requirement. More info on Data Protection in Scouting can be found at the link below: https://members.scouts. org.uk/supportresources/1861/data-protection-andscouting?cat=419,55,400