July/August 2012 ELP

Latest News

Myth Buster—Scouting for Girls

1st Bowley Scout Group

Ian Ashton

Network News

New Beaver Scouts

GSL Support Day

Pitch Invasion

Newly Appointed...

i.WANT2B

Adult Training

Simply Scouting

Wow—we’ve got a jam packed East Lancs Plus for your final issue of the summer!

Don’t worry though, we’ll be back in September when all the young people will be back at school, college or maybe even starting university!

We’ve got a new feature in this issue called “Myth Buster” and this time we’re focusing on “Scouting for Girls” (see what we did there?) so please let us know what you think of this feature and if you’ve got any ideas, feel free to let us know at the usual email address (elp@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk)! Just before I hand you over to our County Commissioner—I just want to remind you to keep your pictures and stories coming in! We love them!

Chris Taylor Editor chris.taylor@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk

Welcome to the summer edition of ELP, your signpost to adventure, friendship and fun across East Lancashire. In the last edition of ELP we celebrated the good news surrounding our increase in numbers, one area of our current focus is youth involvement, if we get youth involvement right we will increase the number of young people and the number of adults enjoying Scouting even further. Many items in this edition relate to this strand of our strategy, in particular I urge you to read all about “Simply Scouting” an opportunity to spice up the summer holidays for your Scouts. Also included is information about an exciting new local initiative, iWANT2B, aimed predominantly at supporting and developing 18-25 year olds. And finally, if you’re a Young Leader we want to hear of your experiences so we can build on past successes and plug any gaps, turn to the back page and take part on the survey before the end of July.

Enjoy the summer, whatever it brings...

Glen Glen Fendall County Commissioner glen.fendall@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk

Job Vacancies in Burnley and Pendle With the old Districts of Burnley and Pendle having merged to form one new combined District, there are roles in the new District that still need to be filled. You can learn more about these roles and how to apply at http://eastlancashirescouts.org.uk/news/jobs-burnley-and-pendle

Newly Appointed We are proud to announce that the role of District Commissioner for Blackburn, District Commissioner for Burnley and Pendle and County Administrator have now been filled. Learn more on page 7!

Tomahawk Throwing It’s an impressive thing to watch when you’re first exposed to Tomahawk Throwing, but, like many other things it’s not as difficult as it seems. For more information, turn to the bottom of page 6.

Updated Bowley Price List As our avid friends on Facebook, some of you will already be aware that Bowley have recently updated their price list for both in-County and out-of-County groups. To see the price list: head over to the Bowley website or visit http://www.elscouts.org.uk/bowleypricelist

Aged between 18 and 25 years old? Involved in Scouting? Want to influence the future of Scouting in East Lancashire? Would like to be supported? Have lots of great ideas? Need to understand how Scouting can help your career? Like to do something different? Experienced and setbacks or spotted any challenges?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions please join us at The Northgate Suite, King George’s Hall, Blackburn, 19:30 on Thursday 26th July for an informal discussion, a pizza and a brew with your peers.

Please let Glen (glen.fendall@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk) know if you will be attending. If you are unable to attend but have views you’d like to have considered please also email those to Glen.

You can visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eastlancashire.iwant2b

By Lisa Bar

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We only asked for a certificate and we got more than we bargained for!

James Turner (known as Jim) passed away some years ago, however even though he had served over 26 years because his service history was wrong he never received his 25 years service award. Jennifer his widow has always wanted that certificate. We decided to do something about this. We collected all the necessary information, corrected his service record and sent it to the Awards team for a posthumous certificate. After all it is only as sheet of paper to Gilwell but it would mean the world to Jennifer. National policy however was that no awards are presented posthumous so we couldn’t have the certificate.

Last year Wayne Bulpitt visit Skills n Chills and Ken and I sat down with him and explained the situation. Wayne listened and asked questions about Jim. Ken told him some of times that Jim had given to County and International Scouting even after he fell ill. Wayne agreed that he had given 26 years and therefore he should have his certificate. He agreed to go back to Headquarters and speak to the awards team.

Almost a year after this started I got an email saying we could have the award!! We later found out they had changed national policy in order to make the award.

Posthumous service history awards can now be applied for, however Merit badges and Silver acorns etc. remain as before.

I would like to Thank Ken Smith, Pat Lord and Glen Fendall for all their help and discretion in making this presentation possible. It was all worth the work when almost a year down the line we were able to present his certificate to Jennifer without her even knowing we had applied for it.

All Group Scout Leaders and Group Managers are welcome to join us for a day of information, knowledge sharing and networking on Saturday 22nd September at Bowley between 10:00 and 16:00. The informal sessions will be planned to meet your requirements but could include: 

Scouting Online

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The Exec, the AGM and you

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Adult Recruitment, Parental Engagement and Flexible Volunteering



Managing your group



Development Planning



Review

Please email Glen (glen.fendall@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk) to confirm your attendance and influence the programme by suggesting topics for discussion.

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It’s an impressive thing to watch when you’re first exposed to it, but, like many other things it’s not as difficult as it seems.

With a little knowledge and a few hours of practice, even fairly small children get quite good at it. If you would like to learn the basics, get some practise and in doing so, learn how to introduce a new activity to your young people, join Brian Shaw at Bowley on Saturday 14th July between 1pm and 4pm.

It would be helpful if he knew how many to expect so please let him know via kristioni@sky.com

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Following the recent nomination and selection process, Ed Burney-Cumming has been appointed District Commissioner for Blackburn and Simon Morley has been appointed District Commissioner for the newly combined District of Burnley & Pendle.

Congratulations to both Simon and Ed as we welcome them to their new roles and look forward to supporting them in the challenges that undoubtedly lay ahead.

We are also delighted to announce that Louise Cooper has been appointed County Administrator. In congratulating Louise on being selected we also thank her for providing voluntary cover whilst we have been without an administrator. Louise’s hours are flexible to cater for the demands of the tasks involved however she intends to be in the County Office on Mondays between approximately 14:30 and 19:30 and Thursdays between 09:30 and 17:00. The contact details remain unchanged (countyoffice@eastlancashirescouts.org.uk) or 07530 804896.

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Edward Burney-Cumming

District Commissioner—Blackburn

Simon Morley

Louise Cooper

District Commissioner—Burnley & Pendle

County Administrator & Group Scout Leader

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Welcome to the Adult Training section of East Lancs Plus! Below you’ll see some of th two months. If you need to speak to your local training manager, their details can be f which is available to download from the East Lancs website (www.elscouts.org.uk/trai Important Dates! 

Sunday 16th September (10am—4pm) - Modules 1,2,3,6

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Tuesday 25th September (7pm—10pm) - Modules 5, 7

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Monday 8th October (7pm—10pm) - Modules 8,9

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Tuesday 16th October (7pm—9:30pm) - Module 16

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Wednesday 31st October (7pm—10pm) - Modules 12, 14

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Thursday 8th November (7pm—10pm) - Modules 12, 14

To book on any courses, contact Janet AP on janetap@ntlworld.com

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Michael Hi

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Fiona Smit

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Matthew B

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Welcome to our new regular feature where we try to provide the truth behind misconceptions, misunderstanding and myths around topics and subjects in relation to delivering Scouting. Our first myth buster is focussed on girls in Scouting.

It is often thought that girls being part of Scouting is a new event, however from its early beginnings Baden-Powell was an advocate of girls in Scouting and in his personal introduction to the publications “Aids to Scout Mastership” in 1920 he says: “The term Scouting has come to mean a system of training in citizenship, through

games, for boys or girls. The girls are more important...as things are, the training is needed for both sexes.”.

In 2007 the Scout Association formalised their ‘Open to all’ policy within POR (Policy, Organisation and Rules) requiring all sections to be open to both sexes with the exception of some very specific circumstances which related to closed groups as part of institutions such as prisons, religious or cultural specific requirements or specially formed groups with have been formed to meet an educational need; for example, Scouting for young mothers.

For many the thought of taking on girls is daunting and often that worry is based around common misunderstanding about what is required or what can and can’t be done. Here are some questions along with the facts:

Do I need to change my program to make it more appealing to girls?

No—young people will join because of what is on offer. As a leader from Carlisle said in a recent interview, “Our programme has not

changed as the number of girls has grown, and I think it would be wrong of us to do so. We are obviously providing something that is attractive to girls (and boys) as is reflected in the increased membership. In my experience, we get all types of girls. We attract those who enjoy an active, adventurous lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl; you have to be prepared to muck in.”

What are the sleeping arrangements for girls on camp?

In the same way you would have separate sleeping arrangements for leaders, young leaders and youth members. Having girls on camp just means making sure they are in their own tent. This is why many groups find it easier when two or three girls join rather than only having a single girl in the group.

I don’t have any female leaders so I can’t take girls?

There is no requirement to have the same sex leaders as the members of the group or part of a camp. There are many groups with have an all-female leadership team and still take boys camping, run trips and successfully run their weekly meetings. At the end of the day, there are all Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or Explorers.

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Blackburn Scouts kicked off their celebration of 100 years of Scouting in the District on 18th May by taking over the home pitch of Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Around 200 Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders arrived at the stadium in early evening and immediately set about the task of setting up their tents, without the use of any pegs so as not to damage the under-soil heating. They then took part in a number of organised activities on the famous pitch.

The last time Scouts last held an event at Ewood park was in 1957.This recent opportunity came about through Backburn Rovers’ keenness to take a first step towards re-establishing a proactive partnership with the Scouts and was organised

by Stuart Parker before he stood down as District Commissioner.

The whole event had a fantastic atmosphere with the Scouts getting a chance to play and score a goal at the home of local football heroes.

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East Lancashire Scouts helped to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on 4th June by taking part in the lighting of a chain of Beacons around the County.

East Lancashire’s Jubilee Beacons were placed in prominent positions from Pendle Hill to Darwen Tower and were part of the national Beacon chain that was lit in sequence starting at 10pm and ending with the Queen herself igniting the final Beacon at the end of her birthday concert, which was organised by Gary Barlow.

Scout Groups were joined by civic dignitaries and other voluntary groups including the Girl Guides and Mountain Rescue to take part in the momentous occasion.

The atmosphere on the evening was captivating as the clock ticked towards the time to light the Beacons and then erupted into celebration as across East Lancashire the Beacons flamed into life to celebrate 60 years of the Queen’s Reign.

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The funeral took place on Thursday 28th June at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Darwen of Ian Ashton who died suddenly whilst on holiday with his wife, Pat, in wales.

Ian joined Scouting in 1944 and spent most of his Scouting career in Darwen District; apart from a spell when he did his National Service in the Marines in Malta, where he continued his Scouting in British Scouts Overseas.

Ian returned to Darwen and took up his Leadership role in Scouting again until he moved to Gilwell Park and was employed as Assistant Camp Warden for several years before Darwen called again. He returned to help in the formation of the Bold Venture Pack Group and became Group Scout Leader. He then became Assistant County Commissioner for Venture Scouts for twelve years.

Ian’s life was devoted to charity work, not only with Scouts but with other organisations and he was held in high esteem by all the came in contact with.

This was very evident by the fact that there was standing room only at the Church.

Scouting Members were very evident at the Service and a Guard of Honour presented the Group, District and County Standards, not only at the Church, but at the private ceremony at Pleasington Crematorium afterwards.

This Guard of Honour was a credit to Scouting and Darwen District in particular and helped to ensure that a Brother Scout, who had given so much time and energy was remembered in a most fitting manner and I congratulate them all.

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By Chris Creelman Vice President—East Lancashire Scouts

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As a result of a large waiting list to join the existing Beaver Colony at 38th Rossendale (OPEN) Scout Group, the group decided to start a second Beaver Colony on a Monday evening.

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26 new Beavers joined up (pictured above) along with two that transferred from their current colony.

At the same time, 10 new Beavers joined up to the existing section making 36 new Beavers in total which, we’re pleased to report, have all settled in to their new life in Scouting well.

They have already completed their Promise Challenge and many took part in the group’s recent walk to the Singing Ringing Tree to earn their number one Hikes Away badge!

38th Rossendale now boasts 56 Beaver Scouts in the Group!

Andrew Cooper (Beaver Scout Leader and Assistant GSL) reported that the new section was working well and both young people and leaders were settled in. A number of Beavers have already been involved with a sleepover and the Centenary Fun Day at Bowley.

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There are a lot of buzzwords flying around the County at the moment like Bushcraft and back to basics. So, on the weekend of 1st-4th June, Burnley and Pendle Scouts had a Bushcraft weekend where they all gained their survival skills badge.

With the help of Mike Rushden of www.tamarackgroup.co.uk and his team, as well as some of the County’s leading bushcrafters and Clitheroe Explorers, Scouts from the newly merged Burnley and Pendle districts got to see and try out different outdoor skills required for the survival badge.

Throughout the entire weekend the Scouts had to maintain their open fires in order to keep warm as well as cook all their meals, they also learnt knife skills, how to prepare and cook fish, looked at the local area and identified trees and plants. They built shelters and slept in them, looked at survival first aid and how to keep themselves and their team members safe in case of an emergency as well as building different types of fires and how to light them using their fire steels or ferro rods.

For those more hardcore, rabbit skinning was one of the activities which a lot of the kids did watch, only one was “scout” enough to actually skin a rabbit himself, which he said he was really proud of himself for doing. “I thought there would be more blood and guts, but the skin and meat came off quite clean and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be”.

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It was felt that the camp went relatively well, despite the atrocious weather on Sunday, the rest of the camp the sun was shining and the Scouts were happy!

“It was a great camp and we will do it again next year if the District wants it – I had a fantastic team, and good support from the other leaders; I couldn’t have done it on my own” said the DSL “my thanks also go out to Mike, Adam and Dan for supporting the District and showing us how you can live comfortably out in the wild outdoors”.

Mike Rushden is the County’s recommended Bushcraft teachers and suppliers of specialist equipment. Mike and his team are currently supporting leaders, Explorers and Scouts in training programmes especially for the skills of living outdoors. If you are interested in learning more or need specialist equipment (with massive discounts for Scouters) then phone, visit or shop line at www.tamarackgroup.co.uk

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East Lancashire Scouts is currently in the process of setting up our 1st Bowley Scout Group.

The new group will provide: 

A focus for our existing, and future, volunteers



Induction and training opportunities for adults yet to be placed in leadership roles elsewhere



Potential to open a Scout Troop meeting at the weekend

…and it’s associated Explorer Scout Unit will provide a natural community for younger members of the Service Team to support the campsite, further their personal development and meet socially, even if they are an Explorer Scout elsewhere!

For further information, or to discuss how you can get involved, please contact Joanne (joanne.carey6206@btinternet.com)

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Yes, that’s right. This is your opportunity to spend the summer in the company of other scouts and whether you are just joining in on Mondays or coming on our MULTI-WORLD ADVENTURE that is Simply Scouting Summer Camp you are sure to have a fab time.

For anyone who doesn’t know - this is the deal – We all know how boring the Summer Holidays can be and what a great time it is for doing Scouty type stuff. It’s also the time that a lot of troops shut down to give your Leaders a well-earned break.

That’s fine I hear you cry, but what are you going to do about it? Well Simply Scouting is going to fill in that void, that chasm in your lives for the six damp and muggy weeks which we call summer need not be so barren of Fun, Challenge or Adventure.

This is how it works.

Throughout the Summer Holidays, there will be a troop night for any Scouts who want to come and do Scout type things at Bowley every Monday night. Last year loads of people came and got to know some new friends whilst doing Scout activities from climbing and geo-caching to cooking pizza on a Barbecue.

As well as this there is also a Summer camp to go on, again at Bowley, from the 4th to the 11th August.

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This year the camp is going to be REALLY special as you will be transported to 3 separate worlds throughout the week to sample lots of different aspects of scouting, all without leaving the greater Bowley area.

There must be loads of forms to fill in then surely, you may be thinking but no. There is only one form and it is below. All you do is get your parents to fill in the attached form and then that’s it. If you are coming on the camp, you need to make sure that you circle the correct bit (in bold) and enclose the deposit for the camp. The whole camp, for a full week, is only £100 so that is great value. We need your deposit as soon as possible and the full amount by the 20th July. Cheques can be made payable to East Lancashire Scout Council.

If you’re coming on the Monday troop nights then all you need to do is fill in the form and turn up with £2 each time to cover the cost. Simple.

I look forward to seeing you there.

John.

PS: You can download a form from the East Lancashire Scouts’ website!

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On a very wet Friday morning and after months of planning, East Lancashire Network set off to the Annual Essex Network Camp—MAD UK! After packing two cars in what seemed like an Amazon rainfall, we set off with all eight of us (including 2 new members)! This was the most amount of people that we’ve ever taken to this event and this is the fourth year on the trot for some Network members!

With communications radios in each car, we set off onto the M6 and as per the norm, we hit traffic which ensured that it took almost an extra hour to get to Birmingham! However, we did keep ourselves entertained by playing I-spy and Eddie Stobart lorry spotting. Once we passed Birmingham it was plain sailing from there all the way to Kingston Ridge Campsite—just outside Basildon.

Upon arrival, the campsite was already buzzing with Network groups from all over the country coming to this amazing camp. Groups from Hampshire, Cambridge, Essex, Kent, Manchester and amazingly, some people had flown all the way from Scotland just for MAD! East Lancs set up camp at the top of the field—which is described in the MAD literature as a ‘bit of a slope’. In Essex maybe it was a ‘slope’ but to us northerners, it was no steeper than the Plateau at Bowley! With no wet weather in sight, out canopy went up, tents erected and our new portable speaker system blasted out some tunes to the rest of the site. The good news for us was that the amazing MAD Burger was back on the menu after taking a year out.

The first major event of the camp was the first night Karaoke Disco which had been set up with the latest DJ systems and lighting. Not to mention the bar which had the guest local ale on the go! Not only this but the night was set up as a ‘Rubik’s Cube Party’ - for those who haven’t done this, what you do is start off the night wearing every different colour you can think of and by the end of the night (after swapping clothes with anyone and everyone) you need to come out wearing all one colour clothing. The next thing we knew, we were all scarred for life by seeing James Ruddock complete his set by wearing a blue dress (and just so you can witness it too, we’ve included a picture—we bet you won’t see him in the same light again)!

The night didn’t end there, after the party finished with renditions of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and Killers, we went back to camp and played some of our own tunes. What normally happens is that you walk round the site and meet a whole host of new, interesting people, but East Lancs had created a great base and quickly became the centre of all after parties with many groups including Essex, Manchester and Hampshire joining us. As 3am passed and bed time beckoned, we called it a night as we had a full day of activities the next morning!

The next morning, a full English breakfast called complete with multiple cups of coffee and tea which woke us up ready for the hectic day ahead. The camp is very well set up with activities (its own Air Rifle range, Archery and also the inflatables!). Also on had was the zip line and crafts where we could make our own pint glasses. We all took advantage of the activities and up until this point, still no rain! We were however, all aware of the major events going on back home in East Lancashire with all the floods!

Mid-afternoon, Manchester Network broke out their Rounder’s set and it didn’t take long to get around 40 people or so playing from a variety of different Network groups! It didn’t take long before the light-hearted arguments over the rules and how it should or shouldn’t be played started. We are still adamant that Manchester Network were making up the rules as they went along!

As the evening drew closer, the excitement grew and with some cheesy music, we decided to play some good old Disney tunes and singing at the top of our voices.

What came from that was an East Lancs Network rendition of ‘Circle of Life’ from Lion King (filmed by Alaina and starring Bowley Bagpuss). You can see this video over at the East Lancs YouTube channel now (http://youtu.be/jOf6Eb58aY8)! Soon the fancy dress costumes were broken out in preparation for that night’s entertainment with each year having it’s own theme—this year was ‘Mr Men’. After almost a year of pondering over what to go as, we had a ‘Mr Bump’, ‘Mr Daydream’, ’Little Miss Naughty’, ‘Little Miss Chatterbox’, ‘ Mr Happy’, ‘Mr Topsy-Turvy’ and ‘Mr Tickle’ in our group! As the party got underway, the more quirky and slightly different costumes came into play and it’s at this point that you finally realise why the camp is called MAD! The winners of the ‘Best Costume’ went to Manchester for their version of the whole My Mr Men and Little Miss library written on their backs.

Now, no Network camp would be complete without the whole camp doing the Macarena, some badly and some good, but dressed as their favourite characters made it all the more interesting—as you can imagine!

After the party died down, the Annual Camp Fire began with Fire Poi and a few other fire toys on show and then an outbreak of traditional campfire songs being sung our across the campsite!

By the time the camp had ended and we’d packed up, the holiday blues had set in and we set off back home. We’re counting down until next year when we’ll be back!

Issue Month

Final Date of Submissions

September/October 2012

20th August, 2012

November/December 2012

22nd October, 2012

January/February 2013

7th January, 2013

March/April 2013

25th February, 2013

May/June 2013

29th April, 2013

July/August 2013

24th June, 2013

September/October

26th June, 2013

November/December

28th October, 2013