s t u o c S e r i Hampsh ws
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.uk | May 2017
scouts.org www.hampshire
Tents to pitch 70th Portsmouth Scouts
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40 years of Ferny Crofts Come and help us celebrate! Saturday 13th or Sunday 14th May 2017 Take part in Jamboree on the Trail as well as tackling the high ropes, zip lines, archery, backwoods cooking and an adventure course. There is also a bushcraft skills base, a science and cooking zone and with a Heritage display and a campfire your day will be full. All activities start at 10am and end at 5pm (a camp later for those who are staying). You can gain 2 badges whilst attending. This event is open to all sections. (Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Network.) All this for only ÂŁ10.00 per person for the day or come and camp for whole weekend 12th - 14th May 2017 for ÂŁ26. Book in on the forms below and we will send you an invoice for payment. Closing date for bookings 4th May 2017 Leaders go free all Beavers, Cubs and Scout groups must be accompanied by a Leader or Leaders.
Book here: https://goo.gl/ZSWHn0 2
May 2017
contents
Welcome to the May 2017 edition of Hampshire Scouts News
4. 6. 7. 8. 10. 12. 13. 14. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 22. 24. 25. 26. 28.
Highlights from Summit17 Wanted - Ferny Crofts Memorabilia Sodexo Chef Evening with Pioneer Explorer Scouts Tents to Pitch - 70th Portsmouth Scouts Field Archery - A Scout’s story HMS Raleigh 2017 Report - 9th Lymington Sea Scouts 3rd Romsey Scout Troop welcomed the Romsey Dementia Action Group Nine Miles Advanced Rescue Checkmate | Royal Navy Museums Selfie at number 10 | Ferny Crofts 40 Challenges Badge Roll of Remembrance Service Invite The Roverang Show is 60 Years Old The History of Hampshire Scouting World Scout Jamboree, USA 2019, Participant Application Edward and The Kingsmen Survival Bracelets Hamble River Raid, 13th May 2017
About Us
Hampshire Scouts provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for over 17,500 young people aged 6-25, promoting the physical, intellectual, social and spiritual well-being of the individual, helping them achieve their full potential. In Scouting, we believe that young people develop most when they are ‘learning by doing,’ when they are given responsibility, work in teams, take acceptable risks and think for themselves.
Get Involved
To join the adventure of Scouting whether as an Adult or Young person then contact us at: www.scouts.org.uk/join e: county.office@scouts-hants.org.uk or t: 023 8084 7847
Have you got any news for us?
Do you have a story or success that you’d like to share? Help us to highlight and celebrate your achievements in growth, exclusivity, youth shaped and community – email us your team’s successes along with any photos to: county.office@Scouts-hants.org.uk, please keep emails less than 30mb, if they are bigger we can share our Dropbox link with you, please get in touch.
Photography Acknowledgements
Where we can, we strive to acknowledge the owner or source of pictures used in this publication. We use them under the terms ‘for Scouting use only’. If you would like pictures acknowledged, please let us know the owners name when submitting. Thank you.
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Highlights from Summit17 I’ve just returned from participating in Summit17 – the National Conference at Warwick University. Hampshire Scouting was well represented at the conference, with three Youth Representatives, four District Commissioners, and four members of the County Team. It was a very positive and upbeat conference, looking back on how far UK Scouting has come over recent years, but also acknowledging the challenges and discussing where we need to provide extra focus. Saturday morning started with a look back at the success of the Strategy 20142018, with its four strategic objectives of Growth, Inclusion, Youth-Shaped, and Community Impact. •
Growth – UK Scouting enjoyed its 12th successive year of growth. Adult volunteer and female youth numbers continue to increase, but most of the growth in youth membership is now from girls. The current UK growth strategy is to focus on opening new Sections, adding missing Sections, and supporting small Sections, but it is not clear whether this will be enough to achieve the growth targets.
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Inclusion – Females are now 27% of the membership, and continue to grow fast. Good progress has also been achieved with introducing Scouting to the more deprived areas of the UK. However, concerns were expressed during the conference that the inclusion scope needs to be wider, especially in regard to ethnic diversity.
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Youth-Shaped – Over 150 County and District Youth Commissioners have been appointed, complementing the UK Youth Commissioner team, and many of them were present at Summit17. The #YouShape initiative has had a major cultural impact on Scouting, but some of the Youth Commissioners were still unsure of their role.
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Community Impact – The Million Hands Campaign has generated a lot of interest and media activity, with over 50,000 Community Impact badges gained. However, less than a third of Section Leaders feel they have enough support to deliver on this objective.
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Overall, there was strong support for continuing with all four strategic objectives. Saturday afternoon looked at external perceptions of Scouting, both with the public and among policy makers and influencers. Less than half of the public see Scouting as relevant, and too many people associate Scouting only with boys and camping. A recent public poll showed that “Skills for Life” resonates well with the public as what makes Scouting different, and it was proposed to increase future marketing and communications around this theme. The evening included the glitzy “Scouting for All” Awards Ceremony. Projects from Hampshire Scouting were up for two Awards, with the 1st Winchester SEN Club nominated for the “Most Innovative Inclusion Project”, and Winchester winning the District Growth Award. Congratulations to both teams on their achievements. Sunday morning saw a focus on “Beyond 2018”, with a proposed framework for the future strategy which was then discussed and refined in working groups. Five external factors were identified which should be taken into account in building the future strategy, and it was suggested that Scouting has a key role to play in encouraging these. • Social integration • Wellbeing • Social mobility • Dominance of digital • Generational differences The strawman framework proposed an overall theme • “Preparing Better Futures - Together we have a vital role to Prepare Young People with Skills for Life” plus three new focus areas • Programme – a high quality, impactful programme, consistently delivered, aided by simple (digital) tools • People – more well-trained, supported, motivated adult volunteers from different backgrounds to deliver Scouting • Perception – Scouting to be trusted, respected (reputation) and seen as playing an important role in the 21st Century (relevance) by more people (reach)
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along with a continuance of the four strategic objectives • Growth • Inclusion • Youth-Shaped • Community Impact and a renewed commitment to our values • Integrity • Respect • Care • Belief • Cooperation Over the coming months, UK Scouting will consult widely on this strategy framework and refine it further. We’ll also do so in Hampshire, converging our evolving strategy with these themes. We’re already quite close, having introduced focus on Programme and Leaders at a strategic level last year. Overall, Summit17 was a great weekend, and hopefully will help to significantly improve Scouting in Hampshire and across the UK. Adam County Commissioner Hampshire Scouting
Wanted - Ferny Crofts Memorabilia
Hampshire Scout Heritage will have a Scout Heritage display at the County Link Camp in May 2017. The Camp also commemorates the fortieth anniversary of camping at Ferny Crofts. We, Hampshire Scout Heritage, have many badges depicting Ferny Crofts but very few other items such as clothing, booklets, pennants, camping items etc. If you have any of those or similar items that you are willing to loan or donate please contact us to arrange collection. Contact us at: info@ hampshirescoutheritage.co.uk or John Leeks at: dc.chandlersford@scouts-hants.org.uk
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Sodexo Chef Evening with Pioneer Explorer Scouts Eleven youngsters from the Pioneers Aldershot District Explorer Unit (Scouters aged between 10-14) had the rare opportunity to work with trained Chefs, prepare various courses and cook in an industrial-sized kitchen. Sodexo had very kindly organised two nights for the Explorer unit where they would be taught valuable skills in the kitchen. The first evening on Thursday 30th March was based at 1st Aldershot Scout HQ (where the Pioneers meet regularly). Steve Wright, Catering Area Manager at Sodexo presented a briefing where the youngsters would learn about food safety and hygiene. Steve talked about the
importance of clean hands, storage of food and about preparation of meals amongst many other items. The Explorers would later have a go at chopping and slicing various fruit and vegetables using the correct methods taught. It was a successful night and as well as developing culinary knowledge the evening also acted as a safety briefing for the following week. On Thursday 6th April, Steve and his team at St Omer Barracks (Aldershot Garrison) invited the Explorers into their domain for an evening preparing a 3-course meal. The eleven Scouters were split into three groups and
and cooking each course (consisting of bread for starters, Spaghetti Bolognese and pancakes for pudding). The young people enjoyed working with the bakers, chefs and cooks to use the facilities at the kitchen and create some delicious food. Nathan Barham, a local Scout leader helped organise the event through connections at his local workplace: “It was a great opportunity for the Explorer Scouts to experience learning to cook with some very knowlegable staff from Sodexo and to use the variety of catering facilities available. The Explorers had a great time and especially enjoyed seeing (and eating) the finished results.�
all took part in preparing
You can learn more about Sodexo at http://uk.sodexo.com/home.html The Blackwater Valley Pioneer Explorer Unit can be found on twitter.com/pioneer_esu
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Tents to pitch 70th Portsmouth Scouts
The Scouts from the 70th Portsmouth had their first camp of the year at Lyons Copse Scout Campsite 24th - 26th March 2017 The scouts arrived at 18.30 on the Friday and started to pitch tents in traditional patrol areas, we used hike tents due to the early time in the year patrol tents were deemed to be too cold and hard to dry if wet. As it turned out the weather for the weekend was in the high teens oC.
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The chefs were woken up at 07.00 to wash and light the fire to get breakfast on the go, everyone else was woken up at 07.30 to finish setting up the patrol area. After Flag break the Scouts took part in 2 activities Climbing at the tower and tapping a birch tree for the sap. after lunch the scouts took to the pond and had a great time in the water in the sun using the boats and rafts. one of the scouts found a mooring rope from the canoe and managed to pull the canoe out from under one of the others to much laughter from his dad on the bank. his revenge was sweet and taken very cold the following day when taking down the tents he managed to empty a
water container over the offenders head when it popped out under a tent flap... the scouts after cooking their evening meal using an open fire settled down to a campfire sing song both very loud and with actions before hot coco Swiss roll and bed. due to the clocks going forward the scouts went to bed at 10.30 and morning alarm was set back 30 minutes chefs up 07.30 and rest at 08.00. after breakfast the scouts had inter patrol runs at the assault course before an individual run. after lunch the scouts struck camp and cleared the campsite before returning to the scout hut to pack all the kit back into the storerooms ready for the next camp...
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Field Archery – A Scout’s story
In keeping with our “Cub year of adventure”, 1st Crookham Scouts didn’t want to miss out on the fun, and decided to “have a shot” at field archery. For the un-initiated; no - field archery is not shooting arrows in a field! Field archery is walking around a wooded area, shooting arrows from a series of pegs at animal shaped targets. Miss from the first peg, you get to move to a closer peg and if you miss again, then you have a final third chance at an even closer peg. The sooner you hit the target, the higher points you score. Now, we did realise that scouting rules state that we cannot shoot at any targets which the scouts can interpret as animal (or human), so step one was to work out how we could shoot at some suitably shaped targets. A call to Gilwell (which turned into a very long conversation), the initial plan of dinosaurs was a no go – yup even though they are extinct; scouts
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can still treat them as animals even if they are fossils! OK, back to the drawing board resulted in plan 2; cartoon aliens. Thankfully, these are fine, as long as the aliens do not look like any animal on the planet! A quick search on the Internet and samples (like the ones below) were found; Ok, we had a plan, but where could we take 30 scouts round a wood, shooting arrows at a bunch of invading cartoon aliens? That dreaded set of words – risk assessment began to rear its ugly head. Fortunately the major part of the risks – namely the chance of accidentally shooting people, could be resolved by utilising an existing field archery course. These courses are partitioned off from the general public and have the targets set in a way so you are never shooting with the risk of hitting other archers already on the course. Whistles are used to stop all archers on the course in the case
of an incident and there is a whole set of rules and regulations when walking round the course. For example, if you are searching for an arrow, you leave a member of your group at the target to avoid following archers accidentally shooting whilst you are near the target looking for your lost arrow – not a good place to be. Good news! We found a nearby course and after some “gentle persuasion”, Cody Bowmen in Farnborough, agreed to let us loose on their 20 target course. As field archery is as close to “real life” tracking and shooting animals with a bow and arrow as you can get in the UK and we wanted to try and replicate things as much as we could for the scouts. So, we decided to use the barebow or instinctive style of archery. This means; no sights, balancers or aids on the bow of any kind are permitted. On the
plus side; it means nice and simple – great for scouting for a number of reasons; • The bows are cheaper – so 1st Crookham were able to buy some for further activities • The bows we used can be used for both right and left handed archers, again minimising cost • The bows can be used all the way up to 32” draw length, so worked for a wide variety of scout sizes – small, medium and extra large if you like! • Training and education is simpler and quicker than using sights, so any scout who had not got previous experience of archery was able to get trained the same day, prior to the activity. In keeping with the traditional aspect of archery, we even decided to make some arrows as well prior to the event. This helped scouts understand a range of additional aspects of archery; arrow length, tapering, nock and point application, feather/vane angles and gluing. Oh, and it all helps towards badges!
to provide instruction for new archers and a refresh for the more experienced ones.
The day finally arrived, the weather was excellent – always a bonus, we had several trained archery instructors able
We need not have worried, the number of scouts who asked “can we do this next week as well” was significant!
A couple of hours before start-time, we walked the course with the adult leaders, swapped over the targets for our new cartoon aliens and spaceships. We decided to encourage the scouts through a scoring system as well, but to focus on groups and teamwork rather than on an individual basis. The scouts were therefore split into teams of 4 to travel round the course. The nature of all field archery courses mean that several groups can be on the course at one time, without risking the participants. So we ended up with 4 groups active on the course at one time. This was mainly due to the number of bows that we had acquired, to be honest. We did not want to buy equipment before we had confirmed that this was the sort of activity that the scouts (and potentially cubs) would enjoy.
We had estimated the time taken to traverse the course would be roughly 2 hours. However, reality showed that for the 20 targets we were a little out 2½ - 3 hours was more accurate. This was partly due to sharing the bow between each member of the group, partly the excitement of the activity and partly the new experience. Some examples are below; All in all, leaders and scouts alike had a fantastic day. We made a small donation to Cody Bowmen as a “thank you” and we have even been invited back – always a great sign. As we have managed to raise a bunch of cash and have setup a 4 target range within the 1st Crookham compound. We can extend the shooting line out to approximately 30 metres, but for beavers, cubs and scouts, 20 yards is more than enough. So, if you fancy a try in the woods or would like more information about shooting on our own range, then please let us know.
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HMS Raleigh 2017 Report 9th Lymington Sea Scouts Regain Prestigious Otter Shield On 27th January 2017, 2 strong squads from 9th Lymington Sea Scouts & Honor Explorer Unit travelled to Plymouth for the annual Royal Navy Sea Scout Swimming Gala at the HMS Raleigh Navy base. This event has strong competition & very high standards, with both the ‘Explorer Cup’ & prestigious ‘Otter Shield’ being very keenly contested. This was first awarded in about 1910 & has been presented every year since, except during the war years. 9th Lymington have won in the past, the last time in 2009. Arriving at the base early evening, after some fun in the Plymouth Life Centre pools & a supper of fish & chips the Scouts & Explorers settled into their accommodation for the weekend. Saturday saw an early start, with the swimming heats commencing at 8am. Both squads put in maximum effort , taking them into 13 out of the 16 finals, quite an achievement in itself.
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The afternoon saw team building activities, Honor Explorers winning their event. After another early start the finals were held on Sunday morning, all very keenly competed with some very close results. Both Squads gave their all, kept their focus & achieved fantastic results, something like 48 medals & 4 trophies came home. The U14 in particular were very impressive – Evie, Tom L & George - 1st in all their events except one very very close 2nd. The Scout squad also achieved a record time in the rope relay. The Explorer Squad were up against 2 very strong teams from 10th Christchurch & 6th Hamble, nevertheless Callum achieved 1st in U16 freestyle, and they were second in each of their age group medley relays, giving them enough points to achieve a final, very creditable, result of 3rd overall for the Explorers. After the Scouts won their
squad relay there were high hopes for a place in the top 3, it was very close with just some 6 points separating them, final results were 3rd - 10th Christchurch, 2nd – Lilliput, 1st – 9th Lymington. After an outstanding weekend against very strong competition 9th Lymington Sea Scouts had regained the ‘Otter Shield ‘, a well deserved achievement. The long journey home was broken with a stop at Macdonalds to celebrate! Scout Squad – Evie Fawkes ( Captain), George Dunsden, Tom Lawrence, Harry Fitzsimmons, Alex Newman, Alex Van der Hoven Explorer Squad – Callum Fawkes (Captain), Tom Hopkins, Tom Parfett, Joe Thompson Oliver Dossett, Luca Reggio.
Anne Pike Scout Leader 9th Lymington Sea Scouts
3rd Romsey Scout Troop welcomed, The Romsey Dementia Action Group, (ROMDAG), to raise awareness of dementia. This is a problem that affects many of their families. preparing the Scouts by showing them what it is like to live with dementia helps them to understand and become more dementia friendly. Romsey was successfully launched as a Dementia Friendly town in May 2014, since then ROMDAG has visited groups and businesses, set up sessions and organised events. There have been huge changes around Romsey and there is a great deal of support around the town. Ian & Amelia came along from ROMDAG and ran a session giving
the Scouts information, answering questions and including games showing how dementia affects a person’s life. This will give the Scouts the tools to help members of their families, friends or neighbours who have dementia, but it will also ensure they can help the wider community become more dementia-friendly. The Scouts made a list of all the ways our brains help us during the day followed by a game of catch with a ball of string to illustrate the ways the brain interacts all day. Then Ian took a pair of scissors and snipped at various points of the string to show how dementia damages the links between parts of the brain which normally come as second nature. Dementia describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with mobility, problem-solving or language. Although it mainly affects older people, it is not a natural part of aging and 40,000 under 65 have dementia.
barriers in accessing their local communities. With 1,000,000 people in the UK predicted to have dementia by 2025, it’s time for young people to get involved in creating more dementia-friendly communities. From fighting isolation to teaching others to spot the signs, from making communities more accessible to convincing decision makers to find a cure, young people can improve the lives of those affected by dementia for generations to come. At the end of the session all the Scouts agreed to use the skills and knowledge they had gained to be more understanding and to help others become more dementia-friendly. They were given a Dementia Friends pin badge by Amelia and welcomed into the ever-growing group of dementia friends in Romsey. For more information on ROMDAG please visit www.romdag.co.uk
People with dementia all too often find themselves isolated, losing friends and family and facing
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nine miles May 2017
10th Farnborough scouts have started a tradition of a hike once a month around the local countryside. So far these have included places like St Martha’s Hill near Guildford. Devil’s Punchbowl at Hindhead and Selbourne Hanger near Alton.
around the Hampshire countryside between Bentley and Alton.
Our March hike however was going to be particularly special. The nine mile route which was planned by one of our senior scouts took us
The day was even more memorable to four new members who were invested on the lawn in front of our founders house.
What made it so special was that with the kind permission of the current owners we started and finished at Pax Hill the former home of Baden Powell.
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Advanced Rescue
The leaders from Chandlers Ford Scout Canoe Club spent last weekend swimming in the River Usk and the Upper Wye on a white water safety and rescue course. The course was run by Joe Jordan a top national coach and has really given us huge insight into advanced rescue
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techniques. For anyone thinking of going on a course like this the only thing we would say is that though the course was absolutely amazing it was pretty chilly:-) Justin Churcher County Assessor Canoeing/ Kayaking
C e k 33 Cubs from 17 Districts took part in the 2017 County Chess Competition held in Basingstoke West District. Once again the standard of play was very high and the level of sportsmanship was excellent. Congratulations to Finian Dunn from Southampton City who won the under
a e
9 ½ trophy and to James Love from Odiham who won the over 9 ½ trophy. Well done also to Thais Unitt from Basingstoke West and Matthew Hartridge from Waterlooville, who each came second in their respective age groups. The smooth running of the event was due to Paul, from the Basingstoke Chess Club and Jannette, ADC (Cubs) Odiham together with help from Pat (SAS Basingstoke West) and Ian (CCSL).
Sue Eastick ADC (Cubs) Basingstoke West District.
Royal Navy Museums 1st Titchfield were invited by Daniel Ball who runs the Royal Navy Museums to go to the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard and test run the Wren’s 100 years of Service exhibition before it goes out to the public. As you can see we took all three of our sections and 2 young Leaders. We had an amazing day and even the weather was kind.
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Selfie at number 10
On Saturday 25th February the 14th Aldershot Scout Group went on a sightseeing tour of London. We left Aldershot on the 8.30 train and arrived in London at 9.30 and then the tour started. The first group selfie was Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and then on to Westminster Abbey. From Westminster Abbey we went onto Horse Guards. We then had a surprise for the Scouts as we had arranged to have a group photo at the front door of 10 Downing Street where we spent 30 minutes taking lots of photos. Then we went to have lunch at Trafalgar Square before we made our way to Leicester Square to have a look at M&M World. From there we went to Covent Garden to watch some street performers, we then walked through China Town and then onto Piccadilly Circus to visit the gift shop. It was then a stop at Buckingham Palace for some more photos and then through St James Park and a short walk back to Waterloo for a McDonalds. The train arrived back in Aldershot around 8pm, all were very tired but a great day was had by all.
Ferny Crofts 40 Challenges Badge The Ferny Crofts 40 Challenges Badge is launching to Hampshire Scout groups now! We have created a set of Challenges – to earn your badge, you must complete 40 of these challenges. These can be done at your Scout Hut, and on camp at Ferny Crofts. (Don’t forget that Hampshire Groups can use Ferny Crofts on weekday evenings free of charge!) The 40 Challenges Badge is free to join, so to find out more about how to get involved and more about the 40th Birthday, see our website at www.fernycrofts.org.uk/40th-birthday
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Roll of Remembrance Service Sunday May 21st beginning at 3pm Venue: Chandlers Ford Methodist Church, Winchester Road, Chandlers Ford. SO53 2GJ Each year we remember those members of Scouting in Hampshire who, during the last twelve months, have “Gone Home�. This year sees the 25th anniversary of holding such a service and is open to all members of Scouting and Guiding and to family and friends of those who are being recorded. A candle is lit for each name entered on the roll. Names for inclusion can be received up to the day of the service and there are refreshments provided in the hall after the service. We look forward to seeing many of you on this special day. R.S.V.P. Richard Spearing, ACC Scout Active Support Tel: 02392 382682 Email: county.sas@scouts-hants.org.uk
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The Roverang Show is 60 Years Old 20
In 1956, the Itchen Rover Scouts looking for an opportunity to spend more time with the lovely ladies of Itchen Rangers (so the story goes) decided to take a lead from national gangshow superstar Ralph Reader and put on their dancing shoes. Thus, in the following March, on the stage at Sholing Girls School in the suburbs of Southampton Roverang was born, the name taken from the first parts of the sections that had combined. The show was a roaring success and so it went that another performance was put on the following year, and the year after that and so forth, growing both in cast size and venue, finding a home in 1966 at Southampton’s Nuffield Theatre where it continues to be performed, this April being the 60th show! In celebration of this momentous milestone members of cast and crew from across the six decades came together on Saturday 18th March 2017 to celebrate, reminisce, share memorabilia and meet with friends they
May 2017
hadn’t seen in 30 plus years yet chatted like it had only been days. In the afternoon a tea party was held in the very same school hall where it had all began and in the evening the celebrations moved to a slightly larger venue for a full on party. At both were performances from the newly formed Roverang Alumni Choir, made up of former cast members covering each decade of the show’s existence. The 30 members sang a selection of songs including some Ralph Reader, Mama’s and Papa’s, Andrew Lloyd Webber, one from Rent and even a bit of Beyonce! The afternoon tea was opened with the reading of a poem by founding member Derry Williams. Derry sadly passed away just a few months ago and so fellow founder and former producer Jim Mullholland took to the stage to read it. With words that expressed the warmth of memories the show brought to mind and the fondness Derry had for his former castmates it was the perfect way
to not only kick off the celebrations but to also pay respects to those who could not be with us. Displays were also put together full of pictures, programmes, flyers, letters, scripts and more for attendees to look over and smile at what they once had done and worn.
band whose members themselves met through the show and who found themselves some willing and able backing singers and dancers from the assembled crowd. When all was totalled up from sales of tickets, commemorative badges and the bar, over ÂŁ1100 had been raised, meaning that not only had the past of the show been celebrated but the future of the show given a helping hand so that future generations of young members can enjoy the same experiences.
In the evening even more former cast, crew and friends of the show gathered, drank, sang, chatted, laughed and danced the night away not only to the tunes of the choir but also to live music from a local
The celebrations are not over yet though with the 60th show due to take place at the Nuffield Theatre (for the 50th time, due to one year when the theatre was closed in the 70s) from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 22nd April 2017. Friday will be a special reunion performance with former cast and crew encouraged to come along and watch the show then join old friends in the theatre bar afterwards when the Alumni Choir will perform once again.
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Hampshire Scout Heritage
The History of Hampshire Scouting With so many groups now being registered for over 100 years, interest is growing from people about what the history of their group or section or about Scouting in general. This does not only come from those people who are in the movement but also from those who once were and also those whose relative dies and they want to find out about them for whatever reason. You only have to look at Ancestry websites and those for the First World War to see the interest that has grown. For this reason, we have put together some basic information from our County Records and from those at Gilwell, to produce a broad picture of Hampshire Scouting in its early days. It should be remembered that many of the records held by Headquarters, were destroyed in the
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blitz when they were held at 25 Buckingham Palace Road, especially those for individuals, but many do survive and with regards those from our own County, Ken Sherman the archivist has done a superb job in trying to bring them all together so that people can reference them. This is particularly useful when the person has “Gone Home�, the Scout terminology for being deceased. The earliest reference we have in Hampshire is for 1908 when Eric Walker who was the Headquarters organizing secretary for Southern England asked for the help of Mr. Francis Patmore and the Rev. Higham, in piecing together how things were going. Mr Patmore was the Scoutmaster of the 1st Lymington Scout troop who are believed to be the first formed in the County. The date of registering is 13.10.1908. The problem comes in the fact that some early troops were formed but not officially recognized until later. One such example is the 1st Portsmouth Sea Scout Troop who were doing water activities in 1908 alongside the home of William Wylie, the marine
artist. Wylie knew BP and had spoken to him about the experimental camp he was going to hold at Brownsea Island. Wylie had the idea of doing a similar thing but on the water. He and his son had built a gig and so during the summer he and his son took some boys from Portsea and from the Portsmouth Grammar School, out on the water. That was the beginning of the troop, who are still going strong and are now the only Sea Scout Group in the City. It is interesting to note that the 2nd Portsmouth was also a Sea Scout Group under the leadership of Lt.Cdr. J. Boyd-Buckle. Unlike the 1st who were based at the harbour entrance, the 2nd were in the north of the city around Hilsea and Farlington. It will be noted, that many of the early members of Scouting involved in the leadership and administration of the movement were also serving or ex military, members of the reserve forces, members of the peerage and those involved in civic roles. This is not surprising considering the position of BP. In July 1909, Mr. Patmore
was appointed as County Chief Scoutmaster and organizer responsible for the County and the first official listing of the County by Scout Headquarters took place. Again, it must be remembered that the registering of Counties by HQ was a long task for what at the time was a small team of supporters. As a result, most things were done alphabetically and “H” was not at the top of the list. This later multiplied itself when it came to registering districts which was not done until all the counties were complete. The first official County Commissioner for Hampshire was appointed in September 1909 and was the Honorable Harry G.L.Crichton who was also ADC to HM the King. It was also the time when C.B.Fry and Warrington Baden-Powell are credited with starting Sea Scouts on board the Mercury training ship moored on the Hamble River. In the following year, the Marquess of Winchester was to become the first County President. The date is registered as 13th January and is also the date confirming the appointment of Harry Crichton as the County
Commissioner. In looking at our history, the name of Harry Crichton is still in existence because there is a current group called 4th Itchen South (Netley) who are known as Sir Harry Crichton’s Own. In the records we have two nametapes, one green and one blue. The records also have a group badge depicted, similar in design to Royal Navy crests, but we do not have the actual badge. Only a picture. Please could we have one for the records? We believe their scarf is plain red which would account for the colour of the badge. Like William Wyllie, Harry Crichton was a friend of BP who used to come and stay with him in his home at Netley Castle and the group used to use the boathouse in the early years. Sadly it later became a private residence so is no longer used by the group. Another interesting point is that in the early days of Scouting, troops could be registered as Land Scouts, Sea Scouts or Cyclist Scouts. The 4th were one such registered group. By now, Headquarters in London were producing a monthly magazine
for leaders called the Headquarter’s Gazette and this listed groups and the names of leaders and sometimes the number of scouts registered with that group. Also, groups were appearing in the Gazette from Commonwealth countries who were joining the movement with Australia and Canada being two of the first. Copies of these early magazines are a great help in finding out about early details which were “Officially” recognized. Locally, it could be a different matter which is why we have anomalies in the system. The City of Portsmouth District celebrated its Centenary in 2010 but we have now found a warrant issued to a leader in the City dated 1909. As can be seen, the dates do not match. We will, in later issues, talk about all sorts of events which became part of Hampshire Scout History. The Emlyn Trophy, Itchen Towpath event, Gang Shows and Ferny Crofts might be some. If you have anything you may think is of interest to others, please let us know and if anything we have said is incorrect, let us know about that too.
www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
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Hampshire County Scouts Contingents to the 24th World Scout Jamboree in the USA 2019 Participant Applications We are in the process of finalising the application process for participants to apply to be a part of the Hampshire World Scout Jamboree Units in 2019. Please visit the website at www.hampshirescouting.org.uk/WSJ for the latest information. If the application form is ready, it will be on the website, otherwise, young people can register to receive notice when it is available. Scouts and Explorers can attend the 24th World Scout Jamboree as participants if they are between their 14th and 18th Birthday as of 22nd July 2019 (this roughly means those that are 11¾ - 15¾ now). Those that are 18 or over, can still register on the website above to attend as a member of the International Service Team (IST). We will E-mail these as soon as information on the IST is released. The participant selection weekend is 15th to 17th September 2017, at Ferny Crofts. Participant attendance for the whole weekend will be required as part of the selection process. As per previous years, we will also be running other Expeditions alongside the Jamboree, as we probably will not be able to take all youth applicants to the Jamboree. More details will follow in due course. Mark Duffy - wsj@scouts-hants.org.uk
HOO18 Come and join us at
Hampshire’s Big Jamboree
from 29th July to 4th August 2018 at Buddens Farm, Dorset
Open to: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Network, Young Leaders, Active Support & Leaders
Register interest at www.h0018.co.uk 24
May 2017
Edward and The Kingsmen
Over the weekend of 1st and 2nd April 2017 Edward King of the Stormhounds Explorer Unit based at 1st Blackmoor and Whitehill Scout Group, with the kind assistance of 3 fellow Explorer Scouts on Saturday and 4 on Sunday, completed his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition. This also completed his Chief Scout’s Platinum Award. What was even more special about this is that Edward completed this on World Autism Awareness Day. For
Edward this is a huge achievement considering Edward has ADHD, ASD and learning difficulties. The Leadership team led by Trevor Cooper deserve a lot of credit for the time they put in arranging the expedition and the hours spent with Edward in achieving these awards. Special mention to the willing Explorers, who themselves have gained their DofE Bronze and Platinum Awards previously, who chose to hike with Edward over the weekend and were dubbed The Kingsmen. They were described by Trevor as ‘Legends’ as without them he could not have done it. Steven Boardman, District Advisor for Duke of Edingburgh’s Award, and Edward’s assessor said the following: Edward surpassed all expectations throughout the two day Bronze expedition. As the
expedition progressed Edward’s confidence and enthusiasm increased tremendously. Edward showed that he had a good understanding of navigating and was always part of the lead team over the two days. Edward showed that he had a good understanding of all aspects of campcraft including demonstrating how to use a gas cooking stove correctly. Edward was a credit to his unit over this Bronze expedition. Well done Edward. Several of the Leaders present and who are involved with the Explorer Scouts have known Edward since he joined Beavers at 6 years old and are amazed at the transformation in him over the years. His enthusiam over the weekend was fantastic everyone is very proud of Edward for what he has achieved, and now for his DofE Silver Award.
Pictured showing Edward being presented with his Chief Scout’s Platinum Award by District Commisioner Mark Hughes after completion of his 25km hike over 2 days. By Guy Townsend Assiatant District Commisioner (Scouts) Rotherfield District.
www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
25
Survival Bracelets
Monday night, the night where our group, the Drum Explorer Scout Unit, prepares themselves mentally and physically for the next day, week, or even years ahead. We are currently focusing on the Survival Skills Activity Badge. Step 9 of the 12 steps towards the badge is to “Make an item of equipment that will be of use to you on a survival exercise.” So tonight we make something beautiful, elegant and practical. Tonight we make a Paracord Survival Bracelet. 100 metres of cordage is laid out on a table where each individual will choose the colours they desire. After some basic
26
May 2017
instruction they get to work, heads down and focused on achieving something that they’ll be proud to wear on a day to day basis. A bit of fumbling around with the process but eventually everyone has a finished product. On another Monday night the games begin. Creative thinking and basic maths are behind a well used Paracord Survival Bracelet. How can this be used around the house? In a situation where someone has a broken arm/leg? To build a shelter? In replacement of a fishing pole? To store a food bag in a tree away from hungry animals?
Separated into small groups they try out some theories to see how this tool could help them in different scenarios. Taking the same amount of cordage that was used for their bracelets, the cordage is stripped, tied together, tested for strength, broken, and put to use in myriad ways. The night has been a learning experience for all of us, Explorers and leaders alike, and we look forward to the next camping trip where something will inevitably not go to plan and our bracelets may be just the tool to fix such a dilemma.
Kyle Petersfield Drum ESU
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www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
27
13th MAY 2017
NUMEROUS CLASS OPTIONS PLENTY OF TROPHIES TO COMPETE FOR
Promoting rowing on the Hamble River, and assisting local causes;
www.hambleriverraid.org CONTACT ANDY CUNNINGHAM ANN FREEMAN ANNETTE DYKE
: 07921 651 264 andy@hambleriverraid.com : 07742 922974 ann@hambleriverraid.com : 023 80 441007
SEE WEBSITE OR CONTACT FOR ENTRY FEES & RACE INSTRUCTIONS .
Bird Trail 2017 What is the Bird Trail? The Bird Trail is a fun day at the beautiful Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve designed for children and young people to have a go and develop their bird watching skills with skilled support from Hampshire Ornithological Society and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust volunteers and leaders. Groups of children with their adult leader will follow a trail of bird watching and activity stations around the nature reserve, including bird hides, pond dipping, owl pellet dissection, tree identification, bird ringing demonstration, moth trap investigation and a birds of prey display by Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre.
The Bird Trail is a team challenge collecting points as you go around the stations. At the end of the trail, the points will be added up and certificates and prizes given to the teams at a finishing ceremony. Chris Packham has been a supporter of the Bird Trail for many years and hopes to make an appearance at the event this year, subject to filming obligations.
www.hiwwt.org.uk
When Sunday 24th September 2017 Team registration will be from 9am, the bird trail will start at 10am and finish at 2pm– 2:30pm
How to book a team Teams must be booked ahead of the event. To book a team, please email blashfordlakes@hiwwt.org.uk
The Bird Trail will be a free event delivered by the Hampshire Ornithological Society and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. To support the work of the Trust and HOS, teams will be asked to raise a minimum donation of £20. The groups can choose their own fundraising challenge, an example could be ‘to spot 40 different species’ or they could ask sponsors to give 10p per bird species seen. Details of how to give are on the sponsorship form. The Blashford Project is a partnership between Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, the New Forest District Council, Bournemouth Water and Wessex Water.
Protecting wildlife, inspiring people
CHOICE OF TWO SUPER 6 HOUR CHALLENGES
SUNDAY 25TH JUNE 2017 AT
KAYAK
CYCLE
RUN
HOW FAR WILL YOU GO? FROM 5K TO ULTRA MARATHON FOR TEAMS OF UP TO FOUR OR INDIVIDUALS S U I TA B L E F O R A L L F I T N E S S L E V E L S
R E G I S T E R TO DAY IN ASSOCIATION WITH
www.rainbowcentre.org/events fundraising@rainbowcentre.org
01329 289500 Raising money for children and adults across the South coast with:
CER E BR AL PAL S Y, PAR KI NS O N’ S , S T ROK E, MULT I PL E S C L EROS I S & H EAD I NJ URY