Our Review www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
Welcome to the 2017 review of Hampshire Scouts
contents 3. Chairman’s Report 4. County Commissioner’s Report 6. Our Year In Numbers
About Us Hampshire Scouts provides adventurous activities and personal development opportunities for over 18,500 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.
8. Beaver Scouts 10. Cub Scouts 12. Scouts 14. Explorer Scouts 16. Scout Network 18. Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals 19. Hampshire Scout Youth Council 20. Queen’s Scout Award & Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
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 t: 023 8084 7847
22. International 24. Our 2017 Queen’s Scouts 25. St George’s Day Awards 2017 26. Community Impact/Involvement 27. Our Development Project
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’.
28. Ferny Crofts - Scout Activity Centre 30. Scout Active Support 31. Hampshire Scout Heritage
2
Our Review | 2017
Chairman’s Report Thank you once again to everyone who has helped support the young people of Hampshire having “fun and adventure’. You will see this from the many great photographs in this 2017 annual report.
to the role of County Commissioner at a ceremony at the Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium at the end of August, and we wish Martin all the luck leading Hampshire Scouts through our next phase of growth and development.
2017 was a transition year for Hampshire Scouting, as after 8 years at the helm, Adam Jollans stood down as County Commissioner. The appointment of a new CC, especially with the number of years Adam had managed the County for, will always bring its new challenges and priorities, initially this involved finding a replacement, and a big thank you to everyone in the County team who has taken on this new challenge.
Another key decision taken was to increase our paid Growth and Development team. We thank Vanessa Slawson for her work and commitment over the last 7 years, and we look forward to the increase in staffing by two part time Growth and development Officers to support her and help grow our numbers as the Scout Association strategy.
We formally welcomed Martin Mackey
Once again, a personal thank you to
the County Executive Committee for their support over the last 12 months. At the AGM Gail Adams stood down after many years as Solent Cluster representative and we thank Gail for her years of service. We also welcomed Nigel Valette and Andy Cullen to the team to represent Solent and North East Clusters respectively. Thanks also to Lucie, Linda and Jon in the County Office for their help, support and continued commitment.
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
3
County Commissioner
4
Our Review | 2017
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
5
Our Year In Numbers New Leaders for Scouting in Hospitals
Years
Caterpillar Camps at Naomi House
Participants took part in the Youth Council’s weekends, representing 22 of our 27 Districts
International Adventures
6
Our Review | 2017
Anniversary of the Roll of Remembrance Service. Hampshire Scout Active Support Young Leaders attended various training courses across the county
Nights away
at County Scout Events
Beavers visited Paultons park
Network Scout Members Teams took part in our County Cub Football Competition
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
7
Beaver Scouts
2017 saw another year of adventure for Hampshire Beaver Scouts. The year’s first event was joining in with the fun at Link Camp including the celebrations of Ferny Crofts 40th Birthday. The event was great for all the Young People and a good deal of hard work for the extended Beaver team who ran the cooking zone. A great celebration of the wonderful campsite we have available to us and a glimpse of things to come later in the year. The year also brought our 3rd Season of Picnic in the Park events which were enjoyed throughout the county with an exclusive badge for those attending a picnic. The biggest challenge of the year was undoubtedly the first County Beaver Scout Camp at Ferny Crofts in September. This gave the opportunity of jamboree style camping to nearly 300 Beaver Scouts from across the county who got to join in activities including archery, climbing, cooking and candy-floss. It was great seeing our colourful rainbow of people with all their different groups coloured t-shirts and goody bags making spotting someone in the wrong place much easier than normal! Paultons Park had a twist this year as it was changed to an autumn event rather than its traditional early Christmas theme. The weather was kind to us all weekend and the earlier date gave us the advantage of much more of the park being open. It also gave the chance to visit on a Saturday or Sunday for the first time giving more flexibility. The year concluded with a chance for Leaders from across the county to come together and make plans for 2018 and also say a huge thank you to Chris Scott who bowed out from Beaver Scouting after many years supporting the adventure for all the colonies in Hampshire. Huge thanks to all the Leaders and other adults who made 2017 happen and looking forward to the challenges of 2018 and beyond!
8
Our Review | 2017
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
9
Cubs
10
Our Review | 2017
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
11
Scouts
12
Our Review | 2017
The County Section Team has supported a number of initiatives for the Scout Section over the last year to help support Leaders in creating a varied Programme. Included in the programme of events were: •
County Patrol Leader/Assistant Patrol Leader (PL/APL) Forums, which included a Q & A with the County Commissioner and their views on what they liked and disliked about being a Scout.
• PL/APL Training Weekends, where Scouts learnt about leader and communication skills, planning and how to deal with challenging behaviour. • Expedition Challenge, to help Scouts complete their Chief Scouts Gold Award, where Scouts completed a two day hike or bike expedition in the New Forest. • Survival Skills Weekend to complete the requirements for the Badge, which included create a bivi, cooking on an open fire and learning survival skills. • A high octane activity weekend for Scouts along with a Summer Camp for Scouts who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend a weeks camp. In addition Troops completed a new set of challenges including Crazy Camping where they had to find an inventive place to camp or sleep overnight, which included a bell tower, aircraft hanger, military bunker, vicarage garden and many more. PLs were also challenged to set the Troops a challenge to do more of what the Scouts wanted over the year, with examples of more night hikes, wide games and water activities being amongst the favourites. Thank you to the dedicated Team who support this programme and to the Scout Leaders who make such an effort to put on a fantastic programme for their Scouts.
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
13
Explorer Scouts
14
Our Review | 2017
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
15
Scout Network
16
Our Review | 2017
Network continues to grow in Hampshire, we now have new Network sections starting in Romsey, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh and Rotherfield. These Districts are working hard to get these new Network units fully established. The pictures shown give a good flavour of Network Scouting across Hampshire. Network is a section of scouting for 18-25 year-olds, so the adventure doesn’t have to stop at 18. Unlike other sections of scouting, Network is completely flexible around the Network membership, their studies, and work commitments. The members get to decide what activities they want to do and when they would like to do them. There’s over 200 fun and challenging activities for them to enjoy in Network such as kayaking, archery, climbing, crate stacking, shooting and camping. The benefit of being a network member is it can also boost the member’s CV by completing awards such as the Duke of Edinburgh, Explorer Belt and Queen Scout Award. A Network section in a district can also be a huge inspirational message of good in scouting and offer the wider district huge support. If any other districts would like support from me in starting a new unit please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
17
Hampshire Scouts in Hospitals Well our biggest news from 2017 is that we have grown! On 11th September our new group started up at Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth and we have been sharing activities with young people there every other Monday night. They have adopted the name Puffins which links both the maritime aspect of QA and the Southampton group who are known as the Knightingales. We launched at QA, appropriately enough, with a paper plane evening and since then have had paper chain competitions, nail varnished stained glass (lots of ventilation required!), lego car building, cup stacking and cotton bud skeletons. Also in October at Southampton we had a record evening seeing 16 young people and numbers there continue to be consistently in double figures. We also had a brilliant week linking with the play teams “superhero” theme and dressing rubber ducks as superheroes. We have held five afternoon activity “camps” at Naomi House, including one com Eye with a tent and a “bubble” camp fire. We are also exploring supporting other activities there for both siblings and specific groups they hold for children facing life shortening conditions. So as always we need more help. If you think you have time to give or want a different challenge, once a fortnight, please contact me. Parents, staff and patients continue to be grateful for our activities and I will leave the last word to Laura, mum of Alexander who Martin, one of the Puffins, met in QA “We have just had a visit from Martin who has entertained my little boy. Alexander has autism & often struggles with meeting new people or engaging in activities, Martin was amazing & got Alexander’s attention & made his day! Alexander has complex medical needs & had a reflux mid way through creating his ‘cyborg alien robot pirate duck’, Martin kept him engaged whilst I busily cleaned the mess! They created a real masterpiece & brightened Alexander’s day Thank you.”
18
Our Review | 2017
Hampshire Scout Youth Council 2017 was another fantastic year for youth involvement in Hampshire. We held our 14th conference in March and welcomed Alistair Bruce, one of our ambassadors, to join us for dinner. During the weekend, our members came up with the ideas for the “project 19” international trip, as well as prepared for the Summit national conference in April - where 3 of our members attended to represent Hampshire. At the national conference, our members had the chance to provide feedback on the proposed strategy for The Scout Association, as well as use the opportunity to meet with others and share ideas. During May, a number of our members helped to run the World Scout Jamboree selection weekend for leaders - which saw over 50 adults put through their paces with young people organising early morning aerobics as well as conducting interviews with everyone. In June last year we organised our second county AGM, which was an event to remember - from the flash mob to the
online quiz, it was a great showcase of young people’s ideas driving another important part of the Hampshire Scouts calendar. In October we held our 15th conference - with 60 participants, who had a busy weekend focusing on feeding back into the national consultation on the new strategy. We also used the opportunity to thank Adam Jollans, the outgoing county commissioner, who had provided the initiative for youth shaped scouting in Hampshire.”
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
19
Queen’s Scout Award & Duke of Edinburgh’s Award “The Ultimate Scouting Achievement”
20
Our Review | 2017
From the Lake District to the Lochs of Scotland and from Snowdonia to Switzerland, 15 Hampshire Scouts have hiked, paddled, climbed and sailed hundreds of miles to complete the expedition phase of their Queen’s Scout Award, Scouting’s highest achievement. They have developed new skills ranging from sports leadership to scrambling, and from campanology to scuba diving. On the way they have provided hours of voluntary service; helping in at Scouting Groups, in Care Homes and working on environmental improvements. Their expedition projects included a study of Beatrix Potter, the air craft crash sites in the Brecon Beacons and a study of landforms. Recognition of young people’s achievements is important and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is one of the most widely recognised, valued by educational establishments and employers alike. The three levels (Bronze, Silver and Gold) and the balanced programme (Volunteering, Skill, Physical,
Expedition and Residential) make it a challenge, allowing young people to spend time in new places, meet new people and learn new skills, along with developing their communication, organisational and team working skills. And they get memories that will last a lifetime! We have had nearly 500 register for their DofE and we have achieved 211 Bronze, 92 Silver and 36 Gold Awards. The Scout Association Chief Scout awards, culminating in the highest award in Scouting, the Queen’s Scout Award are closely linked to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, with additional challenges of participation in the Scouting programme, camping, thinking about the international dimension, undertaking community/ environmental projects and thinking about their values and that of others.
new ‘Top Award’ brand, organising a residential over two weekends to walk the 100 miles of the South Downs Way and planning the first ever Young Leaders’ Rally. With a new focus on Top Awards, we will be looking at promoting the full range of top awards including the Explorer Belt (a ten day expedition learning about the culture of another country) and the Scout of the World Award (an 80 hour project on a theme of peace, environment or sustainable development.) Thanks must go to all the Explorer Scout Leaders, District Advisers, County Advisers, Assessors and others who support this important part of our work and we look forward to an even more exciting year next year.
Our Top Award ambassadors have supported a range of programmes throughout the year including helping run Young Leader training, creating a
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
21
International
22
Our Review | 2017
Hampshire Scouting continues to travel the globe, being involved in 23 separate International expeditions during 2017. Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland is still one of the most common destinations, with 6 expeditions during 2017. Within Europe, Hampshire also visited Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Ireland. Further afield, we had groups visit the USA, Malawi, Tanzania, Patagonia and Gambia. The International expeditions have a
wide range of purposes. Some trips are about having fun and taking part in adventure, and some trips carry on with our community projects and developing remote rural facilities and communities in third world countries. Hampshire Scouting has the ability to offer almost every type of expedition available to our young people. In 2017, the expeditions have involved 208 adult members and leaders, and 416 young people. Without the leaders giving up valuable time to take part in these International expeditions, our young people would not have such a wide
range of fantastic opportunities. As a County, Hampshire continues to leads the way across UK Scouts, having recorded the highest number of expeditions and people taking part, of any Scout County in the UK. We are also a leader in non-European based Scout Expeditions.
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
23
Our 2017 Queen’s Scouts
24
Our Review | 2017
Silver Wolf
St George’s day awards 2017
Silver Acorn
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
25
Community Impact/Involvement
26
Our Review | 2017
Our Development Project
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
27
Ferny Crofts
28
Our Review | 2017
Fun, Challenge and Adventure
29
Scout Active Support
30
Our Review | 2017
Hampshire Scout Heritage
Protecting the past & informing the present Fun, Challenge and Adventure
31
t: e: fb: tw: w:
02380 847847 county.office@scouts-hants.org.uk www.facebook.com/hampshirescouts @hampshirescouts www.hampshirescouts.org.uk
Hampshire Scouts, The County Office, Ferny Crofts, Beaulieu Road, Beaulieu, Brockenhurst. SO42 7YQ
Registered Charity Number: 1015788