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A fairly short Tom’s turn this month, secure in the knowledge that most of you are too busy getting ready for Peak or the Jamboree to read too much. In the past I have not really mentioned those who have passed away, leaving that to groups and districts who knew them best. But this year has seen already several Scouters “Go Home” who are known a lot wider. I think it is only fitting to mention them and to pass on our condolences to the families of Brian Lugg from Chesterfield, Gill Beasley from South Derbyshire, Malcolm Price from Long Eaton and most recently John Pye from Derby East. All offered Scouting in very different ways, all contributing a tremendous amount and all missed by Scouting friends as well as their families. If there is a theme this term it has to be that of change. We welcome four new District Commissioners - Gary Chalklin to Belper, Nick Griffiths to Derwent & Dove, Simon Temple to Dronfield and Mike Long to Ilkeston with two more on the way before the year is out, those in East Scarsdale and Derby North. A new DCC Training, Rita Hickin, supported by a Deputy CTM in Paul Adcock with two further appointments to be made. We welcome Ricky Harrison to the role of ACC Cub Scouts in what will be a very busy first 18 months, with his role at Peak and organising the County Cub 100 year celebrations in 2016. Finally as you all know, I will be standing down after a very busy, even intense 6 years. Ricky got off to the best start by meeting the Chief Scout, Bear Grylls at Lea Green recently - even getting his I-pad case signed. Only a couple of weeks ago we had two brilliant
events both attended by the Chief - a District camp at Gradbach and a Cub activity day at Lea Green. Both events reflected the hard work that had gone into making them the successes they were. Both received praise nationally. For the Cubs it was real adventure in this, their year of adventure. Just how cool is having a helicopter land in the middle of your field! Elsewhere Vision 2018 is well in our sights with all districts following the conference having some sort of plan for growth, one of the key areas in vision 2018. Please let me know of any local successes you are having so I can spread the word. Derby Area, who are so successful with Stamp and Deliver, have just donated enough money for the “Blood Bikes” to purchase another motorbike how about that for community impact? Finally I know lot’s and lot’s in fact thousands of you will be off to Peak soon for what will be, for our young people, a very memorable experience, for you, our leaders, a very busy and at times possibly a stressful week. I am sure at times there will be annoyances but please put them into context. Angela and Adey have spent the last three and a half years organising Peak and other managers about 2 years - all volunteers like you, most, if not all, with another role in Scouting or Guiding. They have done this to ensure the best possible time for all. So if you need to say anything to them please make sure “Thank you” is in there and have a brilliant week. If you are not at Peak but representing the County at the World Jamboree in Japan, or with Bakewell at Harlem or one of the other camps all the above applies. But above all else have fun and enjoyment. Tom
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WIN A FANTASTIC INDOOR CLIMBING SESSION FOR YOUR GROUP EXCLUSIVE competition for the Scout Association in Derbyshire from Alter Rock Indoor Climbing Gym and Activity Centre, Derby.
Your entries must be in by 31st July 2015. For more information and full terms and conditions see our website. www.alterrock.co.uk/scout-comp/ If your names are chosen as the best by the artist Jo Litchfield who painted the picture then your pack or troop of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers or Scout Network can come along for a free afternoon or evening of fantastic fun at Alter Rock. If you don’t win, you might want to consider an activity session at Alter Rock, it’s popular with many Scout Association groups. More info enclosed. Here’s what one local group said about their trip to Alter Rock:
We have two new characters at Alter Rock indoor climbing gym and activity centre. They guard the entrance to our indoor Labyrinth Cave system where you are challenged to crawl through the maze of tunnels inside our climbing walls. We would like you to think of a good name for each of the characters. We only want one name for each character from each group so if you can think of more you will have to vote on the best - or pick two names out of a hat. To help you, we have an entry form attached or available to download from the website that you can print out and show to your group.
“28 Scouts and 2 hours of fun, challenge and adventure at Alter Rock, Derby and what a great night. We were met by friendly and helpful staff who quickly organised the Scouts into groups for the activities. Kitted out, safety check done and off they went. Four activities for the Scouts to rotate around, Abseil, Climb, high ropes and caving challenge all under one roof. All of the instructors were keen to support the youngsters and motivate and guide when a bit of encouragement was needed. Throughout the whole evening we felt very safe in their hands. A fantastic facility in the heart of Derby. Definitely coming back again. Gavin Brookes Assistant Scout Leader (ASL) 4th Belper Scout Group
Wow…. what an exciting time to join cub scouting! Year of adventure, Centenary Celebrations and launch of the new refreshed programme! For those who I haven’t yet managed to visit, my name is Ricky Harrison I’m the new ACC Cub Scouts for Derbyshire. I have been in scouting in Derbyshire since the age of six and have gone all the way through every section. I have held various roles, and my last role was Group Scout Leader at Newhall in South Derbyshire. I’m looking forward to the challenges and adventures of cub scouting in Derbyshire! Where better to start in my new role than county cub activity day at Lea Green in Matlock. 300 cub scouts from across Derbyshire came together to have a day of fun and adventures, undergoing a wide range of adventurous activities. The day was a great success, even the chief scout – Bear Grylls dropped in to join in on the adventure and fun. A MASSIVE thank you too all those involved in the planning and delivering the day! Lea Green, County Media Team, County SASU’s, Cub Scout Leaders and helpers and the Cubs for having such a great day! Help us to improve the event for 2017! If you have any feedback, good or bad related to this event please email: acccubs@derbyshirescouts.org
The year of adventure is upon us and we hope you and your pack are getting involved! This year has been designated as a warm up to the cub 100th Birthday celebrations in 2016 where we will commemorate one hundred years of cub scouts,
with Local, District and County celebrations. We’ve stared with ‘All things 100’ in March to ‘Underground’ in December. We want your cub pack to take part in one activity ideally adventurous related to each month’s theme! Each month’s theme can be found at: https:// members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources Don’t worry if you’ve not yet started, there’s plenty of time to catch up! We’ve even created you a ‘Year of Adventure Record Card’ these are available to download from the Derbyshire Scout Website or from your ADC. This year is about giving cub scouts the opportunity to enjoy the excitement, exhilaration and challenge of adventurous activities. Cub scouts that complete all 10 activities over the course of the year will be awarded the, county created, year of adventure challenge badge! Along with the year of adventure challenge badge, there is also another 3 limited edition centenary badges to be earned over the centenary celebration period, These include; The Thank you event, Adventure Camp & Promise Renewal! At the end of the celebrations cubs will have a memento to help them remember the exciting, fun & challenging adventures! Order forms for centenary badge packs will be available from your ADC. Are you Ready?..... 1 Campsite, 1800 campers, 1 weekend in July 2016! County Cub Scout Centenery camp is coming! Bookings open 1st October 2015! Keep your eyes peeled for emails, Facebook releases and the Derbyshire Website for more details!
Rampage 2015 This competition appears to be even more popular year on year. Having only issued the Entry letter on the 1st June, we were full by the 18th! Perhaps we need to see if it would be possible to increase the field for future years?
Chief Scout’s Gold Awards As I write this, we have 56 names already – to go forward to the next presentation. For saying we had 160 names for the February presentation at the Winding Wheel, this is a fantastic achievement. The Peak presentation will take place on Sunday 26th July in the GAZ marquee and we are privileged to have Wayne Bulpitt – Chief Commissioner for the UK to do the honours. Closing date for this is 30th June. Invitations will go out 1st July. Probably most of the ones we will be presenting then will be based on the old awards scheme but hopefully when we have the next one in February (reserve 14th February for the next one at the Winding Wheel) we will see them coming through with the new scheme.
The Kinder – Kinder Extreme & Kinder Challenge With all the preparations for Peak, don’t forget to get your entry in for The Kinder, be it the Challenge or if you have done that and want to progress, why not try the Extreme this year. If you have yet to try it for your Troop, why not check out the website or just ask those that have done it before and come and give it a go. www.derbyshirescouts.org/kinder
Dragon Awards I know we have a few awards to present at Peak, if you have any more near completion, please contact Colin Newton with your completed Record Cards and we will try to get the badges for you. If you don’t know anything about this great award scheme go to www.scoutswales.org.uk to find out all about it. Have a great Peak – don’t forget to pop in to the Global Awareness Zone to see us and also encourage your Scouts to come along and have a go at earning a couple of badges.