beavers

E E R F M B OR E E A J N I JO I N B O OK L E

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rs Scout Leade r e v a e B r ine fo The magacztober/November 2010 O

All join in

Your Beavers can too

Overseas connections

Match up with a Colony abroad

S P E T S L SMAL f nce o e i r e p x e ’s r One leadeg a new Colony buildin

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Beaver Scout Team: Karen Jameson (UK Adviser for Beaver Scouts) Jenny Winn (Programme and Development Adviser for Beaver Scouts) Contact them at: programme@scouts.org.uk Tel: 0845 300 1818 Published by: The Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Bury Road Chingford, London E4 7QW Contributions to: scouting.magazine@scouts.org.uk This issue’s contributor: Maggie Bleksley

ADVERTISING Richard Ellacott richard.ellacott@thinkpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 8962 1258 Read all the other Section supplements online at www.scouts.org.uk/magazine

What you’ve been up to over the last few months: Sixteen Beaver Scouts from 1st 0 for Sandstone in Cheshire raised £1,00 the charity Children on the Edge. They completed a six mile hike along the ing Sandstone Trail which included visit re the 13th century Beeston Castle whe they spent two hours exploring.

INTRO

Simply joining in

Jenny Winn introduces your latest issue of the Beaver supplement A Join-in-Jamboree booklet is included with this issue. The activities have been put together to help your Beaver Scouts feel part of the 22nd World Scout Jamboree which takes place next summer in Sweden. There are activities on a different theme for each month, starting in October 2010 and running until September 2011.

The overall theme for the Jamboree is Simply Scouting. You could use this as a starting point to plan your programmes for weekly meetings, day trips or sleepovers. If you know someone locally who is attending the Jamboree, either as a participant or as a member of the International Service Team, invite them to talk to your Colony after the Jamboree to tell of their experiences.

Download the sectional Join-in-Jamboree resources at www.scouts.org.uk/wsj2011.

A world of Beavers To tie in with the Join-in-Jamboree theme, Maggie Bleksley suggests your Beavers pick up their pencils and start writing to their counterparts overseas.

Beaver Scout Leader Deborah Robson is pleased to give something back to her community. Read her story of inspiration and hard work.

Contents 4 From zero to a full house Starting a Colony from scratch

8 Friends across the water Connect your Colony with one overseas

9 Faith and awareness events Dates for your calendar

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From zero to a full house Lending a helping hand one evening was the start of a hugely fulfilling journey for one Cheshire leader.

Rose Wells finds out more 4

Beavers October/November 2010

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FEATURE

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eborah Robson is proud to be a Beaver Scout Leader. She was the force behind forming the new Beaver section of the 1st Handforth Scout Group in Cheshire.

Deborah had been in Scouting for 14 years becoming a Cub Scout Leader in 2004. ‘I went along to help out the Scouts at Handforth one evening having taken a break from my usual role. They did not have a Beaver section and I realised I could help them by starting one up,’ she says.

Going up …

Deborah took up the challenge last October. With the help of her father, Assistant Beaver Scout Leader Bill (known as Mr B) and a friend Denise.

By January 1st Handforth Beaver Scout Colony was up and running.

‘We contacted local schools, asking them to hand out flyers saying a new Beaver Colony was starting up,’ says Deborah. ‘Posters were put up in newsagents, the library and the local Community Centre. I printed these at home and the Handforth Scout Group contributed towards the cost of paper and ink. We started with six Beavers and within a month we had a full Colony.’

As word of the new Beaver section spread, more names appeared on the joining list and parents and carers enquired about spaces for those too young to join at present. The adults are also very willing to help and participate enabling Deborah to hold a Pirate-themed sleepover and an abseiling event.

‘When Beavers join,’ she says, ‘the parents are sent a welcome letter and I always ask for help when letting them know about activities. Six parents are now part of my planning team.’

… and going down The Beavers are fortunate to have a climbing wall at their headquarters.

They spent an evening climbing to prepare for a trip to Tegg’s Nose Country Park, where 13 of them took part in abseiling. Deborah chose this event as it will count as part of their Adventure Activity and Outdoor Challenge Badges.

She checked with Headquarters at Gilwell Park that abseiling would be appropriate for Beavers and was fully prepared.

Although she says the rock must have seemed very large to them, Deborah is proud of how courageous the Beavers were. ‘When the first Beaver, Jack, abseiled down it was very emotional for all of us to see such a small child accomplish such a task. It’s a moment I will never forget.’ she says.

Jack himself wasn’t phased by the experience. ‘My favourite part was going down the wall. Stepping over the edge was a bit scary but it was good to be first. I loved my red helmet as I support Manchester United.’ His friend Alex also took it in his stride. ‘It wasn’t that scary. It was great fun. The instructors were great and helped me a lot. Everyone gave me a big clap and cheer. I can’t wait to do it again.’

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All for one It wasn’t just the Beavers who enjoyed the event. With their apprehension about the event now gone, some of the parents put on the harness and had a go themselves, followed by the leaders and helpers, including Mr B who is in his seventies.

Deborah sums up her feelings about her Colony.

‘I used to be Cub-mad but now I’m Beaver-mad. I felt this was the right move and an opportunity to help my own community.’

What do the parents think about the new section?

‘What a great achievement. Look at all the badges they have earned which is down to Deborah and her helpers’ ‘I think you do a great job!’

‘We are grateful for all the hard work to make Beavers such a fantastic experience’.

And what does Beaver Ethan have to say?

‘I really like going on trips, the sleepover and the boat race. I love getting badges and going every single week. I wish I could go on holiday weeks as well. And I like making new friends.’

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more info For help and advice on starting up a new Colony, visit the Support and Resources area of www.scouts.org.uk

Beavers October/November 2010

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Partners

Healthy centres The Eat In Colour Healthy Eating Activity Badge encourages your Beavers to think about healthy food.

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he aim of the Healthy Eating Activity Badge is to show children practical and fun ways to enjoy a balanced diet packed with tasty fruit and veg. To earn their badge Beavers learn how to make a fruit salad, healthy snacks, and delicious sandwiches crammed with healthy fillings. They also learn what isn’t so healthy for them and which foods should be eaten in moderation.

There is a downloadable Eat In Colour pack to help you prepare your healthy eating session and more information at www.eatincolour.com

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To take part in the Eat In Colour Healthy Eating Activity Badge visit www.scout.org.uk/healthyeating and download your information pack.

Feedback has been very positive: ‘We used the healthy eating pack with Beavers – excellent ideas’; ‘Relevant, easy to build a programme around it and covers things we need for the badge.’

Recipe sharing Over 40,000 Beaver Scouts have been awarded the Healthy Eating Activity Badge and created recipes which they’ve shared on the Eat In Colour website. If your Colony is working towards the badge share your favourite recipes by emailing them to eatincolour@freshproduce.org.uk

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Friends across the water

rnational te in to go to le ab be t no ay m s er Beav ect with Jamborees but they can still conn ld. their equivalents all over the wor tions Maggie Bleksley has some sugges

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t can be very rewarding for Beavers and leaders to share their experiences with others in different parts of the world. It’s also an opportunity for your Beavers to work towards their Friendship Challenge Award.

Many countries do not cater for Scouting in this particular age group but there are some that do have this provision, several of these being English-speaking.

In Australia, the 6-8 year olds are called Joey Scouts.

Beaver Scouts have the same name in Canada and Ireland but are known as Grasshopper Scouts in Hong Kong, Kea Scouts in New Zealand and Tiger Cubs in the USA. For more information about the International links scheme please see www.scouts.org.uk/intlinks

Getting involved Once you have contacted another leader, a good way to get the Beavers involved is to compile a newsletter.

This could be sent once a term with Beavers introducing themselves and adding their own contributions 8

according to their abilities. This way, the younger or those less able to write can draw pictures of what the Colony has been doing or ask a leader or older Beaver to help with their contribution.

Newsletters can be sent by post and you could ask the leader in the other country to do the same. This would bring an element of anticipation and something to open and pass round. You may prefer to scan the newsletters onto a computer to send over the Internet.

If you are fortunate to have access to a computer with Internet at your meetings, everything could be put the straight on to it. This could help the Beavers to work towards their first IT badge.

The safest and easiest way would be to send your newsletter as an email attachment, using just the Beavers’ first names and making sure there are not too many details about them. Parental permission should be sought before photographs are shown or sent. There is a factsheet to cover this, FS295428 Photographing and Video Recording Scout Events.

Beavers October/November 2010

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ınternatıonal

Postcards and wildlife Overseas groups will be interested in activities and games they would not normally include in their programme and you can swap ideas. What would they think of ‘Oranges and Lemons’ and do they have a different version of musical statues? Your Beavers could send photographs and postcards of their own town or village and ask the overseas group to do the same in return.

Finding things to write about or send to another group abroad can lead your Beavers to do some research to their benefit as well. Some of the animals and plants native to the UK may never be seen in other parts of the world. Encourage your Beavers to look at books on wildlife and think about which plants, birds

and other animals are only found nearer to home. You could take them on a trip to spot some of these species and take photographs or ask them to draw a picture or do leaf rubbings.

Some countries have their summer when we have our winter. It would be interesting to compare the seasons.

If it never snows in the country you are in contact with, the Beavers could write about their adventures in the snow and send a photograph of a snowman.

Food is something all Scouts relate to. You could initiate recipe swaps by asking the Beavers what their favourite foods are and trying something new from the other country.

Faith and awareness events December/January December

January

1 World AIDS Day 2 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2–9 Hanukkah (Jewish) 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 5 International Volunteer Day 7 Al-Hura New Year’s Day (Muslim) 8 Bodhi Day - Rohatsu (Buddhist) 10 International Human Rights Day 16 Ashura (Muslim) 25 Christmas Day (Christian)

1 New Year’s Day 4 World Braille Day 5 Birthday of Guru Gobindh Singh (Sikh) 6 Epiphany (Christian) 7 Christmas (Orthodox Christian) 16 World Religion Day (Baha’i) 19–21 Mahayana New Year (Buddhist) 20 Tu B’shvat (Jewish) 27 Holocaust Memorial Day

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Partners

Pets at home at Fundays al Beaver Pets at Home stores are offering loc s their Scouts free workshops to help toward Animal Friend Activity Badges

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o launch this fantastic partnership, Pets at Home went along to join in the Fundays weekend at Gilwell Park. The Area Manager from Pets at Home, Paul Doyle, tells us what happened at the event.

‘Groups from all over the country visited the Pets at Home tents. They went away with information and goodie bags. Pets at Home representatives, Vanessa and Jade did a superb job organising our involvement at the event. The facilities on the site were first class and enabled us to show our pets in a safe environment. It was a great success.’

more info Workbooks can be downloaded from www.scouts.org.uk and contain all the information Beavers need to work towards their badge.

Pets at Home offer great products, tips and advice to keep your pet happy and healthy.

From specialist pet food to toys and training aids, there is everything a pet owner could wish for and more. There are over 260 Pets at Home stores across the UK. To find your local store visit www.petsathome.com/storelocator

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i.Eat i.Sleep i.Scout T-shirt Ref 1028202R

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The adult Hooded Sweatshirt with the Scouts ‘be prepared’ logo embroidered on the front.

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A knitted hat with the Beaver section logo

With the Chief Scout’s signature and footprint motif, this is a fantastic addition to the i.Scout range. The i.Follow The Bear T-shirt is a great alternative when official uniform is not essential.

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All profits go back into Scouting. The Scout Association Registered Charity number 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland). beavers_101110.indd 10

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