WISPA August 2011

Warwickshire Scouts

www.warwickshirescouts.org.uk

Issue 91 - August 2011

Get In... did you live the adventure?

As we reflect on our biggest ever Scout camp we dedicate much of this issue to reminding ourselves of what a great weekend we shared. 4,000 of us came together at Stoneleigh Park for a fantastic weekend full of brilliant activities, sunshine and most of all FUN....

Get In... Picture Special | County AGM | WAGS Auditions

Summer is here!!

County Chairman

And with the summer comes the best season of all – camping season!

I hope all of you who have been, are now or will be camping this summer have a fantastic time. Remember to stay safe, but never forget that Scouting is about adventure.

Enjoy!

What a fantastic event, it was all there dignitaries, big hats, good food, excellent company and FUN! No, not the Royal Wedding, Get In our County Camp!

The big adventure for me at the moment is the Jamboree – the worlds biggest Scout camp! Its been a tough time both managing the Unit and County, but thankfully I have two fantastic teams who have kept me on the right path and by the time you read this article I will have flown out with the other 39 members of Unit 79, British Bearways, for our own unique experience.

I’m pleased to say though that even with my dual roles I’ve still been able to get out and about. With St. George’s celebrations and District AGMs we have had plenty of opportunity to shout about success, both individual and team, and of course we’ve had GetIn – possibly the best event Warwickshire has ever held (more on that later in this issue). On a more local level I’ve had opportunity to say hello to both our Sea Scout units, 2nd Warwick and Newbold in Stratford, the latter of which I was privileged to witness another successful Royal Naval inspection. Well done to both units for continuing to keep up the high standards required to have RN recognition!

Thank you for continuing to invite me to events, its great to get out and see Warwickshire Scouting in action!

It has now been a year since I took over from Dave Bramston as County Commissioner. He has been a tough act to follow but with your support we have kept the county growing, continued to deliver bigger and better events, and more importantly given our young people one hell of a year. I’ve still much to learn, but with the County AGM on the horizon I know we will be able to stand there and be proud of our achievements.

Thank you for making Scouting in Warwickshire such a success, and here’s to the next 12 months of adventure!

Andy

For all those who helped, in any capacity, I would like to offer my thanks and congratulations on a job well done.

One of the most astounding things to come out of the event was the numbers of Parents & Friends who signed up as occasional helpers to assist their various Groups at the event. Indeed, without them far fewer young people would have been able to attend and the event would have been poorer for it.

To these people we owe special thanks and here’s a suggestion.... if they enjoyed themselves as much as I believe you did why not ask them to consider helping out on a more regular basis?

The opportunities are out there to help out in various ways. Be it as a helper at the evening troop meetings, taking a bigger step and actually signing on as a leader and wearing the uniform, or by joining the Group’s executive committee and helping with the running of the Group. They may well have a skill or hobby that could be utilised in making the Group more efficient, enjoyable and exciting!

Having taken the first step and helping out at Get In I’m sure you will be able to show them how much there is to be enjoyed when you become involved in Scouting. One thing I know we can guarantee is a warm welcome and a rewarding experience however they decide to help us.

Sid Russell | County Chairman

Are you passionate about Explorer Scouting?

We need a new ACC Explorers for more info call Jo-ann | 01926 498168

County AGM 21st September 2011 - 7.30pm - Volvo, Warwick

Green Greenhouse up-date You’ll remember in our last issue reading about 1st Atherston Cubs who had built their own greenhouse from recycling plastic bottles.

Young people shouting for Scouting In recent years, Scouting has put young people at the heart of its communications work and has helped them to speak about their experiences to print, broadcast and online journalists.

Well we heard recently that some of the vegetables the Cubs had planted are now ready for harvesting and are being used by the Pack to prepare a meal as part of their badge work.

Cub Leader, Kim Marston, is looking forward to tasting the end results!

A number of courses are being run for young people in Scouting. These courses are designed to give young people (aged 14+) the skills needed to talk about their experiences in Scouting to a wide variety of audiences, and learn how to plan and carry out campaigns.

Young people who take part in these courses will learn the skills and confidence to advocate for Scouting whether it’s encouraging adults to volunteer, other young people to join or raising the profile of Scouting in their community. They are the young people who will speak up for Scouting.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Course

5th/6th November 2011 - Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre – Chingford

Tom and Helen Heenan are running an Introduction to DofE, as follows:

26th/27th November 2011 - Linnet Clough Scout Activity Centre – Stockport

13th August 2011 - 10.00am to 5.00pm at Castle Farm Scout & Guide Centre, Pond Lane, Kenilworth.

4th/5th February 2012 - Broneirion – Powys 18th/19th February 2012 - Fordell Firs Scout Activity Centre – Dunfermline

The cost will be £15 which covers the cost of a book and lunch.

3rd/4th March 2012 - Greenmount College – Antrim

This course is open to all leaders who wish to find out more about DofE and how this award maps across to the Queen Scout Award and other Scout badges.

18th/19th March 2012 - Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre – Brockenhurst

To apply go to the DofE page on the Scoutbase.org

The course is free. More information and a copy of the booking form can be found on the Media page on the County website.

Explorer Scouts River Clean-up Explorer Scouts from 11th Nuneaton Weddington recently took part in the Riversley Park River Anker clean up. Using canoes to reach parts not normally accessible and under the guidance of county water activity instructor Kevin Haynes, an amazing amount of rubbish was removed from the river.

Geoff Russell

Bear Trek 2011 - 19th November

Really Great Weekend!

Spectacular Opening - the WAGS crew did us proud!!!

Thanks I had a really good weekend one of the best I’ve been to.

“Quality weekend!!!!”

A super camp enjoyed by the Leaders as well as the youngsters who had the “best time of their lives”

Beaver Barn was surprisingly fun and amazingly they slept!!

Craft area: “Superb – some Cubs spent most of their time in it.”

394 - Beavers slept over • 290 - day visitors joined us • 63% - of young people in the County attended

“It’s not until you go to a fantastic event like this that you realise how many friends you have, thanks everyone.”

“Quality and variety of Activities Outstanding!!”

A very tired Beaver ‘Theo’ said to me “That was the best day of my life ever!!!!”...A happy boy who made the whole thing really worthwhile.

“Parents were impressed with the level of security and safety”

“Get In... was fantastic!”

“Had a great weekend wiv my mates - loved everything.”

Get In...

“AMAZING!”

After 2 years of planning 3,000 young people, well over 60% of our total youth membership, attended; supported by over 1,100 adults. That’s 114% of our adult membership! Proving that lots of Group supporters and parents also joined our big adventure and came along to help everyone have a great weekend.

Friday evening saw thousands of people arrive and a tented town sprang up. From then on it was a non-stop weekend jam-packed with fun stuff. WAGS put on a superb opening ceremony fronted by Explorer Scouts Will, Vicky & Amy. Upbeat & vibrant it set the mood for the weekend. And from 9am Saturday morning the activities were open. Highlights included the water wars, the drum workshop, the circus and the craft shed which yielded all sorts of goodies from safety pin bead badges to trains!

By Saturday night nearly 400 Beaver Scouts were ‘sleeping’ (although not much) in the Beaver Barn having celebrated their 25th anniversary with a disco and cake.

Sunday saw more sunshine and lots more activities and as one Scouter said as we packed away, ‘everyone looks completely exhausted but you can tell from their faces they’ve been part of something special’. We were. Get In showed that Warwickshire Scouts live the adventure. To all who made it happen and to all who took part - thank you.

£80k - budget • 4,812 - night’s away (young people) • 48 - Activities • 27 - Crafts • 1 - accident (requiring a hospital visit)

Stratford Congrats A number of award successes have been celebrated at Newbold......Beaver Scouts Oliver Yarrow and Ben Summerfield gained their Bronze Award; Cub Scouts James Yarrow & Toby Goodman gained their Silver Award and Scout Alexander Hyde gained his Gold Award.

Congrats also to ACSL Andrew Mills for 30 years service and Award for Merit for Development Adviser Martyn Field.

Sun Run Success At the annual Malvern Sun Run recently Anker Network won ‘Fastest Overall Moon Run Team’ in 1hr 54mins. The successful team were Phil Allred, Richie Morgan and Christopher Hughes.

And in the 18-30 all male team category Harvey Bright, Tom Dodd and Chris Gunn came first with a time of 2hrs 26mins.

Congratulations to both teams!

Congratulations Percy Did you see the report on Percy Bladford recently in the June issue of Scouting?

Percy, who will soon be 99 years of age and is a member of the County Active Support Unit, was presented with his 80 years adult service certificate by Andy Shorter recently.

Air Activities Badge As part of their Air Activities badge, 1st Stratford Beavers received a visit from some enthusiastic pilots at Heart of England Balloons. Joined by other local colonies the Beavers learned about hot air balloons and were able to see and hear the flame in close (but safe) proximity.

They were also given the opportunity to discover how difficult it can be to pull the balloon from its protective bag, stretch it out and eventually to fold it all up again.

The Beavers watched the balloon lift into the air and come back down again and once the balloon was safely packed away, the Beavers climbed into the basket to get a feel for the conditions in there.

It was a very successful and enjoyable experience and our thanks go to the people at Heart of England Balloons for their time.

Nuneaton District Scout Challenge Day A beautiful April day at 5 Ways Lakes was shattered when Nuneaton District Scouts turned up for their annual Challenge Day.

This is the first certificate for this amount of service ever awarded by the Scout Association, who made a special ‘one off’ after Andy called in at Gilwell.

12 teams visited bases ranging from traditional Scout crafts to shaving balloons with a cut throat razor, ski walking blindfolded and crawling over part of the lakes to an island by a tight rope and rafting back. The winners were Nuneaton Central. The day finished with a Tug’o’war knockout competition won by 1st Bulkington.

Geoff Russell | County Active Support Unit

Darren Keach | ADC Scouts, Nuneaton District

Explorer Leader Training Weekend - 26th-27th November

WAGS 2012 Auditions As we approach the new school we start to think about the Scouting year ahead. What activities can our young people take part in this year? If you have a young person who is interested in performing arts, why not encourage them to audition for WAGS Gangshow 2012. It’s great fun, they will make loads of new friends and they get the opportunity to perform in front of 4000 people!

With this edition of WISPA you’ll find a flyer detailing audition dates and times.

Please encourage your youngsters to come along at the start time.

Rehearsals will take place every Sunday from 1.30pm – 5.00pm at Dale Street with additional rehearsals on a Wednesday evening for dance team members. WAGS will take place from Monday 20th to Saturday 25th February.

For more information: emai: WAGSContact@me.com website: www.warwickshirescouts.org.uk or become a fan on Facebook WAGS Gangshow 2012

Marion Retires after 25 years At her last County Beaver meeting, retiring ACC Beavers Marion Neville, who has held the position for 25 years since Beaver Scouting first started, was given a surprise presentation by her fellow leaders.

During the meeting a young Beaver from Wood End presented her with a lovely etched glass plaque as thank you from the County Beaver leaders.

Marion oversaw the introduction of Beaver Scouting in Warwickshire and has seen many changes as the section has evolved and grown from strength to strength but at its heart has always remained ‘Fun and Friends’.

Marion, officially retired from her role at Get In and on the Saturday evening she led the Beaver Scouts in celebrating their ‘25th birthday’ with a cake. She also received a presentation of some gardening tools and vouchers and along with a rousing cheer from her many Beaver Scouting friends.

A message from Marion A very big thank you to you all for the kind words and gifts on my retirement as ACC Beavers. A special thanks to all Beaver leaders, ADC Beavers past and present who have given me so much support and friendship over the past twenty five years - I could not have done it without you. Marion

or Twitter - @WAGSGangshow

Frank Latcham - 1st October 2011

County useful numbers:

Dairy Dates:

Use contact information on website.

26-28 August - WANG 5 September - DCs meeting 21 September - County AGM 1 October - Frank Latcham 6 October - Deadline for County Exec papers 17 October - Management Forum 20 October - County Exec 6 November - Explor 11 19 November - Bear Trek 26-27 November - Explorer Leader Training Weekend For more information & specific training details please consult the County website calendar.

AGM

26-28th August 2011

Warwickshire Scout Council Notice of Annual General Meeting Wednesday 21st September 2011 7.30pm Volvo, Wedgenock Lane, Warwick CV34 5YA Everyone welcome to come and join our celebration of the past Scouting year in Warwickshire, including Get In and the World Jamboree.

6th November 2011, Dale Street, Leamington Spa

7th October 2010 - all articles & adverts. Contact: Alan Peedle 5 Broomybank, Kenilworth CV8 2SF | 01926 851195 | alan@acstededesign.co.uk