Justine’s story: Setting up Bournville Elfins To start with We were three friends interested in setting up an Elfin group in the Midlands. We chose a place we could all get to by 5.45pm on a Wednesday evening, which turned out to be Bournville. We visited two other Woodcraft groups in the Midlands, and had support from them and from Woodcraft staff to do the paperwork, find a venue (the Quaker Meeting House) and organise an open day. To recruit children, we distributed flyers and talked to friends. The open day was a success and we signed up 16 children.
Group night programme We used a theme week—National Gardening Week—to start our term programme, and explored air miles and growing your own food. We’ve also done different types of dance, drumming and bushcraft.
Challenges and advice
We’ve made the most of links with Kinver Woodcraft and the Co-operative to arrange visits from other people, and are planning Tai Chi and making a film with a local film-maker.
Our biggest challenge is finding enough leaders and enough space—we have a waiting list and would like to start a Pioneer Group. For now, we just let children stay on, and sometimes provide different activities for the various ages. Ensure parents are willing to help both on the rota and on an emergency basis. It’s a big commitment taking on a Woodcraft group—planning, preparing and finding resources—but the enthusiasm of the children always reminds me why I love it!
One of the quilt squares we made for Hands In!