3rd chalkwell bay annual report 2017 · station, southend inshore lifeboat station, and the...

3rd Chalkwell BaySea Scout Group

AnnuAlRepoRt 2016/17

Registered Charity no 302078

2 33rd Chalkwell Bay Sea Scouts Annual Report 2016/17

Group Scout Leader’s ReportThe past year has been a good one for all sections within 3rd Chalkwell Bay, with most of the age groups with full or nearly full. We currently have 210 young people aged from 6 to 18 in the Group, plus leaders and helpers.

Since becoming the GSL I visit each section regularly; it is nice to see the huge variety of different activities the young people get to take part in and how well behaved they are (most of the time).

Over the past year the Beavers and Cubs enjoyed excellent camps in Suffolk, while in 2016 Renown and Solebay Sea Scout Troops went to the Essex International Jamboree near Chelmsford, joining 10,000 other Scouts on camp; this year’s camp was back to our traditional green field camping, this time at Marlesford in Suffolk. The Explorers returned to Haughley Park in 2016, then moved on to a new site near Dover this summer. It was great to see so many young people getting out and about.

Activities on the water continue as always to be very successful, with an increasing number of Scouts & Explorers attending the RYA courses and the open boating. Thanks to Chris McHugh, our RYA Chief Instructor, and his team of instructors and parents, plus Peter Jacob who runs the rowing courses. Huge thanks also to our in-house engineers, Andy Middleton and Lyle Wheeler, who work tirelessly behind the scenes maintaining our power boats, without which there would be no boating of any form – thank

Principle OfficersPresident Mr Les Davis

Vice Presidents Mrs Angela Cruiks

Mr Mike Regan

Mrs Carol Tissington

Group Scout Leader

Beaver Scout Leader

Cub Scout Leader

Sea Scout Leader (Renown)

Sea Scout Leader (Solebay)

Explorer Scout Leader

Mr Ian Johnson MBE

Mrs Laura Gordon-Rust

Mrs Tricia Smith

Mr Jonathan Whiteley

Mrs Karen Cruiks

Mr Matthew Ayling

Chairman

Treasurer

Secretary

Mr Colin Fraser

Mrs Brenda Ayling

Mrs Sarah Hodder


as much as possible for the benefit of our children and generations to come.

Areas of particular note that have raised significant funds over the past year include carol singing, a band night, various jumble sales, Co-Op in the community, Christmas bag packing, donations through BT MyDonate, and Leigh Regatta; not to mention the various other donations and sponsored runs, rides and other sporting events.

This coming year looks to be just as ambitious and fun packed as previous years, with a calendar full of various Sea Scouting activities, both on the water and on land. Once again, I would like to thank Ian and his team for having the dedication, foresight and time, to put all this events into place.

Colin FraserGroup Chairman

you both, there will always be a job for you in 3rdCB! I am hoping that by the end of the year the Group will have 4 new RS Quest sailing boats dinghies to replace our aging but faithful Wanderers.

Finally, I would to thank the dedicated team of leaders, their assistants, helpers and Young Leaders who make Scouting happen on a daily basis. Thank you also to

the Group Executive Committee who manages the Group’s finances and buildings, as well as to Gill Pickford for the hours she gives on managing and collecting the Group’s subs. We are one of the busiest Sea Scout Groups in the county, but we could not do any of it without you all!

Ian Johnson MBEGroup Scout Leader

Group Chairman’s Report3rd Chalkwell Bay has enjoyed yet another successful year with membership of all sections remaining very strong. This strength of interest in the Group results from the full programme of Sea Scouting across the whole age range. As well as weekly meetings throughout the year, we have held many camps, and sailing activities are available most weekends throughout the season where tide and weather permit. In addition, we now are fortunate enough to be able to run Duke of Edinburgh’s award schemes within the Explorer Unit.

All of these activities rely upon the continuing dedicated efforts of the strong team of uniformed leaders. The young people, their parents and the Group Executive remain most grateful to them all for their continued dedication.

The New Building Project continues, with supporting groups for general fund raising and boating all helping to boost the coffers and support the day to day running of the Group. During the coming months, both these groups will be asking you to support in fund raising activities of various guises, and I hope that we will all look to support


Last but not least, thank you so much to our amazing Young Leaders! Week after week, they help us by coming up with creative ideas and fun ways to learn. We have many new activities planned for the next year - so bring your sense adventure and watch this space!

Laura Gordon-RustKit Beaver Scout Leader

Cub Scout PackOver the past year we’ve been busy with badge work and having fun. Some of the places we have visited as part of the programme are the fire station, Southend inshore lifeboat station, and the Synagogue, which have all covered several badges.

Back in October the Cubs took part in the District Night hike, going from Eastwood to Belchamps doing various challenges along the way, finishing with hot-dogs and a drink, they had great time and those who went really enjoyed it.

When the weather is good we try to do our activities outside, but as we need 1 adult to every 8 Cubs, this can prove difficult sometimes and extra help is always appreciated. We still manage however, and during the year we been out on a litter clean up along the cinder path, made sand sculptures, held a games evening, and tried to go swimming (unfortunately that night it was a little chilly so only a few brave Cubs got wet).

Summer Camp was back at Glemham Hall this year, and was the biggest camp we have had in a while - 28 Cubs and 6 Beavers! The weather wasn’t fantastic but that didn’t seem to matter they all had a wonderful time.

During the summer holidays we like to get the Cubs out on the water using the Group’s growing collection of boats, and managed two sessions this year which proved a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thank you to Dan Parson and Chris Daly for organising this and thank you to

Beaver Scout ColonyThe Beavers have had such a fun year in 2016/17; they’ve had many adventures and learned lots of new skills, earning lots of badges along the way!

A few of the past year’s highlights included the older Beavers joining the Cubs for Summer Camp - they enjoyed joining in activities to earn badges including Nights Away, Camp Craft and the Adventure & Outdoors Challenges.

We had an evening learning different knots - reef knots, clove hitch and figure of 8, as well as tying their own laces! Sergeant Daniel Parsons visited the Colony with his police car; he talked to the beavers about road safety and they enjoyed sitting in the police car.

When the weather brightened up we had an evening swimming at the beach and making sandcastles. The Beavers also joined in the district sandcastle competition made sand sculptures and on the beach, competing against other Beaver Colonies to make the best sculpture!

The Beavers had an evening at Belchamps playing wide games, then later they joined in a camp fire where we toasted marshmallows, some of them for the first time!

Over the year, we have had lots of games nights including indoor and outdoor assault course. They also enjoyed a sports evening with Browne’s Boot Camp testing

their stamina with press ups, burpees, tug of war, sits ups, star jumps and more!

Early in the year we welcomed Ruth Ingrosso to our leader team, it has been great working altogether to plan and run many different and fun filled activities.

We are tremendously proud of our Beavers, who have all worked so hard this year. Thank you for supporting your children to have fun and learn. We’re always looking for good ideas - so if you want to get involved please just shout!


no means a traditional summer camp, and was a fantastic week for all that went. The next one is in 2020, and we have every intention of being there!

September saw the return of our big annual fundraising event, Leigh Regatta, which was again organised by the Leigh Lions though this time we had a lot more involvement and control of a larger area to run stalls and the Tea Tent. Thanks in part to the weather the day was a huge success with help from all sections and many parents resulting in us raising well over £2,500 in just one day. On the water, the 3rdCB team won the Scout Pentathlon against 4th/6th Leigh. The two Old Town Groups battled it out in a sedan chair race, tug-o-war, rowing, sailing and the grand finale – the marsh race. A huge well done to all the boys that took park and maintained 3rdCB’s place on top!

Christmas came around quickly and we had a fun party on the last Friday meeting with all the Scouts dressing smartly for our traditional black-tie dinner. The leaders, as usual, cooked for and waited on the Troop for the meal.

At Easter, we returned to Castleton in Derbyshire for a week of activities, including hillwalking, mounting biking and incident hikes, along with a

all the Young Leaders and Explorers that helped out.

The highest award the Cubs can get is the Chief Scout’s Silver Award, and I am thrilled that this year 10 of our Cubs achieved this honour; they should all feel very proud of themselves their leaders certainly are.

Finally, I would like to thank all of my Leaders and Young Leaders. To run a pack the size of ours it would not be possible without their considerable hard work and dedication - we have 42 Cubs in the Pack at the moment which means it can be very noisy. We are a great team who also have a lot of fun, so thank you all very much.

Tricia SmithAkelaCub Scout Leader

Renown Sea Scout TroopRenown Troop has had another successful year, with us now running at full capacity of 65 boys (and regularly more over the year).

Summer 2016 started as usual with Summer Camp, but this year with a difference. 3rdCB’s two Scout Troops joined almost 10,000 other Scouts and Guides from around the world for their Summer Camp at Essex International Jamboree. It was the first time in many years the Scouts have been to a jamboree and it was very different to what we usually do, but with activities from quad biking to raves, and shot gun shooting to sweet making there was something for everyone and a definite hit with the Scouts. Every day we would join in two or the 8 different activity zones, with

themes like Wet & Wild or Technology in Motion. In the evenings, there was the chance to relax at the cinema or in front of the main stage with live bands, or head over to the “rave tent” (a particular hit with the older Scouts). There was also the chance to meet Scouts from around the world, with new friends made in Dutch and American Scout Troops. This was by


I would like to say a big thank you to my leader team, including the young leaders, who make it possible for us to run all the activities mentioned. I look forward to another busy year for Renown Troop with plenty of activities to keep everyone busy.

Jon WhiteleyChiefSea Scout Leader

Solebay Sea Scout TroopThis year has, as usual, been very busy for Solebay Troop. We planned the Monday night programme around working towards various activity and challenge badges and the girls have worked hard throughout the year, with many achieving their Communicator, Global Issues and World Challenge badges.

We had our usual nights of craft and cooking activities, and learnt about different faiths when the girls celebrated Diwali by creating their own Rangoli patterns. For Father’s Day in June we held a Dads & Daughters night of Mud Olympics, and I am sure the Dads had more fun than the girls. As the culmination of the Global Issues badge the girls organised and ran

their own version of the Commonwealth games at Belfairs; some very obscure challenges were set such as orange cricket and toilet seat discus, as well as more traditional team races such as sprints and leap frog. A very enjoyable night.

Since my last report, Solebay have attended two very diverse Summer Camps. The 1st was Essex International Jamboree, which was very different to what the girls were used to: camping with 10,000 others with the opportunity to meet Scouts from around the world was amazing, and the huge variety activities they undertook

visit to the swimming pool in Buxton. Throughout the week the scouts showed great character with most achieving their Hill Walker and Navigator badges. The weather was more on our side this year, with a few days of sunshine at the beginning of the week.

In late May we helped St Clement’s Church with their May Fair, loaning them our marquee running a collection of games stalls to raise more funds for the Group. Bat the Rat proved the favourite, along with the pin the cap on the Sea Scout and the Wheel of Fortune. Even the Mayor of Southend had a go on the stalls!

Summer camp is one of the main highlights of the year and this year’s in the village of Marlesford in Suffolk was thoroughly enjoyed by both the Scouts and leaders of both Troops. It was a fun camp even if the weather was not too kind to us with frequent rain showers, and the sunny periods quickly perked everyone up! The Scouts lived under canvass and cooked on open fires in patrols, as well as completing a packed programme including a visit to Aldeburgh, Patrol Hikes, and seeing which patrol is the most business minded in our enterprise afternoon.

We like to give the older Scouts a challenge away from the younger ones every so often so this year we offered a lightweight sailing expedition to our PLs during the summer holidays. A small team of Scouts, Explorers and leaders sailed over the Thames Estuary to the Isle of Grain in Kent where we set up camp on a deserted beach, and used driftwood to make a fire and prepare the evening meal, before sleeping in bivvies under the stars on the beach!

On the water, training in sailing, rowing and power boating has continued throughout the year led by Chief Instructor Chris McHugh and his growing team of instructors. There are courses on almost every weekend that the tide allows, as well as open boating where the Scouts have a chance to develop the skills taught to them on the courses whilst having a great time with their friends.


to welcome some of our friends from Ganges ESU to one of the sailing evenings as part of our plans to work more closely with them in the future.

The regular Christmas trip to London for ice skating and pizza was another resounding success and much good cheer was spread to the commuters on the train ride home with the traditional Christmas singing.

Since the last AGM we have had two very successful summer camps. 2016 was a return to our old favourite at Haughley Park, which was a lovely dry and warm week. The Explorers created their own obstacle course with the water slide being the clear favourite. It ended up being six full ground sheets in length and took about five bottles of washing up liquid.

Not for the faint hearted I can assure you! We were able to get all the Explores to take part in a Clay pigeon shoot with some showing greater marksmanship skills than others.

2017 was a new venue for us, just outside Folkstone. We were located within a small clearing within a wooded area, giving us access to an almost endless supply of wood. The site was quite a change from our more traditional field sites, we were able to make a couple of visits into Folkstone for a day at the beach as well as a trip to a swimming pool. One of our leader team managed to arrange us a trip to visit Dover lifeboat station which was very informative and educational. Despite some very enjoyable camp meals cooked over open fire the Explorers all identified the Chinese takeaway as the meal of the week.

Over the past year I am very pleased to have been able to start running the Duke of Edinburgh scheme for the Unit, with a great deal of assistance from Anne-Marie Bates. At the time of writing this a group of six are well on their way to achieving their silver award, with their main assessed expedition in the South Downs just a weekend away. Those with children aged between 14 and 25 should hopefully be already aware, but those of you with children younger please bear this in mind for the future. Most secondary schools run the scheme but the advantage of the Explorers participating with us is they can achieve their Chief Scout’s

throughout the week were great fun. We have just returned from this year’s camp at Marlesford in Suffolk, where we resumed the more traditional 3rd CB camp. The girls cooked for themselves over the open fires and worked towards their Camper and Camp Cook badges alongside the boys. The weather could have been a tad warmer, but we all put on a brave British

face and soldiered on and had another week of fun.

Once again, a big thank you goes to my fellow leaders and Young Leaders for all the time and dedication they give to making Solebay the successful Troop it is. Thank you also to the same parents that regularly offer assistance in a variety of ways (you know who you are) your support is always welcomed.

Karen CruiksSkipperSea Scout Leader

Endeavour Explorer Sea Scout Unit2016/17 has been another good year for Endeavour. We have continued to run a varied and enjoyable programme on Thursday nights; as well as some of the old favourites such as wide games, debating and cooking we also ran out some new ideas. “The Apprentice” night in particular was a huge success; the Explorers were split into male and female teams and had to re-brand a life jacket or buoyancy aid before pitching their ideas to industry experts who then reported their findings back to Lord Sugar aka Marcus Dean. I won’t be expecting any new life jacket companies any time soon but a very entertaining evening none the less. Another

highlight was the Explorer-led Yoga and Zumba night; there were some very interesting shapes and positions to be seen, as well as some very enthusiastic thrusting and posing.

Although not a new activity for a Sea Explorer Unit we have run quite a few more sailing evenings. I was pleased


With the instructor team growing year on year, I’m hopeful that we can run more courses and start to clear the waiting lists, although with a group of this size, a tide that is out more than it is in, and our famous British weather, I’m sure you can appreciate the challenges we face in trying to get everyone on a course, but we have made a good start for the first half of this year with over 45 young people already having completed a course since April.

We have hosted sailing sessions for the Explorers based at 4th/6th to help get them out on the water while their leader team goes through some changes, had visits from a Scout Group based in the Medway who slept in the Den overnight, and will also be hosting a water sports day for the 55th Leigh cubs, in addition to our annual visit from a Scout troop in Norwich; who normally only get to sail on a pond! We have also completed another successful expedition to the Yantlet, sailing across the Thames and camping on the beach over night, and provided safety boats & crews to support Essex Yacht Club’s Cadet week. So as always, a very busy year for the boating team.

Last season we had a very successful year in breaking lots of expensive things, including two masts, one engine and a gearbox; a big thank you to our resident engineers Lyle Wheeler and Andy Middleton for their ongoing commitment to fixing things, and I’m pleased to say this year hasn’t been quite so expensive… so far!

I would also like to thank Anne-Marie Bates for her fundraising work. In addition to new boating facilities, we are also busy raising money to replace our trusty but elderly Wanderers with a newer, more modern alternative. Anne-Marie has taken the lead on applying and contacting external funders, and has already raised several thousand pounds, helping to secure the purchace of new training dinghies.

Chris McHughRYA Chief Instructor

and Queen’s Scouts Awards alongside. My thanks to Anne-Marie for her tenacity and organisation for getting the scheme off the ground as well as thanks to Martin Palmer (cub section), Chris McHugh and Chris Daly for becoming DofE supervisors. Another quick thank you to Explorer parent Mark Nelson, who stepped in at the very last minute to give us a dig out

on the Silver practice expedition - without Mark it would have been very unlikely to go ahead.

Looking forward, final preparations are under way for a trip to the Lea Valley White Water Centre in the October half term and the Autumn programme is ready to go.

I am pleased to have seen many of our Explorers providing assistance with boating activities such as sailing, safety boat cover and maintenance. There are also some Explorers who are Young Leaders in other sections providing much needed help on section nights as well as camps.

My thanks to the leader team of Keith, Tom, Marcus, Freya, Jack, Megan and our newest member, Jacob.

Matt AylingExplorer Scout Leader

Water ActivitiesLast year’s sailing season was quite a difficult season in terms of us not being able to run as many sailing courses as we wanted, and having to cancel several due to poor weather. Obviously, this resulted in a number of disappointed young people not getting the opportunity to complete a course during year.

I am however pleased to say that Chris Grover has now qualified as a Senior Instructor. Megan Richardson and Laurence Dennis have both completed their Dinghy Instructors qualification over the last season, and we have also trained up some more Assistant Instructors in recent months.

Registered Charity Number 302078

C B3RD

3rd chalkwell bay annual report 2017 · station, southend inshore lifeboat station, and the...

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