N e w s l e t t e r N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

Contents

Page 2 - Group Scout Leader’s Welcome

Page 3 - Chairman’s report

Page 4 -

Page 5 -

Page 8 -

Page 9 -

Page 10- Fundraising

Page 12 - Queen’s Scout Award

Page 13 - Diary

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Visit our website to really stay in touchwith what’s happening...

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A word from our leader...

Hi All

The group is again this yearmoving from strength to strength.

Numbers are high with waiting lists cur-rently lengthy in the Beavers.From a Scouting perspective we havebeen busy on all fronts. Both the Cubsand Scouts have had great summercamps whilst the Beavers and Cubs en-joyed a wonderful day at Longleat.

We have also recruited new leaders andhelpers within the sections which hashelped to strengthen our teams there-fore allowing more flexibility and contin-uing to allow us to provide excellent Scouting for all the children.Throughout the boating season thegroup has been using the lake as fre-quently as possible and when appropri-ate have been renting the lake out toother groups both in and outside ofscouting. Martin Beach and his instruc-tor team have again been working ex-tremely hard to ensure that this hasbeen possible. For a Sea Scouting groupit is important that we make best use ofour water based facilities and thescouts have been taking full advantageof this.They have also been using the HMS Bris-tol facility (at Portsmouth) again recent-ly to gain further water based activityawards.Our equipment store is looking the bestit has for many a year with some sterlingwork having been put in by Eric Hills ourquartermaster who is currently manag-ing a project to give the current hut andgrounds a bit of a clean up.

Training of our leaders is always takenseriously and 9 people have recently tak-en their First Response training with an-other 10 completing their refreshertraining. Other training has included 4leaders passing their pulling certificateswhich will allow them to be in charge ofrowing boats. BCU and Power boat train-ing is also being completed.

Looking Forward:

In a group of our size there are manyjobs and tasks, which need to be done.

With this in mind we are always lookingfor people to fill roles. Fundraising is akey thing for us this next two years. Wedesparately need people to help our twofunding challenges. Aquativity and Sup-port funding for the group.The scouting programmes for the nextfew months again look really excitingwith both inside and outside activitiesfor the children. Have you logged on tosee these through our web site. Frommy perspective the next importantgroup event coming up is RemembranceSunday on 14th November. This is amorning event and we look forward to afull attendance for such an importantday.

Whatever else you are doing this autumnand winter, I ask you to get involvedwith our group, get active and togetherwe can continue to provide the bestScouting for your children.Happy scouting!

Paul Bullock

Group Scout Leader

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... and a few more fromour Chairman...

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Welcome to our Octobernewsletter

I hope you all had a great summer andare enjoying getting back into the fullswing of the Scouting term. We've hadsome great news this month on the fund-ing front, which I hope you all agree iswell worth holding the front page for,even if some of you have already heardthe headlines.

We have been in touch for a while withthe trustees of a charitable trust to dis-cuss whether they might contribute tothe Aquativity project, so when theysaid they were interested enough tovisit us,we were pleased to host them. Weshowed them what we do as a ScoutGroup, where we currently meet, wherewe plan to move to and what we intendto do there. We discussed all the hardwork that has been put in over the yearsto build up the group, its activities, andits funding, and what we are looking todo with Aquativity to build on that. Thegreat news is that we have received aletter notifying us of their decision tohelp us. They are doing 2 things for us:

1. Giving us a straight donation of£50,000 towards the buildingcosts, payable when we areimminently about to spend it onactual build-ing work. They are happy to putthis pledge in writing for other po-tential donors if we need them to.

2. Matching further building fundrais-ing, pound for pound, between

now and September 2011, to a maxi-mum of a further £20,000.

So if we manage to raise £20,000 our-selves over the next year, then theamount we can spend will rise from thecurrent £80,000 to £170,000!

Some of our next fundraising chal-lenges include:

· Build up the Donkey Derby organ-ising team - there are not enoughpeople involved to arrange every-thing. If you can help, please con-tact me as soon as possible

· Raise enough funding to meet themost urgent equipment needs - thebuilding is not the only thing weneed to spend money on over thenext 6 months!

Overall, raise £20k towards the buildingproject over the next year to enable usto maximise the benefit from this trust'shelp

I hope you like the new newsletter format - there is lots going onin the Group so plenty for you toread about.

Brian Cope

Chairman

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Since our last foray into the world of theNewsletter we have had quite an eventful time.We have seen some of our number move up toour Cub Pack and some leave us for pasturesnew. We have welcomed a new Leader in Chan-telle Carter, and a helper in Sarah Prince to addto the stalwarts of Paul, Craig, Carmela andShirley.

The summer term saw us take part in ‘Livin itLarge at Longleat’ along with thousands of otherBeavers and Cubs from around Hampshire.Managing to secure an early slot for our drivethrough the safari park meant that we saw a lotof animals moving around and at one point ourcoach was surrounded by a pride of lions, I’msure they thought that some of our young Bea-vers would make a nice breakfast. The rest ofthe day was spent going round the other attrac-tions at Longleat including a ride on the train. Itwas a long and hot day for all concerned andthe trip back to Totton was a much quieter eventthan the drive to Longleat.

One of our new activities for 2010 was the fami-ly barbeque in the Forest. The Colony hired theForestry Commission BBQ site at WilverleyPlain on a Saturday afternoon in July and laidon burgers, hot dogs, salad and cakes for thosethat could make it. Craig organised a gamesafternoon which was enjoyed by one and all.

The highlight of the summer term in my mindwas the Mini Olympics evening held down atEling Rec. The inter Lodge event was very com-petitive with everybody giving their all, but eventhis was surpassed by the races featuring theparents, no holds barred here!

The start of the Autumn term saw us visit theFarm House Care Home for a Harvest Festivalcelebration. Our young Beavers were in finevoice on the night after their walk along WaterLane from the car park in the centre of Totton.

The evening was enjoyed by the residents whohave invited us back to sing carols at Christmas.

The focus over the coming months will be onbadgework and in particular working towards thecompletion of the Challenge badges which inturn brings with it the opportunity to gain thehighest award available to Beaver Scouts, name-ly the Chief Scouts Bronze award.

October has seen our young members take partin a new sport for many, Tag Rugby. The ses-sion goes towards the Health and Fitness badgeand Fitness Challenge and was hosted by Totto-nians Rugby Club who provided the coaches,equipment and space for a fun evening. Shameabout the weather but I always enjoyed playingrugby more in the rain!

We have also been to Moors Valley CountryPark for the Adventure Badge where we sawour boys and girls complete a hike around thelake, take a trip on the miniature railway andundergo a number of challenges as we madeour way around the Play Trail.

Still to come before Christmas are the Remem-brance Day parade in Totton, the County FunDay at Paulton’s Park with a visit to see FatherChristmas himself, the District Swimming Gala,the District Christingle Service at Copythorneand finally our own Christmas party with ourfriends from Testwood Beavers.

Can I remind you all that as from 2nd Novemberour regular Tuesday evening meetings will be atthe Testwood Scout HQ in Blackwater Drive,Calmore, usual times 6.00pm start – 7.15pmfinish.

Derrick

Beaver Scout Leader

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It’s been quite a while since thelast newsletter so here is a quickrecap of our programme high-lights since Easter.

The sponsored walk for Shelter Box was a hugesuccess with the Pack collectively raising £220which will go towards anemergency aid box. The box-es are tracka- ble on-line andwe are waiting to see whichcorner of the world our boxlands. Along with learningabout the work of Shelter Boxand what it would be like tobe homeless we have been working towardsour Global Challenge Award.

The summer months are all about scOUTingand we found ourselves without a roof over ourheads practically every Wednesday evening.Fortunately the weather was very kind to us andwe managed to get through a large chunk of ourOutdoor Challenge Award in dry weather with aprogramme of archery, climbing, backwoodscooking, fire lighting and tracking. Over half thePack also had a session on the Lakes and en-joyed sailing and kayaking.

June 26th saw a coach of Cubs,mums, dads, brothers, sistersand leaders set off for a day atLongleat safari park. They werenot alone though, 4600 other peo-ple from Hampshire Beaver and

Cubs were also joining in. With the forecast as‘Hot’ and despite having tonnes of suntan creampacked the lions decided to retreated into theshade. The Cubs (and adults) had a great dayin what turned out to be the EXTRA HOT condi-tions. They joined in the worlds biggest GrandHowl, saw the silver back gorilla, the sea lions,the bats and the meerkats. Went to the adven-ture playground, on the train, watched the parrot

show, wentround thehouse – an ac-tion packed dayand a badge towear on ouruniforms untilthe end of theyear.

Before summer camp we squeezed in a waterfight evening and a wide game along with get-ting ready for camp. We had decided to go toSandleheath Scout HQ in the New Forest thisyear – a new venue for us. They have a superbHQ, a large secure field and a campfire circle.The programme included a day trip to BrownseaIsland to see where Baden Powell held the firstscout camp in 1907 and to see the red squirrels.Unfortunately the squirrels were very shy thatday and all we saw were the peacocks. Rubendid however see his sister who was camping onthe island!

We following day we spent at Moors ValleyCountry Park with another action packed dayincluding a train ride, we went bug hunting andalong the tree top walk – again the wildlife wasplayinghid

e

and seek with us! It might just have somethingto do with the amount of noise we make. A spe-cial thank you to Alan who pushed Harry around

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in his wheel chair for the 2 trips. Everyone hada great time at camp with lots to eat and do.

So, what did we learn at camp? Some of uslearnt to wash–up, some discovered that tentsare not sound proof, some Cubs found out thatAkela really does inspect your dirty washing bagand others got away with it. I think we would allagreethough thatgoing tocamp isabout learn-ing to lookafter your-self, lookingafter yourfriends andhaving fun.In a fewyears timeperhaps wewill havesome Cubsgoing to aWorld Jam-boree tomake somenew(international) friends.

Here are some of the comments made by theCubs after camp:Brandon said: It was fun because we had marsh-mallows and hot chocolate at the camp fire. I washappy because I was in a tent with all of my matesand managed to stay and not go home.

Rhys said: 'I liked the food, being a tent leader,the camp fires, the trips, sleeping, the midnightfeasts, supper and playing games. I didn't likewashing up, brushing my teeth and people mak-ing farting sounds'.

Harry said: The best bit about camp was when Iwent into the camp fire and did my marshmellow

on the fire, and got my blan-ket

t

to keep me warm because it was cold outside. Ienjoyed Moorsvalley the best because therewas loads of stuff to go on, and people helpedme round because I had my cast on my leg anddidn't make me feel left out because I couldn'tgo on certain things.

I didn't like the lasagne but I did try a bit, Ithought itwas a bitscarycampingoutsidebecause Ithoughtanimalscould getinto thetent.

Tom wrote the following: 'I enjoyed camp lotsbecause there was lots to do and they reallypushed us to the limit by making us tidy ourtents. We were given a lovely experience by go-ing to Brownsea Island (and getting to buy stuff -yay!) and Moors Valley. I and everyone elseloved it'

Dylan had an article published in the HampshireScouting News in Sept and his comments includ-ed: I liked all the food at camp but especially the

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pizza.

The summer term was completed with a familygame of rounder’s in the forest – the wildlife hadalso been warned about this evening and decid-ed to hide again.

This autumn term we have tackled knots andbeen bug hunting at Dear Leap and made hous-es for elves. Lizzie, our Young Leader organ-ised an International evening based on the USA.The quiz and puzzles gave us much amusement.Everyone also enjoyed the burgers and stickybuns as part of the theme and our Global Chal-lenge badge.

As part of our Community Challenge badge wemade a visit to the SS Shieldhall in Southamp-ton Docks. As a Sea Scout group it was goodto find out about this restored vessel and thehistory it has. The boiler room was certainly themost popular part of the ship on a cold evening.

Our safety evening just before half term was runby Rob Blackman, a fire fighter in Southampton(also Luke’s dad) and go towards our PersonalSafety Badge. If you have a skill or know ofsomething the Cubs would enjoy please let meknow.

A quick reminder that on the 3rd November wewill be hunting down the bats in the woods (notreal ones of course) and the following week weare back at Abbotswood School for the rest ofthe term.

Goodbyes and Hellos…….We transferred 5 Cubs up to Scouts at the begin-ning of June with the sail-up completed at theLakes. Emma, Kitty and Alice were the first 3girls in the Pack and we know they will enjoyScouts. I have also heard that Keiran and Jackare also doing very well with their boating activi-ties – don’t forget to pop in and see us to let usknow just how good it is in the Troop now you

are there. All 5 Cubs achieved their Chief ScoutSilver Awards before leaving us – well done.

A welcome to Megan (who was invested on herbirthday at camp), Greg and James who haveall transferred from the Beaver colony. Theirswim ups were also good fun – one day the Bea-vers will win the tug of war and pull me over!

We are also very pleased to welcome back anumber of leaders to the Pack. Richard afterhis extended paternity leave, Donna after hermaternity leave and Tom after his ‘annual’ leave.It’s good to have them back especially as wehave such a large number of Cubs at the mo-ment. The waiting list is still bursting and Iwould love to hear from anybody who would liketo help out. Let me know what time you haveavailable to give and we can work around it.The more leaders/helpers we have the moreopportunities we can give the Cubs.

Akela

Vanessa023 8086 7582

vanessa@nickscott.co.uk

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Pulling and Kayaking RegattaThe Regatta thisyear took place on acold, windy but sun-ny day at TestwoodLakes.Warrior Troop en-tered the biggestteam ever from thetroop. Eling started

the event in a very positive way with high finishingresults in the Under 14 and under 12 1/2 single Kay-aks. The pulling boats also did very well managingto show many other teams on the start line how tohandle the boats, and despite the very windy condi-tions all of our team continued to do very well.At the end of the day we all gathered around for thepresentations and were very pleased to find out thatwe came 3rd overall with only 4 points between thetop 3 teams.This was a fantastic result with class wins in the un-der 14yr single kayak, joint winners Tom Cullyand Michael Brackstone.Under 14 double canoe winners Gregory Coleand Michael Brackstone.Under 12 ½ single Kayak 3rd place Chris Blake,Under 12 ½ pulling 3rd place Chris Blake, SamTownrow, Emma Cully, David Stephens and Kier-an Eagle, and finally Under 14 pulling 3rd place

Chris Abbess,Tom Cully and Gre-gory Cole.WELL DONE EVE-RYONETom Cully age 13.

Scout CampAugust 2010

FAB-B- LOUSThis was the best camp that I have ever been on.I enjoyed the whole time, from travelling in the rick-ety minibus with the other scouts singing and chat-ting, to cooking our own mostly edible food and allthe washing up. Working in the patrols was good forour team work and we soon realised that if we didn’twork together we wouldn’t get many points for thepoint’s competition.

The trip to Clearwellcaves was good funand we found out lotsof information about thearea that we were stay-ing in. My worst mo-ment at camp washaving to sit still at the First Aid base. I have got toomany best bits to mention but White water canoe-ing and the bridge building will be memories that Iwon’t forget. I am really looking forward to nextyears camp.

Emma Cully Age 11

STOP PRESS!

Just to let you know that Warrior troop came firstand second in the District Stags head trophy withonly 1 point between them. An Excellent effort fromall who took part

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The last few months at Explorershave been very busy as usual.Our programme is put together and run by theExplorers themselves, with the leaders on handto make sure health and safety is observed anda few other boxes ticked along the way!

I would like to welcome Dom our newest leaderwho is eager to get involved with everything andhas already completed courses on first aid andpulling.

Three of the girls, Lizzie, Hannah and Emilyhave been selected for world Scout Jamboreetrips and have all been very busy with fund rais-ing and training camps throughout the Summer.Lewis has also been busy fundraising and train-ing for his Gambia Expedition at Christmas.

September started with more training for theregatta and covered canoeing and pulling. Thisreally paid off as Relentless finished 3rd overalland Dan Adams won the under 18 single kayak -well done to everyone who took part and thanksto those who came and supported us on the day.It’s brilliant to see the lake used to it’s maximumpotential.

On the following day (busy weekend!) we alsosent a team to take part in the “Soap Box Derby”held at Netley Marsh. This was great fun asalways and although we were the only Explorerunit to turn up, we were able to race against theleaders and older Scouts. Danny, Matt W andAndy performed really well and won all their rac-es.

We attended two District events: a trip to Splash-down with the other three units and the annualcar wash at Lyndhurst.

So far this term are activities have included:

“Backwoods Cooking” where we learnt to boileggs in oranges on a pit-fire!

Survival training - 2 County Instructors came tothe hut and showed us how to make survivalkits in a tobacco tin, containing everything youmight need if you were stranded. They alsodemonstrated how to make water filters andstart fires.

Wide Game - this was well supported and bril-liant fun.

Our annual Birthday party in October took placeagain at the hut, this year with fancy dress anda disco. There were lots of pirates and Nikki’s

“Mrs Neptune” costume to mention but a few.

Forthcoming Events:

International cookingLaser QuestNight HikingPlay ZoneMany District Christmas events.

I cannot finish this report without mentioningone of our original Explorers, Flic Wright, andher amazing acheivement in gaining herQueens Scout award. The first in our unit and inour group for many years. Well Done Flic, I real-ly enjoyed your presentation evening.

John Pickering Explorer Leader

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Remember remember... No, not the 5th

of November, but that we still have a LOT OFMONEY to raise to pay for the new AquativityCentre at Testwood Lakes.Here are some EASY, and dare I say it, PAIN-LESS ways to help secure a glowing future forthe 4th New Forest North (Eling) Sea Scouts, anda few that require just a little more effort. Thegreat news is that everything we raise until nextSeptember will be MATCHED POUND-FOR-POUND (see Chair’s report).

Fundraising Idea 1 – Sell Things!We are now registered as a charity on ebay - sothis is an ideal time to declutter your house and

raise somemoney foryour scoutgroup. If you are anebay selleryou can do-

nate between 10 - 100% of your final sellingprice to the group. Every time you list an itemfor charity, you’ll get a fee credit on your basicinsertion and final value fees equal to the per-centage you donate. Once you’re ready to sellyour item, go to the Sell hub and select‘Advanced Sell’. As you’re filling out the details,look out for the charity box just below where youset your price. Select 4th New Forest North(Eling) Sea Scouts and the percentage (10%-100%) of your final selling price that you'd like todonate. The minimum donation is £1 per listing.A week after your item sells, MissionFish(eBay's charity partner) will automatically collectthe donation from you. You can also manageyour donations through the 'My Donations' sec-tion of My eBay, under the My Account tab. Anyfee credits will appear on your next invoice.

Fundraising Idea 2 – Buy Things!When you pay through eBay Checkout for anitem you’ve won, you can give £1 to the sea

scouts. Here's how to set 4th New Forest (Eling)Sea Scouts as your favourite charity:

1. Sign into My eBay and visit your DonationAccount, under the Account Tab

2. Click on ‘My Favourite Charities’ under MyeBay

3. Search for 4th New Forest (Eling) SeaScouts and click ‘Save as a Favourite’

Remember to activate your GIFT AID declara-tion via your donation account to boost every £1you donate by an extra 28p, at no cost to you.Confused about either of these? Contact Dor-othea Kennard for help (details below).

Fundraising Idea 3 – Buy MoreThings!Many of us buy stuff online.easyfundraising.org.uk gets the companies youbuy from to donate to a good cause (and thereare few better than the Sea Scouts!) so long asyou go through their website first. It costs younothing other than a few minutes to register anda couple of extra clicks each time you shop.The money comes from someone else! For ex-ample, Amazon, The Book People, Boden andM&S will donate 2.5% of what you spend. Gapwill donate 3.5% and Groupon 6%! eBay do-nate 15% (of the seller’sfee). Supermarkets offera once only flat rate dona-tion when you begin on-line grocery shoppingwith them. Many utilitiesand telecoms companiesdo the same when youswitch to them (offering donations of up to £40!).Between July and September we raised £39.43this way. I estimate that there are less than 10members of the group using this service. If halfof you did, we should be able to raise about£500 a year! There is almost nothing that can-not be bought through easyfundraising, soplease register now:

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1. Go to easyfundraising.org.uk

2. Click on “Register as a user”

3. Select the charity/organisation you wish todonate to (we are listed as 4th New ForestNorth Sea Scouts)

4. Fill in your details and then click on “Register”

You then just need to remember to log in to

easyfundraising.org.uk first before you do anymore shopping online!Contact Debra Hughes-Leitch with any ques-tions about easyfundraising.org.uk.

Fundraising Idea 4 – Help OtherPeople Buy ThingsOur latest BAG PACK at ASDA, on 30th October,raised £872.40! Thank you very much to every-

one who helped.We did this with thehelp of only about1/3 of the group’smembers, workingon less than half ofthe available tills.The next one is onSATURDAY 4th DE-CEMBER. If we

could man every till, all of the time, think howmuch more we could raise, especially with allthose warm Christmassy feelings about! It isactually quite fun helping your son/daughterpack people’s shopping for them: the customersare invariably pleasant and generous, andpleased to be able to donate to such an obvious-ly deserving local cause.Please VOLUNTEER yourself (or your scout)NOW by contacting Dorothea Kennard. We

shall be packing between 10 am and 4 pm: 1hour for Beavers accompanied by a parent, 1 –2 hours for Cubs accompanied by a parent and2 hours for Scouts and Explorers (solo!).

Fundraising Idea 5 – Go to thePub!The DONKEY DERBY organising committeedesperately need help to put together nextyear’s event. Please consider joining up andhelping with the group’s largest fundraisingevent by far. And they meet in the pub by theway...Contact Debra Hugh-es-Leitch, and shewill put you in touchwith the right person.

ContactsDorothea Kennard:d.kennard1@tiscali.co.ukor 023 8066 0043.

Debra Hughes-Leitch:hughesleitch@aol.comor 023 8076 6379.

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was presented

with her Queen’s Scout

Award at a ceremony at King Edward VI

School earlier this month.

Flic gave a presentation

showing her journey

Towards the award.

Illustrated with numerous

pictures from her

expeditions; she amused

the audience with

stories of searching for

guinea-pigs in Poland,

of the delights of

“mashed pig’s organs”,

chasing trams in Krakow,

melting snow for

cooking high on a gla-

cier in Norway, and the

ups and downs of moun-

tain walking. Whilst

videos of a rendition of the School Hymn from

a kayak in the middle of a fjord and an

insect-eating Bear Grylls look-alike highlighted

the funnier side of her travels, she spoke of

her recent expedition to Zambia where the

group constructed a school and medical

centre, paid for by their own fund-raising.

“The children so wanted to go to school and

could not wait for us to finish the building”, she

said. “It was a privilege to help them “.

She thanked the many people who had helped

her achieve her dream;

the staff of CLIC

Sargent in Shirley, where

she had helped

out, David and Elaine

King, from

Southampton Youth Wind

Band, who

provided musical inspira-

tion to develop her

skills and the volunteers

at Cricket Scout Camp

in Bursledon. She also

thanked the school staff

who ran the Duke of Edin-

burgh Award and the

many Scout leaders who

had helped and encour-

aged her, as well as the

many friends she had made on the expeditions.

She is now a Scout Leader with 4thNew Forest (Eling) Sea Scouts .

Many congratulations to Flicfrom all at 4th New Forest North!

www.elingseascouts.org.uk 12

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November 2010

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11Remembrance Day

12 13 BeaversCounty Paulton’sParkCubsCounty Scrap heapchallenge

14AllRemembrance DayParade.10 am. Full uniform.

15 16 17 18 19 ScoutsCounty Patrol leadertraining

20 ScoutsCounty Patrol leadertraining- into 21st Nov

21 All LeadersCounty i -Scout conferenceAt Thornden School

22 23 24 25 26 27Beavers, Cubs andScouts

Swimming Gala

28

29 30St. Andrew's Day

December 2010

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4AllBag packingASDA 10-4

5

6 7 8 9BeaversDistrict Christingle

10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25Christmas Day

26Boxing Day

27 28 29 30 31