The Bi-Monthly District Newsletter - Issue 182

November/December 2014

New Recruit On 17th September, 2nd Thorpe Cubs welcomed a new recruit, a 17 week old Labrador puppy named 'Barclay'. Barclay is training to be a guide dog, and it is essential that he is exposed to lots of life experiences, including a hall full of very noisy Cub Scouts!

The Pack learnt about how guide dogs were trained, how to behave around them, and were given a wonderful demonstration of how many commands Barclay knew, even at this young age. Katy will be completing his initial 1 year of training before he moves on the 'big school' and hopefully he will go on to become a fully fledged guide dog, making a real difference to the life of a visually impaired person. We will be seeing him again so that he can be exposed to a campfire, singing and ball games (he's not allowed to chase the ball, for obvious reasons!). Barclay may seem a strange name, but since each dog costs £50,000 to train over it's working life many are sponsored, and this one is no different. He is sponsored by a High Street Bank; guess which one. Alan Tiller CSL 2nd Thorpe

Congratulations

To Harriet Mahood, who is an ASL at 1st/4th Addlestone and a Network Scout on being awarded the Queens Scout Award.

Bourne Copse Access and Car Parking The access road and turning space have recently been cleared of overgrown trees and foliage which was making access almost impossible. You can now park on the access road and still be able to get vehicles past to reach the turning area. The work of clearing has been carried out by members of the Egham and Staines Conservation Volunteers and we are grateful for the work they have done to make our site accessible again. Dave Burt – District Site Warden

Cubs Fishing Competition One very wet Saturday in October Runnymede District Cubs settled down around a lake in Wraysbury to see what they could catch in the District fishing competition, and the result was – not very much. The fish were all having a lie-in that day. At 1st Egham Hythe we only had two Cubs in our team, Ben and Sarah. Sarah managed to land the biggest fish of the day, and as it weighed more than all the other catches it meant we also won the team prize for the heaviest catch.

In addition to now being the proud holders of the trophy, both Ben and Sarah received fishing rods as part of their prize, and Ben put his new rod to the test the very next day and caught a magnificent number of fish! So thank you to Sandra for arranging the competition and to Les and his team at the lake for their time and expertise, and their generosity.

Cubs County Cooking Competition

And then, it was time for the cooking team to do their stuff. As winners of the District cooking competition earlier in the year we earned the honour of representing Runnymede in the Surrey County competition which was held in Reigate. There were six teams from around the county; all winners of their District events. The judges were looking at all aspects, from teamwork, hygiene and safety to the artwork put into the menu card, but most of all at the food – how it looked, how it tasted and how it was presented. The 1st Egham Hythe team of Jack, Louise, Patrick and Joel cooked a Sausage Casserole and served it with mashed potatoes, followed by a chocolate campfire...this had to include

fruit so we had flames made from strawberries and satsumas! It all looked and tasted lovely, and we came second in the competition, just two points behind Leatherhead who were the winners.

Mary Halls – CSL 1st Egham Hythe

PGL (Parents Get Lost) 2014 – Osmington Bay, Dorset

Cubs, Scouts and Leaders from 1st/4th and 5th Addlestone travelled down to Dorset at the end of August for their yearly weekend at a PGL Activity Centre. This year we were down at Osmington Bay, a site with amazing views over Weymouth Bay to Portland Bill. We managed to fill the weekend with some exciting and at times downright scary activities. (Ask them about the giant swing!)

The highlight, as always, was the dragon boat racing. At Osmington. This takes place at the Olympic yachting venue down on Portland, which makes it extra special.

The weather was kind to us and as we relaxed on the shore, the Cubs and Scouts worked really hard paddling up and down and also taking part in some hard fought races. All in all at great weekend spoilt a tad by the 5 hour+ “Journey From Hell” home, leading to us arriving back at 1st/4th HQ well after 11:00pm. Never mind; this was forgotten but the memories from the weekend will live on. Gareth Jenkins – CSL 1st/4th Addlestone Tigers

Christmas Quiz !!!! Name the “Sweets and Chocolates” Quiz. Send your answers to the editor and the first correct entrant will win £10 to spend at the District Scout Shop. Closing date - 20th December 2014.

1. A planet 2. A cluster of stars and planets 3. A bigger cluster of stars and planets 4. A London bus 5. No silver 6. Person from a county 7. Wobbly infants 8. Sweet rodents 9. Lunch in the country 10. Between two thorns 11. People from Malta 12. Eastern pleasure 13. Head hunters reward 14. Brown fasteners 15. Robert returns to make coins 16. Clever people 17. Insects singing with lips shut 18. Fury animal in sports gear 19. A German car 20. Flying machine minus rear end 21. Alcoholic tooth holders 22. In between 23. Voodoo 24. Singers of the past 25. The chocolate for 20.01 26. Alcohol and frozen water 27. Parties 28. Sounds like Sonny’s partner has taken a

gamble 29. Extra power 30. Snow crystal

Good luck! - The Editor for the Active Support

Team

Bourne Beavers

The Chief Scouts Bronze Award has been awarded to Edith Schofield, 1st Chertsey Bourne

Beavers. Beaver Leaders Alex & Shaun Schofield are proud leaders & proud parents supporting Edith’s award. Andy Sainsbury-Brown presented Edith with the award on 16th October.

The colony only started in April 2014 and has quickly grown to a full colony of 21 in just a few months. Supported by a strong leader team of uniformed leaders, young leaders, regular helpers & parents, the Bourne Beaver Colony has enjoyed a packed Autumn half term programme; earned the new ‘Space’ Beaver Activity Badge, took part in a ‘Bourne Beaver-tucker eating challenge’ to earn their Healthy Eating Activity Badge, and all Beavers earned their Fitness Challenge Badge. They will end this half term on a terrifying high on a ‘Fright Night’ of spooky, night-time wide games & scary challenges! ‘Are you ready, Beavers?’, ‘We’re Bourne ready!’ Alex Schofield- BSL 1st Chertsey Bourne Beavers

Active Support Weekend Away This year we had our annual weekend away in Weymouth, in the Bay Royal Hotel right on the sea front overlooking Weymouth Bay. As is our tradition we had a hike on the Sunday, (which we completed before the rain came in) a circular route around the Osmington White Horse, with lunch in a local hostelry.

On our way we gained a new member, as the picture shows.

Edited and Published for Runnymede District Scout Council – Registered Charity No: 1039314 By Chris Couzens – 4 Linden Close New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey. KT15 3HG

Illustrations and Cartoons reproduced by courtesy of ‘Scouting Magazine’ and The Scout Association.

District Diary 2014-2015 November 2014 Mon 3rd Active Support Meeting Fri 14th Cubs Night Hike Sat 15th Explorers Celebration Evening Fri 21st Scouts Night Hike Sat 22nd Beavers No Cook Cooking Trial December 2014 (School ends 19th) Sat 6th Cubs Day Trip Mon 8th Explorers Bowling Evening Wed 10th Cubs Christingle Service January 2015 (School starts 5th) Fri 9th to Sun 11th Scouts Winter Camp Sat 17th Active Support Post Xmas

Dinner Thr 22nd Training Working Safely with

Young People. Sat 31st Cubs Big Splash February 2015 (Half term 13th to 23rd) Mon 2nd District Executive meeting Sat 7th Scouts Cooking Competition Mon 9th Active Support Meeting March 2015 (School ends 27th) Sun 1st Cubs Cooking Competition Sun 8th Training First Response Sat 21st Beavers Circus Skills April 2015 (School starts 13th) Sat 18th All Sections Michael Patrick

Challenge Thr 23rd St Georges Day Flag Rehearsal Fri 24th Active Support St Georges Dinner May 2015 (School half term 22nd May to 1st June) Sat 2nd Training First Response Sun 3rd Beaver Family Ramble Fri 8th Cubs Water Activity Sat 9th & Sun 10th National Archery Championship Mon 11th District Executive Meeting Fri 15th Scouts Football Competition

June 2015 Thr 4th Training Working Safely with Young People Sat 6th Leaders Challenge Day Fri 12th to Sun 14th Sixer / Seconder Camp Thr 25th District AGM Sat 27th Beavers Bazazz July 2015 (School ends 21st) Mon 20th District Executive Meeting August 2015 September 2015 (School starts 2nd) Sun 13th Leaders Skills learning day Sat 19th Cubs Fishing Competition Sun 27th Scouts Fishing Competition October 2015 (Half term 26th to 30th) Fri 9th to Mon 12th Active Support Weekend Away Mon 12th District Executive Meeting Sat 17th Beavers No Cook Cooking Sun 18th Training First Response Sun 18th Scouts A to Z Challenge November 2015 Fri 13th Cubs Night Hike Sat 14th Leaders Skittles Competition Evening December 2015 (School ends 18th) Sat 5th Cubs Big Day Out Wed 9th Cubs Christingle Service

Copy date for next issue 29th December 2014

Email: chris.couzens@ntlworld.com