Christmas is a comin'

Well, 2 more Scouting weeks until we have a break. Is it just me, or do the holidays come around ever quicker?

We have completed our Snowsports badge, which 19 of the Troop completed. It was great fun, plus there was the added bonus of no significant injuries, just a few tumbles.

Following that, we started work on our Fire Safety badge, culminating in a visit to Preston Circus fire station. That was very informative, and hopefully means a few homes in Patcham and the surrounds are more safe.

Fiona - our Cub leader - was interested to find out that the fire service visit homes to fit smoke alarms, and has calculated she has enough ceiling space for around 1,300 of them; she has now booked in 3 fittings a week for the next 8 years 4 months. By that time, she should have converted the loft too...

Anyway, hope everyone else is better prepared for Christmas than I am!

Dave

Who do you think you are? Franz Klammer?

Well, we've had 2 weeks of skiing now, with 1 to go. Skiing is a great programme item, in my opinion, for a number of reasons:

1. It is fun, for kids and adults.



2. It involves exercise (which I could certainly do with more of!).



3. Many people learn a new skill in doing it, achieving (mostly) a badge in the process.



4. It is great value for money - roughly half the price you'd normally pay.



5. It is quite straightforward to organise.
   

We last ran the skiing programme back in 2003, which seems about right. This way, everyone has an opportunity. I'll stick some pics on the website but I thought I should put one or two here. And everyone is interested in the spills, so here is me having a big crash! Thanks to Carey for capturing the moment...

And just to prove I wasn't the only one, here's another minor moment. No, he wasn't just landing after doing the ski jump...

The end of the weekend

Week days are always so manic, I am sure I don't need to tell anyone that! I had high hopes for this weekend, as there are some thinks I need to get to. I have managed to change the badges on the website, and also caught up a bit on the high finances that are the Scout subs accounts. I do have a couple of jobs still to do though - there's organising our Warden Duty camp, writing up our Troop rules and working out details of investitures. I also have my Martlets scrapbook to assemble, before I forget what it was all about!

So, we have just had another girl start at Scouts; that's 3 in total now, and I think they are having a really positive effect on the Troop. Not that I would prefer an all girl Troop or anything, but it is nice to have a bit of a balance.

So this week we're off to Parkwood. I always enjoy being there, especially with the darker evenings. I guess it is the small boy in me, that still loves hide and seek, making camps and setting fire to things. Maybe I am not as grown up as I had thought!

Well, time to log off, feel free to reflect back!

Communication

Well, communication was the theme for this week's programme, but it nearly wasn't! Firstly, my home PC has been in dry dock for about 10 days. For those that know me well, you'll realise this is not at all unusual! It is a nuisance, though, and means I struggle to get things done - hence why the website isn't updated. Sorry!

Secondly, I just wanted to say this week was good fun and much better than I'd hoped! I had, at the last minute, to do all kinds of chores this week, including a 380 mile round trip to Birmingham on Wednesday. Having been up since 5am and being rather tired, I was in no mood for problems, but there weren't any. Great!

Finally, we have had only a couple of entries each for the skiing and Forester. Both are well worth applying for!

That's it for now!

Resolutions

Well, my idea of a weekly posting went really well. It seems I haven't posted since June, so well done me!

I hope those that went to Martlets Jamboree have shared with you all their thoughts about the event? As for me, I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not but I have to say, I thought it was excellent. Particular highlights were the celebration day (with fairground rides) and the closing ceremony (which was a true spectacular).

I took stacks of photos and put these on Snapfish. If anyone wants a look drop me a reply.

The day after Martlets I was off on my family holiday. I was so tired that I slept for 22 of the first 48 hours we were there!

Anyhow, here we are back at school and back at Scouts. Quite often we find one or two drop by the wayside in the holidays but we had 24 Scouts for our first day back, with only 4 missing, and 1 of thosedropped me an e-mail to let me know he wouldn't be around (England's footy match against Russia was a bigger draw).

This brings me on to a serious point. Behaviour has long been a concern, but I'm not prepared to force the leaders to put up with deliberate disruptiveness. We can't afford staffing to have 1 on 1 monitoring (we have 2 or 3 leaders per week), so Scouts must remember the first line of their promise - A Scout is to be trusted. Really, this means they should be worthy of our trust. A quick refresher of all 7 laws, in many cases, might be time well spent. Two Scouts were considerably below standard this week, and I have contacted both parents to ensure they are suspended for next week.

Now on to lighter matters. I have sent around a programme to everyone - if you don't have this, please ask. This may be subject to change but we'll let you know. Skiing should be particularly fun! Also, make sure entries for Forester come in in good time.

I hope to see loads of Scouts for the harvest festival on Sunday.

Dave

Snapshot to the world of a Scout Leader

It isn't that I don't enjoy posting, I do! It is just a time thing. I thought I would give you a quick snapshot of my "to do" list between now and the near future:

For Wednesday:

1. Plan route
2. Get kit from HQ
3. Do note for the 10 pin bowling night

For Saturday:

1. Plan our base for the AGM
2. Print some photos for the AGM
3. Work out badges to present for the AGM
4. Send in Baker's Dozen entry form
5. Get Baker's Dozen Permission forms complete
6. Sort Baker's Dozen menu and food
7. Baker's Dozen kit check on Friday evening
8. Create Kandersteg photo CD

For slightly further in the distance:

1. Sort out the subs sheet and reconcile accounts with Treasurer
2. Enter Colditz Challenge team (and decide whether we can man a base)
3. Create a "Welcome to the Troop" pack for new Scouts (needed, as we are investing 3 Scouts soon)
4. Order some supplies - especially metal tent pegs (where did they all go???)
5. Renew my nights away permit
6. Plan the camp for the following weekend (the one between the Baker's Dozen and the Colditz Challenge!)
7. Sort out the logo design competition
8. Produce a database and letter for ex-Scouts to invite them back (up to about #150 so far!)

It sometimes seems like I have 2 full time jobs; shame only my "other" job pays me a salary!

Keep smiling!

Dave

Apologies

One post a month isn't very good, really, is it?! I think there is a chicken and egg situation here - if I posted more, people would read it more so it would be more worth doing. Perhaps I could at least step it up to a weekly post.

Anyway, some bad news I am afraid - I am going to be cancelling Spring Camp. The site had an enquiry from another Group and this meant we wouldn't be charged the £30 deposit. The reason for the cancellation is that only 7 (out of the Troop of 25) confirmed they wanted to come. Organising a camp is quite an undertaking (there's menu to sort out, food to buy, kit to get ready, health declarations, programme, paperwork and transport for people and kit to arrange) and with such low demand, it seemed unfair to ask others to give up their time. I am very interested to know why the take up was so low, though - are you all off on holidays, or was there some other factor?

So what is there to look forward to now? Well, there is always something! Next big event is the Baker's Dozen, a 13 mile hike 23rd to 24th June. It is a good introduction to competition hiking for Scouts up to age 13, and our first training hike will now be this Sunday; details being given out tonight.

Next week (Friday 1st), for those that have booked, is the Mystery Trip and at last I can reveal the destination is...

Nah, not really - you'll have to wait and see!

There is more going on in June - we have been asked to help out at the Sixer's Camp, running a base (could well be worth passing area 2 of the Community Challenge) and if the Cubs are camping in June, we may well take a few Scouts along, too. We also have our group AGM, where we will be running a base and dishing out a badge or two...

Then there is the Martlets Jamboree. For those that are coming, it is worth another quick look at their website to see what is going on.

It'll be Christmas before you know it!

Dave

St George's Day

Thanks to all who were there! It wasn't a bad turnout, although I am not sure whether the weather helped or hindered!

The Argus carried it on their front page - click here.

Dave

Spring Camp

Hi everyone,

Another infrequent blog posting here. I've now made a provisional booking on a campsite - Bentley Copse, which is near Shere (between Dorking & Guildford), location can be found here. This will open multimap, and you can zoom in or out. Alternatively you can get an aerial picture here.

This first pic is of the main field

The second shows the view from the office past the car park to the camp sites.

This is the actual site we have booked (number 7).

The views aren't bad from here!

Views welcome, but book 25th to 27th May in your diaries! This is our Centenary Camp, and should be fun!

Dave

Welcome Back

Hi there!

I had intended to keep the blog going, it is just a question of finding the time... Here is what has happened since my last post.

Well, the Kandersteg report back went well, I thought. There are still some lose ends to tie up from that trip - finalising the accounts, ensuring we have all the feedback forms in, getting rid of a few more t-shirts and editing the 6 DVD's of video and 500+ photos into a 2 disk souvenir. I am thinking of cloning myself!

The carol service was really well attended, so thanks to all who were there. And apologies that I missed the last meeting of term; I am much better now, though.

This was followed up a day later with a Troop Leadership Forum, which is a meeting between the adult leaders and SPLs, PLs and APLs. Lots of good debate and ideas, so thanks to all who were there (and ate my biscuits).

Rather insanely, we had a camp 28th to 30th December. I will try and post some photos but, frankly, it rained a lot and the camera mostly stayed in the relative dry-ness of my tent. Great apple pie, though, from our camp oven and at least the 4 SPLs now have the path cleared towards Chief Scout Award Gold glory! The next visitors to our site might notice rather fewer trees - hopefully we'll get some more light in there, once we next see the sun (about March, probably).

For those that are particularly masochistic, there is another camp from 2nd to 4th February; the details are being given out tonight, with a close date at the end of the month.

We just recently went to the panto in Worthing - Peter Pan (oh no you didn't, oh yes we did, etc). Well, all that is behind us now, but really well organised, Sally. I really enjoyed it.

Tonight we are back at Scouts and commencing our celebration of the centenary of scouts. In that time, much has changed, and a few things haven't (no, I don't actually remember the first camp...). I'd like to think 2007 will see us move ever onwards and upwards, but we can't do it without the participation of our Scouts and the support of their parents. So, what do you want to see happen in 2007?

Dave