SCOUT UTSomerset Scout Newsletter

May 2012Issue 14

Do

The Taunton Scouts who climbed

Everest in a day - sort of.

this month...

O

Everest?

Census made sense

Facts and figs of our

growth in Somerset.

PLUS...

London gets ScoutFested

With less than a month to go plans

for ScoutFest are getting exciting

whilst the banner tour goes on.

1 thingScout Community Week

14-20 MaySomerset

you scout...scoutout@somersetscouts.org.uk

www.somersetscouts.org.uk

600 year old sleep over

Pitching these 2011 World Scout Jamboree tents for a sleep over are Cubs from St Andrews in Yeovil.

The group decided they wanted to do a camp somewhere a bit different and the 600 year old Priory near Stoke-Sub-Hamdon was their choice.

Leader Mandy said: “It was a fantastic night away despite the weather (hail, thunder and then frost) and not too spooky for our intrepid lot!”

Olympic torch in SomersetTaunton is one of just 70 towns in the UK to

host part of this year’s Olympic Torch Relay. On May 21st the torch will arrive in town and

be paraded down North Street in the town by Young People from across Somerset.

The event is open to all and no doubt Taunton will be busy but the town centre are encouraging as many people as they can to take part in the celebration.

The Queen met Cubs in Yeovil on her Jubilee tour

you scout...

www.somersetscouts.org.uk

Hiking for Shelter Box

Scouts from Sedgemoor have been getting poetic. A hike through the Quantock and Brendon hills this Easter followed in the

footsteps of Samuel Coleridge (Blossing of The Solitary Date Tree and others).

Spurred on by the promise of an Easter egg at the finish line 29 Scouts covered 36 miles on foot.

And all the while raising money for Shelter Box by carrying a Shelter Box the length of the walk and finding sponsors.

The walk ended at Horner Woods and the Scouts from groups 1st Bridgwater, 1st Huntspill and Highbridge and 1st North Petherton were rewarded with chocolate eggs! Over the Easter holidays 23 Explorers and

leaders from Taunton, led by our Somerset kayaking expert Jim Padfield, headed to Poole

harbour for a rather special camp.

They packed their camping gear for the weekend into the kayaks and paddled from Hamworthy out to Brownsea Island campsite.

Overnight, the camp was visited by peacocks and deer and at least one red squirrel was glimpsed! The group also ventured further out of the harbour to paddle around the coast. The plan had been to paddle to Old Harry but the wind was too strong so they paddled the opposite way taken instead! Coming back home upwind was hard work but the team managed the trip with no capsizes and no wet kit. A team of tired but happy Explorers.

Paddling to Brownsea

Somerset’s Young Leaders had a ‘fantastic’ skills camp up at Huish Woods in April.

“We put up the new Huish Woods sign up, and it looks amazing, tested the Ariel runway, trained as Archery and Climbing Assistants and not to mention a fun with glow sticks/balls, a cooking challenge, quiz and the odd bit of sleep!” Taunton Young Leaders.

Huish Woods YL camp

The Queen met Cubs in Yeovil on her Jubilee tour

Go on Tom, keep goingCommunity Week Somerset

And he did, all 26 miles of the London Marathon this April. Tom, a Somerset Scouter from Lympsham

is in the business of raising money for local Scouting in his community.

“The money raised from this event will go towards continuing the impact that scouting has on it’s member’s lives... through my time in Scouts I took part in activities that I would never have tried otherwise, spent countless nights camping away from home and visited Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Poland... all of which grew my confidence and have prepared me for the hectic life I now lead.”

Meanwhile Scouts from Cheddar welcomed their local MP Tessa Munt into their HQ to chat and they got on so well Tessa invited the Scouts to visit her in London.

The guys met Tessa in Parliament for a tour and were invited into Downing Street to visit number 10.

Our Cheddar Scouts are making a real difference in their community by engaging with Tessa in this way. It gives the young people a chance to question and speak up about what matters to them in their local places.

Over in South Petherton these Beavers planted 100 trees at Barcroft Hall in the sunshine. A hundred! That’s a lot of trees.

In Wellington Cubs turned out with trowels and wheel barrows to help transform the garden at their local nursing home for the benefit of the residents. scouts.org.uk/communityweek

Go on Tom, keep goingCommunity Week Somerset

Do 1thingScout Community Week

14-20 May

Impact in your community: visit your local MP

Planting 100 trees near South Petherton

Gardening for the folks at your local

nursing home

Already our Scouts are contributing to their communities, how will you make a difference in Somerset?

up 8.7%

1553 climbs of the Huish Woods Climbing Tower = Everest.

Tower: 5.7 mEverest: 8848 m

The new climbing tower at Huish Wood was well and truly climbed by 1st Wilton during their Everest Equivalent Event.

We managed our original aim of an ascent of Everest midway through the afternoon of the

first day (612 climbs, 3484m) so went on and completed the full height of Everest from sea level to the summit (1553 climbs, 8848m).

All the sections took part and we were really pleased with the way the Explorers threw themselves into learning to rig and belay the tower. Along the way we had a few investitures

halfway up the tower and some of the Explorers learnt some climbing rescue techniques as well (in practice, not for real!).

The final number on the counter was 1631 climbs, and we had a total of 89 youngsters taking part (in addition to the invaluable support of numerous adults). Some managed just one or a few climbs, some came back again and again and the highest individual tally was 200 climbs!

Girls and teenagers love Scouting. A round-up of Somerset’s latest census figures

7 years of growth on the trot

11/12

10/11

9/10

8/97/8

6/7

Youth membership3879Adultmembership654324

Explorers

up 8.7%

up 1.7%

1000+Beavers

20%of Somerset

Scouts are female

1 County

7 Districts224 sections

10%

5

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-5

-10%

District Change

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Group Change

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48

Our deadline for content is

Wednesday 24/12/10. Issue six

will be published

January 1st, 2011. ScoutOut

THE COUNTY DIARY

FRI1/6to4/6

SUN8/7

FRI5/10toSUN7/10

SAT3/11to4/11

Written and Produced by

Richard Shepherd for the

Somerset Scout Council.

Images reproduced with the

permission of the owners. Copyright

Somerset Scout Council May 2012

Check it out... www.somersetscouts.org.uk/county-diary

for the online County Diary,

downloadable event application

forms, health forms and kit lists.

MEDIA TEAMscoutout@somersetscouts.org.uk

Issue 15 will be published

July 2012.

ScoutFestFour days of the largest event to take place in the South West this year. Celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with Scouting adventure.

ScoutFestThe adventure is nearly here

and you can still be a part of it.

Day Visitssomersetscouts.org.uk/scoutfest/day-visit

Make a day visit or watch this extraordinary Jubilee celebration unfold online.

somersetscouts.org.uk/scoutfest

Videos, pictures and live stream

6 a-side FootballA footy tastic Cub event with full details being released shortly. A must for all tennis players.

Young Leader’sTraining WeekendHuish Woods for the Young Leader event of the year, meet YL’s from across the County and get all your training done and dusted in one fun weekend.

Explorer and Network 10th BirthdayThis time last year they were only 9 - and now they’re 10!

Don’t miss the Explorer / Network event of the year guaranteed to rock.