West Pennant Hills Scout Group Campbell Park Scout Hall, Wilga Street, West Pennant Hills

www.wphscouts.org.au

2018 Annual Report Newsletter

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Cubs Report 2

Scouts Report 3

Venturers Report 4

Group Leader’s Report 4

Fundraising Report 6

Treasurer’s Report 7

Cub of the Year 8

Scout of the Year 8

Venturer of the Year 9

Family Camp 10

Advertisements 11-13

Welcome Welcome to our special newsletter marking the West Pennant

Hills Scout Group Annual Report Presentation looking back on the

2017 year. The Annual Report Presentation gives the Cubs,

Scouts, Venturers and Leaders an opportunity to present their

achievements and activities of the past year to their sponsors. For

the West Pennant Hills Group, the sponsors are you, the parents

and friends of youth who attend as members of our Group.

Thanks to the parents and leaders who were able to attend in

person, it really encourages the cubs and scouts and they really

do appreciate your support.

Chairman’s Report Welcome everybody, especially Hornsby Shire Councillor, Warren Wardell and Wendy Farrell, Benowie Commission-er.

Leaders, Parents and Cubs, Scouts and Venturers.

Thank you all for attending tonight West Pennant Hills Scout Group ARP.

The committee whilst small, is functioning very well and getting things done.

We are committed to ongoing fundraising, so the troop has a fantastic facility to use as well as all the equipment they need

Our fundraising is ongoing and never stops with regular and casual hall hirers, BBQ’s, elections, Christmas Tree selling, and grants.

You can see from the treasurers report we are in good shape, financially.

The hall is also in good condition and hopefully you have all seen the new roof over this end of the hall.

The work involved in raising funds to keep the hall in good shape should not be underestimated, and whilst your chil-dren are having a great time there are lots of things going on in the background.

So at this point I would like to thank Tanya Toms, she has been the hall coordinator, as well as fund raising coordi-nator now for the last 5 years and we are lucky to have her.

The treasurer’s role was taken over by Amanda Lea this last year who has also done a terrific job in keeping the books in order. She has decided to resign, and we have Denise Cheng training for her position. May Chan is in turn taking over Denise’s role as Group Membership Secretary.

Whilst we have the major roles in the committee covered I once again invite you all to join the committee. The com-mittee needs new people to ensure the running of the troop.

Your children are members of the troop and it’s your duty to be a part of the committee.

Charles Jarrett

Group Chairman

Cubs Report We have had a busy year during which we have tried to provide a balanced program to develop a broad range of skills, to assist the cubs partici-pate in leadership, community, education and to champion the environment and outdoor ac-tivities whilst still ensuring that the cubs also have fun.

The cubs have progressed well through the boomerang badge program and many cubs have also gained special interest badges. These badge programs are designed to teach the cubs a wide range of skills and to provide them with goals, aims and a sense of achievement. We have had a Grey Wolf badge awarded to Indiah Jenkins and Sophie McDonald.

In addition to the weekly Monday night pro-grams, the cubs have participated in the follow-ing District, Regional and State activities (from May 2017 to April 2018):

Benowie District Cub Scout Challenge

Benowie District Cub Scout Leadership Course

Annual Christmas party at Homebush Aquatic Centre

Visit to Castle Hill RSL Club

ANZAC day parade to the Hornsby Ceno-taph

West Pennant Hills Pack activities:

May Grey Wolf hike Mothers’ Day Craft District Campfire June Cub Scout Leadership Course Space night at Macquarie University Mini cub scout challenge night July Hornsby Gang Show Cub Scout Challenge (2nd place) August Police visit Cub Scout Challenge Campfire cooking Fathers’ Day Craft

September Waterwise badge

October Family Camp at Glenrock

November Whoop Whoop night Billy Cart Derby (Overall Winner)

December Homebush Aquatic Centre

February Campfire

March Sirius Cup (10yr olds)

April ANZAC March

Other regular items include

Cub to Scout link activities and camps, to pre-pare cubs for the transition to Scouts

Pack Councils to provide leadership training and planning input for the Cub Sixers and Seconds

Participation in Clean up Australia Day

Participation in Red Shield appeal

Cub Leaders I want to thank the leaders for their help during the last 12 months, I specially want to thank Rewa (Belinda Hanly) for her help as it has been very difficult to attend cubs as a leader on a Monday night and other days/nights we have had activities. Belinda has done this whilst building their house. Thank you Belinda.

We look forward to another action packed & fun filled Cub program, over the next 12 months including the snow trip etc….

Mark Randle Cub Scout Leader

Scouts Report The scouts over the last year have had many

memorable adventures and activities. The

Scouts have been very involved with program-

ming with the guidance of all the scout leaders.

We continue with Emma Campbell (Ivy) as Scout

leader and Paul Anderson (Hulk), Alison Costello

(Mario) and Chris Roberts (Tank) as leaders. We

farewelled Wendy Farrell (Dingo) from our Scout

Group to see her take on higher duties as District

Commissioner. Wendy still has her calling to our

group often helping out at fundraising activities

for our group. We also welcomed Stuart McDon-

ald (Aqua man) as a scout leader and Caitlin

(Recess) as a helper.

Leader training has continued this year with Chris

almost completed his training and Stuart com-

mencing his scout leader training. Paul and I also

completed our Advance training and received

our Wood Badge at Easter Camp which was a

very big honour.

I would like to congratulate Jack Short for com-

pleting his Green Cord and ASM. This is a fantas-

tic

achievement that only a few scouts complete.

It’s a great honour for him.

As it’s a Jamboree year the younger scouts are all

very excited to be working towards there Pioneer

badge or Red cord. This is a requirement to

attend Jamboree. We have 8 scouts and 2 lead-

ers attending Australian Jamboree in 2019 at Ad-

elaide. We also have 5 scouts and 1 cub leader

attending World Jamboree in USA.

We welcomed new scouts this year India, Bailey

and Sophie, with Heather and Jack moving up to

Venturers.

In 2017 we had a number of Scouts perform in

Hornsby Gang Show. Hamish, Heather, Chloe

and Mackenzie were all amazing on stage and

really enjoyed their time in the show.

Our group have done many activities such as La-

ser Tag, Swimming nights, Escape Room and

many other exciting activities. The Scouts and

some leaders did a hike to Colo River which was

fairly easy walk down the mountain but another

story going back up. The swim in the river at the

bottom was magical and the scouts had fun be-

ing washed down some small rapids. There have

also been a number of camps, Easter Camp, Siri-

us Cup, State Rally and last December we had a

Troop Camp to Norah Heads which was fun and

relaxing for all the scouts and leaders who

attended. The scouts even learnt a few things on

the way at Troop Camp.

I would like to thank Mark Randle, David Ward

and Kevin Pidd for helping out at the various

camps and Hikes over the year. I would also like

to thank the committee members for your sup-

port over the past year. To my scout leaders,

thank you very much for your time, effort, sup-

port each week and being there on a Friday night

to be a fantastic influence on the scouts.

Emma Campbell (Scout Leader)

Venturers Report Firstly we'd like to thank our devoted leaders, Sharyn and David, for their hard work over this past year. We couldn't have done it without you.

We created this group three years ago and it has suc-cessfully grown in numbers. We have done lots of ex-citing activities over the last twelve months and have really bonded as a group.

We have worked together to organise our unit for Drag-onskin and Sirius cup and have enjoyed organising and participating in multiple of our own hikes and camps. We have had lots of fun working together in these ac-tivities.

We have had multiple members participate in safety and first aid courses and venturer award courses. Some members are well on their way to achieving the queen scout award and we wish them the best of luck.

We look forward to a fun and adventurous next twelve months.

Patrick Brain Venturer Scouts

Group Leader’s Report Welcome to the 2017 Annual Report Presentation for West Pennant Hills Scout Group. At the Group lev-

el, it is very important to have an efficient and effective committee in place to support the youth sections

and enable them to deliver programmes using the Scout method. We are

extremely fortunate at West Pennant Hills to have such a committee.

I would like to thank the members of our committee who have agreed to extend their term for the com-

ing year.

Charles Jarrett – Group President

Tanya Toms – Hall Co-ordinator

Amanda Lea who has been our Treasurer for the past year is overcommitted with volunteer work and will

resign as Treasurer. Amanda will remain on the committee offering counsel and guidance. We thank

Amanda for her professionalism and Denise Cheng our Group Secretary has volunteered to take on the

Treasurer role and with assistance and training from Amanda is now doing and

excellent job. We welcome May Chan to the committee and May will be taking over the Group

Secretary role.

Membership

Our membership numbers have risen sharply in the Cub section are steady but we have room to expand

in all sections

12 leaders

22 cubs

21 scouts

5 venturers

Group Leader’s Report cont

Leaders

We welcome two new leaders to the group

Welcome Nick Aiken and Max Fang as a new Cub Leaders.

Welcome Stuart McDonald who has move from Cubs to Scout Leader.

We are actively recruiting new leaders for the Cub and Scout sections.

Special Congratulations are in order to Paul Anderson and Emma Campbell who completed their

Advanced Leadership Courses and were awarded the Scout Wood badge.

Group Management

This year the Scouts NSW implemented Care Monkey, an electronic health form system that can replace

E1 forms. This is innovative and promising, saving the work of repeatedly printing and filling out forms

for each activity. This hasn’t proved popular with the leaders because not every member is signed up to

Caremonkey. Unless 100% of activity participants are on Caremonkey, E1’s also need to be produced

which is a duplication of work for the leaders. We hope to make greater use of Caremonkey in the com-

ing year by increasing participation and steam-lining the process.

Group Events

West Pennant Hills held their biennial Spring Fair in August and they like us to bring the Scout Climbing

Wall which is a popular attraction. This is an excellent recruiting exercise and we partnered with West

Pennant Hills Valley and 2/3 Pennant Hills to run this event

A Family Camp was held at our favourite venue, Glenrock Scout Camp in late October. This is a special

location, excellent accommodation in a hidden valley with a beach and lagoon, not far from Newcastle.

The weather was excellent and a relaxing weekend was enjoyed by all

No end of year event was held this year, a decision made by organizers to alternate the family camp and

end of year event. Look forward to something exciting at the end of this year.

Youth Program Review

Since 2013, Scouts Australia has been conducting a Youth Program Review to modify the current Scout

program to make sure Scouting continues to be fun, challenging and exciting.

This review is complete and will be implemented at the 2019 Australian Jamboree. There will be some

major changes to the award system but essentially it will ensure that the program is Youth driven and

will provide a continuous journey through the cub, scout and sections.

I would like to thanks the Leaders, Committee and parents for their support over the past year and we

look forward to a successful 2018 and beyond.

Yours in Scouting,

Kevin Pidd

Group Leader

Hall Co-ordinator and Fundraising Report

2017 was a good year for our group. With no major building projects com-

pleted by 31 December however there was a lot of planning for this year’s

project, replacing the old concrete tile roof with a new corrugated iron roof

and insulation.

The hall was regularly hired by 4 groups, SYMT, TKD, RJ Performing Arts and

KTA RC, as well as the AEC for the last council election in September and a

few casual hirers. Revenue received from our regular and casual hirers was

just under $18,000 which goes directly back into maintaining the hall, run-

ning the group, leaders training and expenses and the purchase of new

equipment.

The group ran 2 Bunnings BBQ’s at Dural and Castle Hill and an election BBQ at the hall in September, raising $3832. We worked with Rotary again in December to sell Christmas trees. This year the group shared the selling responsibility with WPH Valley and Pennant Hills groups, with each group in charge of 1 weekend. The total profit was split 3 ways with each group receiving $1970 each.

In 2017 the committee applied for and received $11,500 in grants. Stronger Communities program Australian Federal Govt - $11,000. I would like to thank Julian Leeser MP for Berowra for his support with this grant and presenting the group with a giant cheque. WPH Sports club - $500, as part of the club grants program. Fundraising in 2017 will go directly towards our major project, replacing the hall roof which was com-pleted Thursday 26 April 2018. The total cost is $36,850. Our next major project is to replace the timber veranda and tile roof of the large hall which is rotting.

We will be applying for more grants to help with the cost of the project which is expected to be around

$15,000-$20,000 .

Tanya Toms

Treasurer’s Report 1 January to 31 December 2017

TOTAL INCOME $61,205

MONEY OUT

TOTAL EXPENSES $60,793

MONEY LEFT OVER

$412

$61,205 $60,793

Income/Expenses

Income minus expenses

Total Expenses

Total Income

Cub Scout of the Year

The Cub of the year was hard to decide.

After much consideration it was decided that this cub was deserving of the Cub of the year, this cub has participated in many activities dur-ing there time as a cub. This cub is very quiet but later has come out of their shell.

This cub can achieve great things, please con-tinue and extend yourself.

This cub has also recently received their Grey Wolf award.

I have great pleasure to announce the cub of the year for 2018 is Sophie McDonald.

Citation:

Sophie has been an excellent cub and will go on to achieve many things.

Scout of the Year

I am pleased to announce that this year’s Scout of the Year is James Warburton.

James has been a valuable, well respected member of Scouts for 4 years. He has been an instrumental part of the troop patrol sys-tem and has always been a willing member. He is a respected member of scouts and is always caring towards other scouts. He participates fully in scouting activities and works hard to improve and mentor other scouts in his patrol and troop. James at Scout Camps has been a Patrol leader and delegates to his patrol in a calm and influ-ential way. James has achieved his Explorer level Blue cord and continues to be a well-respected mentor of the Scouts.

James it has been a pleasure watching you grow as a youth member and grow as a per-son. We look forward to hearing of your many successes in your life in the coming years. Congratulations!

Citation:

For being an instrumental part of the Troop and Patrol System and a willing youth mem-ber. You are well respected amongst your peers and mentoring younger youth mem-bers to enjoy Scouting Life now and in the future.

Venturer of the Year

I am proud to announce that this year’s Ven-

turer of the Year is Patrick Brain.

This year we have looked at the Combined

Venturer Unit as a whole and chosen the best

Venturer regardless of which Group they be-

long to.

Patrick joined the 2/3 Pennant Hills Venturer

Unit in 2016 and has been an active and relia-

ble member of the Combined Venturer Unit

since. With his enthusiasm and energy, Patrick

has always managed to motivate the other

Venturers - which can sometimes be a hard

task.

Patrick has taken on various leadership roles

within the Unit, including Unit Chair. He has

also attended Dragon Skin (a hike run by the

Rovers for the Venturers), Venturer camps,

and most of the Venturer activities.

Patrick has organized and participated in many

Venturer activities and has a consistently posi-

tive attitude.

It gives me great pleasure to present this

award to Patrick, the 2017 Venturer of the

Year.

Citation

Presented to Patrick Brain

for his continued commitment to Scouting,

his leadership and motivational skills

West Pennant Hills Scout Group

Annual Family Camp

Glenrock Scout Centre

Friday 25th – Sunday 27

th October 2019

Once again, back by popular demand, we have booked the annual family camp at Glen-rock Scout Centre (south side of Newcastle). This is the number 1 venue chosen for our Family Camps within our Group and for 2019 we’ll be returning to enjoy the setting and facil-ities.

Glenrock has been booked from 5pm Friday 25th to 3pm Sunday 27th October 2019.

Glenrock has a fantastic ocean front location with a creek & lagoon, surrounded by bush.

We’ve had memorable weekends in the past, with Canoeing, Volleyball, Swimming and Bushwalking activities, just to name a few.

Or, if you would rather, just relax on the beach bring a good book.

It’s a great way to have a short, inexpensive break, get away and mix with other families who support and contribute to the Group.

This camp is open to all family members. Please note: the leaders will be providing supervision of your children on certain activities only as they are on holidays too.

Glenrock provides an excellent well equipped kitchen and dining room facilities together with a large hall in case of inclement weather.

Location: Off Burwood Rd, Kahibah (near

Charlestown, Newcastle) Approx 1½ hrs drive

from Sydney (maps will be provided at a later date).

Food (price per person/weekend): Under 5 free 5 – 13 yrs $20.00 4 yrs and over $30.00

Friday: food will be at your own arrange-ment

Following meals are included in the cost:

Saturday: breakfast, lunch and dinner*

Sunday: breakfast and lunch*

* Morning tea, afternoon tea & supper included. Breakfast cereals only, or take your own ‘treats’ to cook.

NOTE: Families take turns to prepare meals.

Accommodation:

Family Bunk Rooms:

$30 per person per weekend.

These are clean, comfortable rooms with 3 bunks in each (sleeps 6). There are a couple of larger bunk rooms also available for large fami-lies or if 2 families wish to share. Please con-firm preference when booking.

Camping:

$15 per person per weekend.

So we can get an idea of numbers of those wishing to attend could you let us know of your intention to come ASAP. Even if you are una-ble to attend we would appreciate you letting us know.

Attendance must be confirmed by Friday

18th October 2019, for catering purposes.

If you have any questions please speak to any of the leaders or committee members.

(late applications may be accepted if numbers permit). West Pennant Hills Scout Group

Committee