Remembrance Sunday 2015

Sunday 8th November will see the annual Remembrance Service at the Cathedral War Memorial. It is the most important occasion in the 12th Winchester calendar and one that we are privileged to attend thanks to our long-standing links with the Green Jackets and Rifles Brigade.

We very much hope that all Beavers, Cubs and Scouts will be able to attend. Please ensure full uniform is worn, shoes are carefully polished, hair is neat and neckers ironed. (And don’t forget to wear something warm underneath the uniform as we will be outside for the duration of the service.)

Meet at the KRRC Memorial outside the Cathedral at 0900hrs. The service takes place  at 0910hrs and should be finished by 0930hrs.

Beaver Scouts do crate stacking!

‘The courage of those Beavers was nothing short of impressive’

Ladybird

The Beavers welcomed the start of the new scouting term with a series of evenings up at Pinsent. The highlight of these was undoubtedly crate stacking. Under a threatening early evening sky, the Beavers were harnessed and helmeted before, three at a time, testing their balance and their nerve in front of their friends.

Essentially, crate stacking is the act of placing one crate on top of another while a climber remains on the topmost crate without overbalancing and falling off. Obviously, our Beavers were secured safely, via their harnesses, to an overhead rope but nonetheless this was an exercise that required confidence in bucket-loads. However they all did themselves – and each other – proud. Everyone had a go and there were some extremely impressive crate stacks. Obviously, falling off them, or kicking them over, was half of the fun.

With many thanks from the Beavers to all the adults who made this exercise possible!

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Supermarket Sweep !

Many thanks to the Beavers and Cubs who turned up to help with our fund-raising bag pack at Tesco on a wet Sunday morning in July.

We had some great feedback from the customers and after a long coin counting session we found we had raised £309 for the Group in just two hours – well worth while, so thank you to everyone who supported this event !

 

Scouts’ sailing weekend

Our Scout group marked the start of summer by taking to the seas with a sailing weekend in July at the Royal Yachting Association accredited National Seamanship Training Centre in Portsmouth.
Friday evening saw some dry-land introductions to the concepts of sheeting, reefing and helming before a 6am start on Saturday morning. No-one had to be dug out of their cabin or tipped from their hammock: everyone was eager to make the most of the tides and get sailing for real. Moving back to the land, activities included a hearty breakfast and dinner – luckily, the traditional fare of ships biscuits and pemmican were not on the menu – and training included a session on knots before the group moved back to the water for an evening sail.
“It was my first time sailing. We had a nice time at the weekend. I learned how to sail Wayfarers and Picos with instructors who made it fun. I would go again next year!” Alistair

Sunday morning’s crew, although up and ready for the day at a similar time, was noticeably less lively than the previous day – at least at first. Demonstrating advanced skills, various boats became involved in a new form of naval warfare based on water pistols and buckets of water until everyone was wide awake.

“It was a fun experience to go to. The instructors were very good as they took you through your paces and if you were more advanced they would put you in a boat for more able sailors. I would definitely do it again and would like to try a Pico next time. PS – the power safety boat was excellent as it could go very fast!” Edward

The centre’s highly qualified instructors impressed us with their enthusiasm and their ability to cater for our group’s wide range of skills and experience – and all at the cost of only £25 per person. We are already making plans for a repeat visit next year: get ready to book your place soon…..

The Cub Scout Promise

These are the different alternative variations of the Promise for Cubs Scouts available since 2013:

Core Promise

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to the Queen,
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law

Christian, Jew & Sikh:

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to Queen
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law

Muslim:

On My honour…
or
In the name of Allah, the
Most Beneficent the Most
Merciful…

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to the Queen
or duty to Allah and to the Queen

to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law

Hindu:

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God and to the
Queen
or
duty to my Dharma and to the Queen

to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law

Humanist, atheist or no faith:

I promise that I will do my best
To uphold our Scout
values, to do my duty to the
Queen,
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law

For more details please see the http://members.scouts.org.uk/factsheets/FS322016.pdf.