The Chase Walk 2010

Chase Walk 2010

Hi All,

On Saturday 20th March we entered a team of 7 Scouts into this year's Chase Walk event.

We met near HQ at 8am for a brief equipment check and then made our way to the official starting point at the Forest Centre in Cannock Chase.

After registering our team with the organisers, we then had to wait for an official equipment and safety check before finally being allowed to start the walk at around 9.25am.

The weather forecast was cloudy with showers, which soon turned into rather a lot of rain!

The route was approximately 22.3km long and the team had to check in at 7 bases in total along the way, including one near the town of Brocton and Walton-on-the-Hill.

Our team did extremely well and made excellent time throughout the day. We were very impressed.

Please click on the image above to see more pictures taken during the event.

The team reached the base at the finishing point at approx 4.30pm and we were all rather soaked!

It is the first time we have entered a team in this event since it was opened up for the Scouts over 10 years ago.

We hope to enter a team in the Chase Walk again next year.

Yours in Scouting,

Adam & Alan

Hillwalking Course March 2010

Hillwalking Course March 2010

Hi Scouts,

During the weekend of 13th & 14th March I attended a hillwalking course organised by County.

On the first day there was a technical session held indoors at County HQ. The topics covered included;

• Responsibilities
• Group management
• Risk assessment and emergency procedures
• Weather
• Equipment – personal and group
• Form M permit scheme and Scout association rules

We also measured out 100m and counted how many paces each of us took to cover the distance, which we would use the following day.

On the second day an outdoor practical training session was held in the Berwyn Mountains area in Mid Wales.

This day dealt with all the levels required for navigation assessment, along with steep ground and rope management and built on the lessons learned from the previous day.

The route covered Terrain 0 & 1 and was very steep in places. I was absolutely shattered at the end of it, but the views were worth it!

Topics covered included map reading, navigation, visual skills, pacing, timing, leap frogging, aiming off, attack points and dog legging!

There was snow on top of the hills and most of us got soaked by falling into hidden, water filled ditches in the ground or in deep, snow covered holes at the top!

Our instructor fell through one up to his waste as you can see in the image gallery.

The course was extremely rewarding and over the next few months I shall no doubt be teaching you all some of the techniques I learned.

Please click on the above image to see more of the pictures I took over the weekend.

Yours in Scouting,

Adam

The Gambia 2010

The Gambia 2010

Hi Scouts,

At the beginning of March 2010 Graham (Kaa from Cubs) and myself spent a week in Madina Salaam, a small village in the Western region of The Gambia.

During our stay we helped to maintain a fence around a football pitch for the local population, prepared the ground for 5 new vegetable patches in the school garden, continued to develop a map of The Gambia on the side of the school wall, designed some posters for the school classroom and worked in the nursery and health centre.

We also took a boat trip around the mangroves at Lammin Lodge on the the river Gambia, visited the town of Senegambia, joined in with the celebrations on Commonwealth day and went fishing in Kartong.

The staff at the lodge and the people of Madina Salaam made us feel very welcome and allowed us to share an insight into their daily lives.

The children were absolutely fantastic and always greeted us with a huge smile and a very polite, 'hello'!

Our trip was organised through a charity called WYCE (Wonder Years Centre of Excellence) which based in Wednesbury.

The aim of WYCE is to:

• To develop a system of schooling, where every child gets an equal opportunity to education
• To provide local employment opportunities
• To improve training opportunities for the local people
• To develop primary healthcare facilities for the less privileged communities
• To develop the skills of teenagers through skills centres
• To make The Gambia a wealthier and healthier place for everyone

If you would like to know more about the charity, please visit their website at www.wonderyearsce.co.uk

Needless to say Graham and I had a fantastic experience and we intend to go back again in the near future to continue the good work going on there.

I also hope to visit one of their Scout Groups next time round!

Please click on the image above to see more pictures taken during our stay.

Yours in Scouting,

Graham & Adam

We need cups!

We need some more cups for use especially at The Summer Fair and The Flower Show

The cups we own have probably been in use for at least 50 years and inevitably, we have lost a
few through accidental breakage etc.

They were probably made by Woods from Stoke on Trent - who sadly are no longer trading.

Would you please help locate some replacements, either from a home - yours or a friends - or maybe a club/church hall/institution where they are no longer needed or maybe from the window or display of any of the multitude of charity shops in this and other areas.

The majority of our crockery is blue, we also have some green and quite a lot of a colour being midway between blue and green.

We will, if required, pay money - sensible amounts - for these cups.

Do please try and locate some (otherwise some folks will have to go without a cup of tea just when they need it! Now, that would never do!).

Gwyn Lloyd 0121 373 1295 Ian Banks 0121 373 1388

Appeal for Rummage

Dear Parents

There is a considerable amount of RUMMAGE gathered in the Store and the Annexe so if this has been as a result of effort by you, a BIG THANK YOU.

Looking at what has been delivered I can see a lot of Bric-a-Brac and possibly a fair amount of ladies, gents and children’s clothing but as it is not possible to see just how much clothing is there, I need to ask you one more time to send down, in particular, any of these items as it is the clothing which produces about half of the total money taken..

We do need your help to ensure that we have sufficient to sell.

Firstly, please send down to the Hall ANY amount of discarded men’s, ladies and children’s bags and shoes etc. and any, now, discarded toys and games. Secondly, please speak to all of your immediate neighbours with your offer to relieve them of general RUMMAGE in the form of

1. 
   

   Men’s, ladies and children’s clothing and shoes

   
   


2. 
   

   Handbags of all shapes and sizes

   
   


3. 
   

   Linen, curtains, fabrics and the like

   
   


4. 
   

   Toys, games, books (but not magazines), records, CD’s, DVD’s

   
   


5. 
   

   General bric-a-brac including china, glass, jewellery, garden tools, lamps, wooden bits (but not furniture), pots and pans, plates, old radios, portable TVs, kettles, teas-maids, cases, vases, etc., etc.

   
   

The sale date is Saturday 27^th March with the pre-sorting being done on Thursday 25^th - quite soon now - so do please ensure that any items you no longer require are sent down to the Hall prior to these dates.

The RUMMAGE SALE is only a success if the people there to buy have lots of the items that have been collected for sale.

With thanks in advance

Ian Banks Group Chairman on behalf of GWYN LLOYD Event Organizer

P.S. If, albeit unlikely, your neighbours have no Rummage at present, do ask them to either come to the Sale to buy some or to save any for your collection for the next Rummage Sale.

District Air Rifle Shooting Competition 27/02/10

District Shooting Competition 27/02/10

Hi All,

On Saturday 27th February, 4 of our Scouts took part in the District Air Rifle Shooting competition held at the National Indoor Shooting Centre in Wolverhampton.

Each Scout took turns to fire at several targets some 10m away and their cards were scored accordingly.

The Leader's also had a go at the end of the competition.

Please click on the image above to see some more pictures.

And now for the good news!

3 of our Scouts made the top 10 with 2 of them winning 1st & 2nd place.

The scores from all 4 of our team also meant that we scored the highest average overall.

This means that Scouts from the 6th will be representing the District at the County competition in April.

Well done to all those who took part.

All the best,

Adam

Chase Walk Practise Hike 21st Feb 2010

Practise Hike 21st Feb 2010

Hi All,

On Sunday 21st February we took our Chase Walking team for their first practise hike on Cannock Chase.

After waking up to a fresh covering of snow on Sunday morning, we decided that it was safe enough to let the practise go ahead after making sure we had adequate safety measures in place.

The Scouts walked a total distance of approximately 10 miles and they all had a go at navigating using a map and compass.

This year's Chase Walk event will take place on Saturday March 20th.

Click on the above image to see more pictures.

Yours in Scouting,

Adam