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Avril Searle
Contact Webmaster

Hi All,
I am pleased to announce that the search process is over and we have found ourselves a New ADC (Scouts).
Gerry Merritt has agreed to take on this position and brings with him many years of experience as a Scouter within Hornchurch holding a variety of roles. More recently Gerry has been on the Training Team and assisting 2nd Rainham with their Scout Troop.
I am sure you will all welcome Gerry into the role. Over his first few months Gerry will be reviewing our Scout Section District events and also looking to expand our current team of District Scout Leaders.

Hi All,

I am pleased to announce that we have successfully found and appointed a new District Explorer Scout Commissioner. Kevin Cooper has agreed to take on this huge role for the District whilst also keeping on his role as Group Scout Leader for 1st South Hornchurch.

Kevin brings with him a vast amount of experience having been an Explorer Scout Leader previously for one of our District's Units.

I am pleased Kevin is joining our District Leadership Group and I am sure you will all support Kevin in his new role.

The Soapbox Derby is open to all Cubs and Scouts and is very popular.

Information for the Soapbox Derby can be downloaded here...

Instructions on how to make a Billy cart can be downloaded here...

Date: Saturday 26th June
Location: Nelmes School, Wyngletye Lane, Hornchurch.
Times: Registration 12.00noon the event should finish at 4pm.
The entry fee will be £2.00 per person. The derby is open to all Cubs and Scouts in the District. You must enter at least 3 people to make a team. One event will require 4 people but one person will be allowed to go twice if the team consists of only 3 people.
You may enter a many teams as you like. (Although one person will not be allowed to be in two teams.)
You may have different teams using the same soapbox.
Cubs will race against Cubs and Scouts against Scouts, their will not be any races across the sections.
We will be racing on tarmac and grass.
Races: There will be two race courses one for Scouts and one for Cubs
Figure of eight, Oval, Team change over, Obstacle, and Grass challenge.
There will be a Scout and Cubs trophy’s for highest scoring teams.
We are looking also for best constructed cart, best decorated, most novel cart.
During the races participants should wear helmet, knee pads, and gloves.
Refreshments will be supplied.

It is not necessary for Leaders to attend, but all help will be welcome. If you do not attend please ensure that you fill in the attached form and send it to me before the event so that I have the children’s home telephone numbers. If you are attending then you can fill in the form on the day.

If you require any more information or require any advice please contact Bob Wallace 01708 479224 bobwallace@hotmail.co.uk.

Regards
Bob

The 60th Edition of “Scouting About”has just been published,and its format has changed over the years. Not long after its inception, a competition to name the newsletter came about and a Leader called Sue Twist from 8th. Hornchurch named the magazine. Sue died not long after the launching of the adoption of her suggestion and I have kept her suggestion ever since as a tribute.
After nearly 15 years, I now feel that a change would be acceptable, so I am asking for suggestions to name the newsletter-so send in your suggestions by the 1st.June and the best one will be used in our July Edition! Be creative and give us your ideas!!!

Saturday 27th
Firstly,
The district Archery Competition- Thank you to the team at Dragon Cub pack for running the event again this year- Keith, Jan, Jacqi and Ian , the team of runners and refreshment servers, Paul Snell, Wendy clark and Matt, Gemma and Steve and Jan Luscombe.

The winners of this years archery are;
Under 9's 8th Hornchurch (Dragon)
Under 10's 8th Hornchurch (Dragon)
Under 11's 1st Elm Park.
Congratulations to all the Cubs and they will be invited to represent Hornchurch District at the County Archery Competition on the 17th April at 8th Hx HQ.
Keith will be posting a full report soon listing pack scores.
What ever the score well done to all the competitors.

The County Swimming Gala,
I was the District Gala manager this year and when all the finalists from the District gala had either confirmed or the 2nd Place runner up had been contacted and invited we were set to give the other districts a run for it's money.

All the swimmers did exceptionally well with what was very stiff competition.
With my enlisted help from Caron Tull and Stuart Barham we were all set.
The Beavers, well what can I say. They won every race including the relay. Fantastic result well done!!!

The Cubs swam hard and gained some final places and a 1st Place.

Sectional results were;
Beavers:
Breast: Jack H 1st Final
Back: Adam B 1st Final
Free: Alfie W 1st Final
Relay: 1st Final

Cubs:
U Breast: Max G 4th Heat
O Breast: Georgia R 3rd Final
U Back: Billy F 5th Final
O Back: Stuart B 1st Final
U Free: Samuel D 3rd Heat
O Free: Stuart B 3rd Final
Relay: 5th Final


Scouts:
U Breast: Daniel R 1st Final
O Breast: Sean S 2nd Final
U Back: Tom W 2nd Final
O Back: Aiden R 1st Final
U Free: Daniel R 2nd Final
O Free: Aiden R 1st Final
Relay: 2nd Final

Explorers
Fly: Tom C 3rd Final
Breast: Jonthan D 1st Final
Back: Rob M 4th Final
Free: Hanah C 4th Final
Relay
2nd out of 6th!

Splendid result by all and Hornchurch retain the trophy for 2010.
Thank you to Caron and Stuart for making look it all look easy and ensuring that the list of swimmers did their own race.

Win or lose, well done and thank you to all the youth members that took part in both events

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the 6 members of our District listed below have successfully been selected to join the County contingent to the World Scout Jamboree in 2011 to Sweden. Along with Alan Winston who from our District is on the County's contingent Leadership Team.

Danielle Bush 1st South Hornchurch Hornchurch
Thomas Messer 2nd Elm Park Hornchurch
Patrick Behan 1st Cranham Hornchurch
Andrew Holland Centurion ESU Hornchurch
Jason Akwenuke 7th Hornchurch Hornchurch
Joseph Fennessy Centurion ESU Hornchurch

As I am sure you are all aware this exceptional challenges don't come cheap and this is where you will all be needed. Our Young people need to raise as much money as possible throughout this and next year to ensure that the contingent as a whole can offer a reasonable price to the parents of those attending the Jamboree.

In particular the Groups & Unit's that have people attending should be looking to work with their representative(s) to spark off a huge fundraising campaign which I am sure all the members of our District will be willing to support.

This is truly a great opportunity for those who will be attending and for all the members of our District to take part in some way, helping towards the Jamboree.

Yours in Scouting,
Scott.

The Swimming Gala results can be downloaded :

The results summary here...

The results in master with individual group scores here...

The Scouts Rifle Shooting competition can be downloaded from here...

Photos will follow so watch this space.

Members of 3rd. Ups Scouts are quoted in the Sunday Times after they were planting over 300 trees in a special project organised by Woodland Trust which involved hundreds of people.

Quote from the paper-

"The boys came, too. Early arrivals included a party of children, aged 10-13, from the 3rd Upminster Scouts who spread themselves out in a chain gang. It was hard work. The soil here is glacial moraine -heavy clay and pebbles, geological detritus dumped by ancient ice. The scouts persisted. "Hope-fully," said their leader, Kevin Twohig, "in years to come they will be able to tell their children that they helped to plant this forest. How many people can say that? It helps them to take ownership and that's the whole point of the thing".You can download the article here...

Read Kevin's account-

Love was definitely in the air at Heartwood Forest, St Albans, that is of course love of the environment! 3rd Upminster Scout Troop took part in a Tree Planting Event at Heartwood Forest near Sandridge, St Albans, where there are plans to create an 850 acre woodland. Once completed, this will be the largest new native forest in England. A total of over 600,000 trees will be planted – including a community orchard over a 10 year period.
The site is managed by the Woodland Trust who are looking for volunteers to help them achieve their goal to plant over 600,000 trees. As 3rd Upminster are always up for an Environmental Challenge, Six Scouts, One Young Leader & Two Leaders equipped with various items of gardening equipment including Spades & Grubber set off from Upminster.
Once we arrived, we had a half-mile walk along a very muddy bridle path to the site where we signed in, and were taught the correct way to plant trees. The site manager then pointed us to a vast open space with lines scratched on the surface and orange dots to mark the positions to plant trees.
We then made our way to our area and started planting trees, which were comprised of native species such as Oak, Ash, Hornbeam, Rowan and Wild Cherry. There was also a mix of shrub species - Dog Rose, Hazel and Quelder Rose. Digging and planting was quite a challenge due to the very heavy and gravelly earth.
By the end of the day, we had planted over 300 trees and shrubs so well done to Scouts: Jamie Duffy, Ben Kinder, Alex Lane, Ryan Montgomery, Sean Twohig & Aaron Wiley; Young Leader: Callum Twohig; & Beaver Leader: Alistair Lane.
This event will be on going for the next 10 years so there will be plenty of opportunities for other Scouts to take part and I strongly encourage you to do so as all participants thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found it both worthwhile and rewarding.

Thriftwood Scout Campsite, Essex
The Cubs at 3rd Rainham Scout Group are notorious for their love of good food and having fun. So it came as no surprise that they were champing at the bit, in eager anticipation of Pancake Day. They packed up their pancake mix, golden syrup and lemons, and headed to Thriftwood Scout campsite in Essex, for a fun packed evening. In true Cub Scout fashion, the pancakes were made on makeshift stoves which consisted of empty tin cans turned upside down, with a lighted candle underneath. With a dash of oil, these improvised stoves proved perfect for making delicious, tasty pancakes. However, Pancake Day isn’t Pancake Day without the traditional exhibition of pancakes being tossed skywards. In readiness for the aerial gymnastics, regular frying pans were eagerly introduced. Under the excellent tutelage of the Cub leaders, Peter and Sharon, the kids took turns flipping the pancakes. The Cubs and their leaders displayed considerable prowess, ensuring no pancakes fell to the floor or stuck to the ceiling!
The evening’s wet weather couldn’t dampen the Cubs’ spirits or their appetites. The pancakes proved a perfect remedy, warming up a cold, damp evening.

Thriftwood Scout Campsite, Essex
3rd Rainham Scout Group loves big celebrations, especially those that involve fireworks and bonfires. This year, Chinese New Year fell on February 14th, and  was the perfect opportunity for the young Cubs to learn about this important Chinese festival. The eager Cubs and their dedicated leaders headed out to the Thriftwood Campsite in the heart of Essex to celebrate this unique occasion. While the history and facts of this special Chinese tradition is always interesting, I suspect what excited them most was the loud, exploding firecrackers used in the celebration. Being the year of the Tiger, it was fitting that a roaring bonfire was built, illuminating the dark, wet forest evening. The raging bonfire was a perfect antidote to a cold Thriftwood night and couldn’t be diminished by the light Essex drizzle. The evening was stolen at the end by the spectacular firecrackers which was worthy of any traditional Chinese festival.
 

I am delighted to announce that following approval from the County Appointments Advisory Committee and the County Commissioner that Adam Woodgate has been appointed as an additional Local Training Manager for Hornchurch. Adam will be joining Jim Berry and replacing myself as the Local Training Manager responsible for the advisory side of Training. This includes; coordinating and recruiting Training Advisers, ensuring leaders are allocated a Training Adviser or has access to a Training Adviser, making sure that all adults without a Wood Badge have a Personal Learning Plan, ensuring that validation is taking place and that the Membership Management System (formerly known as My BackPack) is updated.
Jim Berry remains responsible for delivering Module 1 - Essential Information, Module 3 – Tools for the Job (Section Leaders), Module 4 – Tools for the Job (Managers), Module 5 – Fundamentals of Scouting, Module 6 – Changes in Scouting and Module 7 – Diversity. Jim is also responsible for arranging First Response Courses.
Contact details for Adam and Jim are:
Adam Woodgate 01708 250116 adamwoodgate@o2.co.uk
Jim Berry 01708 470315 jimberryscouts@hotmail.co.uk
Over the last two years Adult Training in Hornchurch has gone from strength to strength and I’m sure it will continue to do so under the leadership of Jim and Adam. The Open Training Sessions (OTS) have become a real success and we would encourage all leaders working towards their Wood Badge to drop into these sessions for help, support and guidance with their Training. The dates are all on the District Calendar or the District Website.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the support they have given me in the role of LTM for Hornchurch over the last two years! Scott has asked me to remain on the District Team to coordinate a number of tasks/projects including; District Swimming Gala, District Directory and The Jack Petchey Award Scheme.
I’m sure you join me in wishing Adam every success in his new appointment!
Yours in Scouting,

Dear District Commissioners,

Thank you very much to those of you who have circulated the information about the youth selection forms for the 2011 Jamboree Unit.

We would like to give every young person in the County the opportunity to attend, so can I ask you to forward this email to all Scout & Explorer Scout Leaders in your District and ask them to pass it onto the young people in their Troops & Units.

The selection FAQ’s and Application Form are available from the link below, and we are happy to receive applications until Friday 12th February, as this will give us time to make arrangements for the young person to attend the selection on either 20 or 21 February

For your information, please find below the breakdown of applications received to date by District.

Yours in Scouting

Richard