Welcome to the new ‘New Forest’ District
So, it’s official, all Groups have migrated to the ‘New Forest’ District in Compass, albeit at 00:01 on Saturday 2nd October and not on the 1st as expected.
All 181 District Team, Exec, Explorer roles, SASU, DSIs, DOHs had to be manually added to the District, and have their roles created. Their Getting Started, role approvals and all Wood Badge modules had to be re-entered and approved.
District role holders, including all Explorer roles would you all please check your Compass records to see if everything looks as it should regarding your roles and training etc.
Would all GSLs please check your group’s Compass records for any missing data or typos. Two typos relating to group info have already been spotted and forwarded to HQs for correction as they are not district editable, only section level is editable by GSLs. Please forward any issues to: [email protected]
New Forest North & West Districts will be archived in Compass at the end of October.
World Scout Jamboree Selection
We have heard that our young people who attended the WSJ selection event at Lyons Copse last weekend had a great time.
We have a fantastic number of young people in our District who applied for a place, such a wonderful opportunity for them, we wish them luck in being selected.
Chief Scouts Awards Day
The sun shone on everyone for the CSA day at Ferny Crofts last weekend.
There were around 96 young people and 26 leaders attending, there were a whole range of Ferny Croft and self-led activities, the District SASU provided a great BBQ and the day finished with certificate presentations.
Our thanks to SASU for the BBQ and refreshments and all the section leaders who helped run and supervise the day.
Martin Mackey, the County Commissioner, even stopped by and made a camp donut. Thanks to Warren Turvey, GSL at 2nd Copythorne for running the base.
District Executive Chair
We are still actively seeking a new District Chair; the District Executive has had some members leaving and new members joining. We have a strong dedicated team moving forward and the minimum commitment is 3 meetings per year plus the Annual General meeting.
Please contact Robin Mair to arrange an informal chat. [email protected]
ADC Squirrels
Would anyone be interested in becoming our new ADC Squirrels?
This will be a support role and be the link with the HQs cohort and DC Ryan. Please contact Ryan to discuss further. [email protected]
Explorers in New Forest
By Andy Chatwin, DESC New Forest
Welcome to all the Explorer units who were in the New Forest North and West Districts to the New Forest District.
The units in the district are now: Avon Valley ESU, Cerberus ESU, Lyndhurst ESU, Magellan ESU, Poulner Mountain ESU, Relentless ESU, Smugglers ESU, Viper ESU and the Young Leaders ESU. We are all looking forward to working together in the new district in the future.
All of the Explorer units are enjoying getting back to Face-to-Face Scouting and are taking the opportunity to catch up on the Top Awards expeditions that we have been unable to do over the last year and a bit.
We held our first New Forest Explorer leaders meeting to discuss how we were going to operate going forwards and have come up with some great ideas for events and co-operations that will help us to make the best use of the leaders and skills we have.
Next year sees Explorers turn 20 years old and planning is underway for some great birthday events. In February we will have the Explorer 20 County Explorer birthday camp at Ferny Crofts, which should see the district attending and camping as whole for the first time, then in October there is a trip to Alton Towers for all County Explorers and Network.
November sees the County Kudu event with entries from NF Explorer units and last weekend 34 Scouts and Explorers from New Forest attended the World Scout Jamboree selection weekend and are now anxiously waiting to see who has gained a place. If you didn’t though, don’t worry, Project 23 sounds pretty amazing as well!
We also plan to start an Explorer version of the Eagle trophy in November 2022, who will be the first unit in the district to win this? Competition may be fierce.
Finally, as we are a new District all of the units need to re-agree their partnership agreements with the Groups. These need to be signed by the Explorer Scout Leader, GSL and passed to myself to sign on behalf of the district.
Beaver Christingle – Date for your Diary
The Beaver Christingle has been booked for Tuesday 7th December at Netley Marsh Church, 18:00 to 19:00 hours. More details to follow.
Reminder – District All Leaders Meeting
A reminder that the first All Leaders meeting of the new district is on Thursday 14th October at 2nd Copythorne Scout HQs.
Please encourage at least 1 representative to attend from each section. This is the section’s opportunity for discussion on how best to move forward as a section in the larger District.
Reminder – District Website
GSLs, or your nominated website manager, please check the accuracy of your webpages and let Steven Osborn know of any amendments required. [email protected]
Gone Home
It is with great sadness that we have heard that Barrie Noakes has Gone Home,
Barrie was District Treasurer in New Forest West for some years and then a member of the SASU. He also supported his wife, Jackie, when she was District Chair. Our thoughts are with Jackie and the family.
Lynn, Ian, Kevin, Robin & Ryan
Team DC – New Forest