Spacecraft seen in Sandleheath
By Martine Coatham, Group Scout Leader for Sandleheath.
I was so impressed with my Sandleheath Beaver Leaders and Beavers. I went to a session to meet and greet some new parents & leaders and talked to the Beavers about their plans for their builder badge. The leaders had inspired them with some ideas as they had been covering space. When Fletcher sent a picture of his actual model I was amazed as it’s so like the picture he drew. He made the model at home as he was isolating with Covid.
All of the Colony were brilliant at creating some fantastic plans and truly brilliant models. Well done to the whole Colony and Leaders.
Incident Hike & Sleepover
By Richard Farr, Cub Scout Leader at Sandleheath.
Sandleheath Cubs took the opportunity in half term to go on a night hike back to their HQ where they had a sleepover. Three ‘incidents’ were come across on route: a knotting and rope work challenge, deciphering a code under an atmospheric disused railway bridge and a remote first aid encounter.
After the 16 cubs’ really impressive completion of the hike they were welcomed ‘home’ with hot chocolate around the campfire. An hour later lights and a camp quiet, until the hailstorm on the roof woke us all up in the early hours. At least it stayed dry for the hike!
Beavering Away in Netley Marsh
By Emma Hanslip, Beaver Scout Leader at Netley Marsh.
It has been a busy year so far for us! We have been very busy making the most of being back face to face. We learnt about random acts of kindness and drew pictures for the local nursing home.
We have also done a virtual camp with 1000 other beavers from across the world. The camp was called ‘Beavers in space’. The Beavers had to make spaceships to sleep in for the night and took part in lots of different activities. They were shown how to make and use a planisphere and told about stars and star-counts. Plus there was a Lego workshop where they
made space models, followed by an interactive space pirate story where they could join in by becoming pirates. There was a workshop on how to draw aliens which I am sure the parents enjoyed just as much! The evening finished off with a space talk, a campfire and a story before they all slept in their spaceships.
The Beavers were given the opportunity to design the badge for the weekend of which the best one will be chosen and then it will be that badge that is made and sent out to all those who participated.
Not the Eagle Trophy
By Simon Down, ADC Scouts.
The ‘Not the Eagle Trophy’ challenge event was born of the last-minute cancelation of the long standing ‘Eagle Trophy’ night incident hike. The Leaders at Testwood, who have supported Kerie Wallace in setting up and hosting the Eagle Trophy since well before Simon was a Scout Leader (20 years +), felt it would be a great shame to deprive teams that had been keen to take part in the Eagle a chance to take part in a fun activity.
The Event was restricted to inside the perimeter fence of Ferny Crofts and consisted of six challenge bases, including pioneering, problem solving, string trail and other activities. In the spirit of the Eagle Trophy the event
was held after dark.
Six teams took part, 2 from Sandleheath, 2 from Lyndhurst and 2 from Testwood. The bases were run by Martine and her team from Sandleheath, Neil and Grace from Lyndhurst, Alistair from Poulner, Stuart, Mike, James, Andy H, Max and Joe from Testwood, Mike and Toby from Copythorne. With thanks to Lynn for popping in from Team DC and Barry for having my back.
| 1st | Lyndhurst Oscar | 267 points |
| 2nd | Sandleheath Snakes | 260 points |
| 3rd | Lyndhurst Hot Dogs over Campfire | 257 points |
| 4th | Testwood Stag | 250 points |
| 5th | Testwood Kestrel | 239 points |
| 6th | Sandleheath Super Saints | 237 points |
| 7th | Copythorne | 50 points |
This event could not have taken place without the support of all of these people. Young and less young alike all seemed to enjoy the event and we discussed holding similar events again as it was a great introduction for the young people to walk around and do bases without the risk of them getting lost.
When solving the ‘Fox, Chicken & Grain’ activity, a free biology event by the Ferny Croft’s Frogs was also noticed by many. Unfortunately, the picture, sent in by Magic Mike of Testwood Scouts, has been censored and removed.
The Scores were fairly close with the overall winners being Lyndhurst (Oscar)
Explorer 20th Birthday Camp
By Andy Chatwin, District Explorer Scout Commissioner and ACC Explorers at Hampshire Scouts.
Explorers and Leaders took part in the Explorer 20th Birthday camp over the weekend of 25th to 27th February at Ferny Crofts. In all 46 New Forest Explorers and 15 New Forest Leaders were at the camp with Units from across the district being represented.
Activities on offer over the “Party Camp” weekend included High ropes, Climbing wall, Archery, Rifle shooting, Laser clay pigeon shooting, inflatable Gladiator challenge, Sumo suits, Zorb football, Carnival area for free popcorn, an evening Disco, chill out area and many more, or just sitting around a campfire chatting.
Feedback from Explorers included “Best camp ever!!” and “being able to do whatever you wanted for the weekend was great!”. At one point the whole New Forest contingent was sporting matching glitter face paint, there may even be a photo somewhere!
My thanks go to all the New Forest Leaders who helped to make this camp the great event it was for the Explorers.
The ‘adult’ Explorer leaders playing table football, it all got very competitive. No Spinning!
Alexis Jones
Andy Chatwin
Craig Challis
Kerie Wallace
Mark Symonds
Paul Stubbington
Stuart Bourne
Stuart Philps
The Story Behind the Photo
By Stu Philps, Assistant Explorer Scout Leader at Lyndhurst ESU.
To promote our inclusivity across Hampshire Scouts, Explorers were encouraged to use the photo booth holding the Scout Pride flag. I saw Will Cooper walking about after visiting the Glitter Fairies and asked him to round up a few Explorers to get their photos taken. He said he would if I also had the glitter done (which was known as a Blue C)
I accepted the challenge and joined the queue thinking I would have to wait for ages, but as soon as the Explorers saw me coming it was like the parting of the Red Sea! I was straight in the seat joined quickly by Stu Bourne, AESL Cerberus.
At this point we (two Stu’s and Will) decided to rope in the whole unit which snowballed into the whole district. I point out the only leader who refused the Glitter C was Mr , apparently because he would never get it out of his beard! So, he was saved the problem of removing the glitter, which was a mission. I had a customer ask me on Monday if I’d been punched due to the glitter removal bruise! Credit goes to Will Cooper.
Photo Caption Competition
For those of you not at the Camp here is an opportunity for you to win a Camp badge, just come up with a funny caption for this picture of Kerie Wallace and Stuart Bourne.
Camp attendees can also participate if they want to grab another badge as a swap.
Feel free to share with Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and the Explorer Units that were unable to attend. Best 6 entries get a badge.
Captions to [email protected] by Friday 25 March 2022 please.
Jackie Heath – Silver Acorn Award
During the birthday camp, Robin grasped the opportunity to pop in and present Jackie Heath with her Silver Acorn award.
Not only is Jackie a fantastic Explorer Leader with Magellan but has organised very many international trips over the years, taking our young people to do community work in both Gambia and Malawi; life changing experiences for them.
Well done Jackie, you are so worthy of this award.
Martine Coatham – Awards
Kevin recently popped down to Sandleheath and presented Martine Coatham, GSL at Sandleheath & Acting GSL at Fordingbridge, with a District Commissioner’s Commendation.
This was awarded for outstanding service to the New Forest Scout District, her dedication in recruiting several new Beaver Leaders and then successfully re-opening the 1st Fordingbridge Beaver Colony.
Martine was also presented with her 5 years long service award and her Wood Badge. Well done Martine very much deserved.
District Soap Box Derby – Sunday 25 September 2022
Now that the district has grown in size and after some 15 years of doing a sterling job of organising and running this event, John Trinder has decided hang up the ropes and wheels!
This is where we need you, the district are looking for a small team to work together and we will need to look at a slightly different format but still keep the main frame so that we can attract more teams as a larger district than in previous years and make sure we can accommodate all.
If you are interested in being part of this team then please contact Ian Sims (Team DC) with your contact details. We do have an idea of how we see the new look will go but need extra people to make it happen. [email protected]
Chief Scouts Top Awards Activity Day – Sunday 02 October 2022
This is an activity day at Ferny Crofts for all young people that have gained one of the top awards ranging from the Bronze Award through to the Platinum and for the district to say well done on your achievement.
All those who have gained a top award between 01 November 2021 & 31 July 2022 will be invited to attend and try 2 or 3 different activities with a BBQ lunch. Full details will be issued later in the year, so please keep a note of those young people who will qualify to attend. It’s the responsibility of the Leaders to make sure details are sent to the young people and make sure you have your leaders free to attend and support and look after your young people on the day. Don’t worry all the leaders will be fed as well and the best bit is it will all be paid for by the district. Please note the revised date for this event
Fawn Trophy
The Fawn Trophy has a new date, Sunday 13th March. Jo has been running zoom sessions to let those new to the event know about. Attached is an info sheet for those unfamiliar and who want to get involved. Jo has asked Beaver leaders to let her know if they would like to attend, or not attend.
New Forest Beavers
There is now a Beavers Facebook group for volunteers involved in the Beaver Scout section in the New Forest including leaders, sectional assistants down to very enthusiastic parents. Emails have been sent out to people with a Beavers role already with an invite link but anyone involved can join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/newforestbeaverleaders
Speak up for our Scouts – We’re looking for Youth Commissioners
District Youth Commissioner
We’re looking for young people aged between 14 and 25 to help be the voice of all Scouts in New Forest. We’re looking for a District Youth Commissioner who can be the voice of our young people.
This role can be shared and we would love a team from across the district to support the Youth Commissioner so we can get the best from all our Scouts.
The main District Youth Commissioner would ideally be aged 18-25 so they can be a member of our trustee board but the wider team can be anyone aged 14-25.
Explorer Leaders, please forward this on to your youth members or direct them to the district website. Find out more about the role with the information pack here.
District Scout Network Commissioner
We’re looking for a District Scout Network Commissioner, aged 18+, who can be the voice of our 18–25-year-old Scout Network members and encourage them to shape and participate in the Scout Network programme of activities and awards. They manage these young people and make sure the rules are followed.
Find out more about the role with the information pack on the district website.
Getting involved:
We want a range of people from different backgrounds, areas of the forest and experiences to get in touch so we can find the best person or people for these roles.
We’re not into application forms or interviews – that’s for jobs and uni not Scouts. If you’re interested or want to hear more, we want to have a chat and see how your plans fit in with what we’re looking for. The email you need is [email protected]
We can also put you in touch with the current District Youth Commissioner or District Scout Network Commissioner to see what they do day to day.
Tails of the New Forest
Is there a budding journalist in our district that would like to take on the role of producing our monthly publication of Tails of the New Forest, distributing it and then uploading it to the website? It would be great to have someone else interested in joining Steven Osborn doing Media & Comms support for the district. For more information and a chat, contact either Lynn at [email protected] or Steven at [email protected]
Explorer leaders please share with your units please.
Gosport Gang Show
The Gosport Gang Show is back! They have a cast from Gosport and Fareham Districts Scouts and Guides and are ready to entertain you. Flyer attached.
Well, that was a bumper edition of Tails of the New Forest, thank you for all the contributions received this month and please keep them coming.