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| What’s Coming Up?
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| What’s been happening?
Welcome to Edition 34 of Tails of the New Forest. From the fabulous stories we’ve heard at the end of this month, you’ve all been busy and we can’t wait to hear about them next month when their tales comes to a close.
What’s coming up?
Totton Santa Run
By Steven Osborn, Lead volunteer at 5th Testwood
As the Christmas music ramps up, it’s Santa Run time for us at 5th Testwood. Sunday 8th December at 9am sees hundreds of runners dressed as Father Christmas take on our circular course in Totton over 2.5 or 5km.
At the finish line, runners and our community can enjoy the music, games and stalls of our Christmas Fayre, at the Empire Hall this year from 9.30am to 12.30pm. The volunteer team from Testwood will be at the Totton Lantern Parade Sunday 1st December and at our Scout hall on Blackwater Drive every weeknight from 2nd December for those collecting suits or who want to sign up.
Last minute sign-ups for the run at Eventbrite, but help with spreading the word, marshalling for an hour on the morning or by visiting our fayre is all appreciated. To volunteer or find out more, email [email protected].
Young Leader Rally
By Young Leader team, Hampshire Scouts
We are very excited to announce that the Young Leaders’ Rally will be back for the seventh year running to provide fun and #SkillsForLife! Details at this page on the Hampshire Scouts website.
Date: 21st – 23rd February 2025
Location: Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre
Booking: https://bit.ly/rally2025
Activities will include educational sessions on various topics, activity sessions including target sport and high ropes and social events including the ever popular Silent Disco, quiz, campfire, challenges and games. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to email [email protected].
Top Awards Mentoring drop-in
By Top Awards team, Hampshire Scouts
Are you, or do you know, a Explorer or Network member who wants help with their DofE or Top Awards?
The Top Awards team, and their mentors, are offering a drop in for advice and support where you can pick their brains and find your way through. It takes place on Sunday 8th December at 7.30pm online, register with Zoom here and after registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Reminders, opportunities and notices
New membership system
The new membership system at scouts.org.uk is being rolled out and all members of the District should be able to access it within the next couple of days. There is training and support videos at scouts.org.uk and you can email questions to our district Go-Live support team at [email protected].
There are simple checklists of what you need to do when invited to the new system at scouts.org.uk.
Aquarium sleepover for Cubs
By Sarah Challis, Cub Scout Leader at 5th Testwood
“Sleeping with the Sharks is an exciting new way to see what happens at night in the underwater world around us! Great for parties, group bookings and family memories, it’s a lot of fun packed into one night. The evening is geared at getting across a greater understanding of the marine environment and how we all have a part in helping to keep it safe. This type of evening is set up with activities and games and is suitable for children aged between 5 – 14 years old.”
The cost for this event is £80 including the event, travel by coach there and back, and food. The visit is scheduled for November 2025.
What happens during the sleepover?
- Arrival from 18.30 for a 19.00 start – ensure you have asked parents to give their young people a substantial meal before they go.
- A twilight tour – a chance to see what the fish get up to at night!
- Arts and crafts in the Discovery Zone
- Games in the Aquarium
- Big screen movie in front of the Eddystone Reef tank
- Midnight snack
- In the morning, a light breakfast is provided in our Ocean View café
- Souvenirs – our Gift shop can be opened for your purchasing convenience, or you can purchase a number of bespoke Sleeping with Sharks souvenirs including T-Shirts, Lanyards and Patches.
Cub Leader teams need to confirm their expressions of interest in the Aquarium visit by 20th December 2024.
Reindeer Trophy for Squirrels
By Kevin Harmer, District Lead Volunteer
Unfortunately, due to various reasons the Reindeer Trophy for Squirrels scheduled for December has been postponed. We have now put another date in the diary:
DATE – Sunday 26th January
LOCATION – Copythorne Scout HQ
TIME – 2.00 – 4.30pm (subject to confirmation nearer the time, depending on numbers)
Just like the Fawn trophy, Muntjac and Stags Head, New Forest District invite Squirrel teams to take part in the Reindeer Trophy – involving a variety of activities, skills and teamwork. Teams of 4 will be competing for the coveted (and very cute) Reindeer Trophy.
End time is currently provisional, depending on the number of teams entered. There will also be a camp fire to finish the event, weather permitting. The event will mainly be indoors, except for the camp fire. Please send Squirrels in uniform, with a drink in a named bottle and a suitable coat and shoes for outdoors.
An expression of interest would be appreciated as soon as possible so the Squirrel Programme sub-team can start putting plans in place, so please get the information out to parents as soon as possible.
Each team is to provide a chaperone and another adult to run a base. We ask that each team provides two bases. Bases to be coordinated before the event to ensure a suitable variety. Please submit a Risk Assessment and details of any badge criteria covered for each base.
Membership fee for 2025
The Board of Trustees can confirm the New Forest element of the membership fee for 2025 has been frozen this year at £3.50, thanks to the income from assets such as Harry’s Island hire helping outweigh rising costs. This is added to the £18.50 charged by Hampshire Scouts (+ £1) and £43 charged by The Scout Association (+ £5) to form this year’s membership fee for members of £65, or £64.50 for prompt payment. You can find out what the UK membership fee pays for at scouts.org.uk.
District Structure
As many will be aware, right now the Scouts are making some tweaks to the way we organise ourselves to make volunteering easier to understand for new helpers.
We’ve summarised our new District teams on our website at newforestscouts.org.uk/people.
There you can meet our team leaders, see what they are each responsible for and the part they play in giving our young people skills for life.
You can find more team structures for all levels of the movement at scouts.org.uk along with additional information of the different parts the teams play at scouts.org.uk.
Updated Rules
To accompany the Transformation changes, an updated Autumn 2024 version of POR, the Scouts’ Policy Organisation and Rules for all members is now live at scouts.org.uk/por. You can download either a straight version, or with changes annotated throughout. The web versions are being updated currently and will appear shortly.
Census 2025
Details for the annual Scout Census which takes place in January has begun being sent out to those responsible for completing it, with access details following in December. Support for completing it is on scouts.org.uk.
As in previous years, there are questions about understanding the ethnicity, religion and any disabilities of our members, so sections may want to ensure they have this information available now ahead of the census in the new year.
Understanding these helps the Scouts to identify areas for growth and development within the programme, and what support can be put in place nationally to become truly inclusive. It also helps us identify and celebrate success from where we do work with diverse communities, as well as strengthening our appeal for external support from funders and Government.
What’s been happening?
November is a month where our Groups and Units up and down the district get stuck into their community, be that through Remembrance services or Christmas festivities. We’ve seen videos of our young people taking part and reflecting from Poulner to Eling and all in between so thank you all. The Scout Band at Stanley’s Own were busy with two parades and members coming from a distance to help the band sound at their best:
So what else has been happening?
Toilet Twinning at Fordingbridge
By Ann Dennis, Cubs Team member at 1st Fordingbridge
1st Fordingbridge Cubs have been looking at how we get clean drinkable water and at how our sewage system works. One of Baloo’s colleagues from Wessex Water visited, and the Cubs did some experiments and learned how precious our clean water is, how fortunate we are to have flushing toilets, and what we can do to help keep the system flowing!
A few weeks before this Baloo had told us the shocking statistics about the scarcity of drinkable water in some countries, and how many millions of people don’t have access to a toilet. The cubs completed a quiz and were very keen to raise money to ‘twin’ one of our new toilets.
£60 was the target, and cubs made money boxes from old coffee tins and decorated them with drawings of toilets and poo. They took them home to collect loose change/small value coins. A few weeks later they returned the boxes and we had a mountain of pennies to count and carry to the bank. They raised enough for two toilets and more!
Baloo sent off the donation and we now have toilets in Nepal and Uganda, with framed pictures proudly displayed near our hall’s new toilets.
Pioneering at Sandleheath
From one activity base idea at a district Scout event – the Stag’s Head Trophy – to an ordinary activity night at Sandleheath as the young people built upon their skills and improved them. It’s fab to see one event inspire others – fantastic stuff:
1st Fordingbridge Squirrels celebrate their first birthday
By Shirley Brookes, Lead Volunteer at 1st Fordingbridge
One year in and our Drey is thriving! The four-strong team, led by Magpie (Claire) delivers an inclusive and exciting programme. We’ve had campfires and visited our local fire station. We’ve night hiked and learnt about Diwali, the festival of light. We’ve sat quietly for stories and roared out our favourite songs.
No two weeks are the same, covering a plethora of topics. Always creative, rarely sedate, and full of fun and laughter. Our Squirrels have learnt to share together, play together, and learn together.
It’s evident from the uniforms of our children that we’ve covered a lot of ground – a significant amount of sewing for our parents! It’s been a wonderful first year, hopefully the first of many. Well done team!
Fixing up the hall
November also brings with it changes in weather, leaves coming off the trees and an effort to prepare for winter. 5th Testwood roped in parents, carers and young people to help them look after their hall with a Maintenance Day. Together, they cleaned, disposed of broken equipment, trimmed trees and bushes and dug out their clogged French drain in one excellent day.
Climbing to new heights
Two groups working together to bring adventures to young people? Yes please! The 1st Fordingbridge Beavers visited 1st Poulner to learn some new skills on their climbing wall as part of their programme night:
First Aid at Lyndhurst
By Neil Winter, Scout leader at 1st Lyndhurst
At one of our normal weekly meetings, Lyndhurst Scouts took on First Aid with a training evening that covered the usual cuts, breaks, burns, hypothermia but also how to do CPR with a bit of a twist.
We were fortunate to have access to 4 resuscianne that have sensors in the chest that detect the depth and speed of the compressions. They also linked to a game that simulates a race, so the closer the Scouts got to the recommended speed & depth of compression, the faster the car moved along the track.
We divided the troop into 4 teams, the Scouts then commenced and the race began. During the race, the Scouts exchanged places regularly so they all got to participate, they also learnt that you are able to change person once you have started chest compressions. This game was a great way for the Scouts to learn how to do chest compressions in a fun activity and familiarise themselves with the correct speed and depth required.
Testwood Fundraising
Accompanying their big Santa Suit pickup on Saturday 30th November, young people of all ages handed out hundreds of leaflets to Totton locals getting them involved and raised funds for their group, raising over £500!
Back to Tanzania
In 2017, a group of Hampshire Scouts took part in an expedition to Tanzania to help construct a school for a tiny village.
Now seven years later, Tim and Rosie Le Bas of 1st Lyndhurst returned to see what had happened in the years since.
Read the full thing on our website: Back to Tanzania!
Remember you can stay up to date with what’s going on on our Facebook page (/newforestscouts) or Instagram (@newforestscouts). Plus if you’re a volunteer you can be part of the Facebook group for members too. Do remember to share your stories with us throughout the month so we can share them directly and keep having great Scouting adventures.
Robin and Kevin.
Send your news and items for the next edition of Tails at the end of December before the 22nd to [email protected].