Tails of the New Forest – 31st August 2024

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| What’s Coming Up?
| Reminders, opportunities and notices
| What’s been happening?

Welcome to Edition 31 of Tails of the New Forest. This month in Tails, we prepare to the return of term, of school and of Scouting for most of us. Many of our volunteers have taken a break and come back with fresh ideas ready for more. But first, a big thanks you:

Thank you Lynn

By Robin Mair and Kevin Harmer, Team DC

Help! What have we done? After five years of stalwart and exceptional service, Lynn has decided that the time has come to step away from being the rock, go to, quick responder to the majority of emails, for the Team DC members.

Lynn, along with Ian Sims and Robin, were the first ever Team DC in Hampshire way back in June 2019, and had to persuade, enthuse the County Team that this was a good way to go forward with a shared responsibility between the three with clearly defined leads for particular points. Our appointments were confirmed for the 1^st September that year.  Before long, in March 2020, Covid came along and made many of the actions have to be done by Zoom. 

In the early part of 2021, there was discussions in County about mergers, and it was decided that New Forest North and New Forest West would merge. Lynn was the one in the team who pushed this forward to its positive result spending many hours endeavouring to resolve the detail to the merger. As a team, we felt it was good to drive this process to a quick conclusion so we could grow the team further with the addition of Ryan Parry and Kevin Harmer. So, we shuffled the groups, and reassigned the Single Point of Contacts.

In the Summer of 2022, Ryan stood down due to moving away for work – again, another shuffle of the groups was needed. In the Spring, due to personal reasons, Ian Sims stood down and again another shuffle of the groups occurred. And in amongst all of this, Lynn has steered the District in a positive direction integrating one and all,  improving the District’s compliance and training percentages to the fantastic state they are in now.

Lynn you will be missed. Your quick humour and cutting quips will certainly be missed at the monthly Team DC catch ups. On behalf of everyone, can I please say a heartfelt thank you for all the seen (and the even more unseen) hours of dedication and time you have put into the District over the last 5 years.

Please do not be a stranger. Again a thousand thank yous.
Robin & Kevin

What’s coming up?

Skills Weekend – Final call to learn practical skills!

By Simon Down, Nights Away Assessor

When: 7th and 8th September
Where: 2nd Copythorne (Stanley’s Own) HQ, Copythorne.
Spaces?: Plenty!
Who: Any leader or volunteer working with young people in any section (Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Network)
What: A chance for you to brush up on practical skills, useful for Nights Away experiences, expeditions, at camp or general Scoutcraft.
What’s on?
The full programme is below. You are very welcome to stay the whole weekend, or just drop in to the sessions that interest you. Camping is available for those who want to stay overnight. Bring a packed lunch.

If you would like to attend, please let Simon know by Sunday 1st September, stating any dietary or medical requirements and what sessions you would like to attend. Hope to see a few of you there.
Simon, Barry, Waz and Joe.

Heritage Open Days

By Hampshire Scout Heritage

Heritage Open Days allows the public to peek behind the scenes in historic places and collections that may not always be open to the public.

Hampshire Scout Heritage are taking part once again, meaning the public can visit the Heritage Centre and discover the origins and activities of the Scout movement in Hampshire (and beyond) through the years.

Location: Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre, Beaulieu Road, SO42 7YQ. OS Grid Reference: SU3650 0619. What3Words ///worth.flood.extra

They are open between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 7th and 14th and Sunday 8th and Sunday 15th September. Their volunteers are running tours of the centre hourly, on the hour, with 10 in each tour. Book your place online.

Pictures courtesy of Hampshire Scouts, Dave Jenkins.

Community Fundraiser – Cardiac Risk in the Young

By Tracy Hogan, Scout Active Support

Calling all Totton locals! You can help save lives and tackle the issue of cardiac risks in young people tomorrow with an event at AFC Totton’s ground near Calmore. Running from 12-6pm, it’s got bands, stalls, a raffle and more to raise money for CRY so they can run cardiac checks on young people aged 14-35 years.

It’s being run by Sue Carter, whose son Ryan sadly ‘went home’ from an undiagnosed heart condition. Ryan was a Scout and his family have ties to Scouting, especially Eling and Testwood groups. It’s a daunting challenges, as it costs £10,000 for the first 100 tests before the cost decreases.

If you can help on the day, or want to get in touch with Sue for community impact projects, contact Tracy by email or phone: 07773 037007. Details and donate from the link underneath or from scanning the QR code.

Reminders, opportunities and notices

Reminder: Dates for your Diary

• 6th-8th September: Skills Training Weekend open to all section volunteers.
• 14th-15th September: Young Leader training weekend covering Modules B-K at Lyndhurst HQ, see below for more details. Book now.
• 20th-22nd September: Emlyn Trophy Scout Patrols enter a camping competition and challenge of the more traditional Scouting skills, County event. Details and sign up.
• 21st September: Ferny Crofts Squirrels Fun Day Open to all Squirrels in Hampshire, day of activities such as inflatables, Climbing, Archery, Tunnelling, Arts and Crafts and more! £15 for Squirrels, details on Ferny Crofts website.
• 22nd September: Soap Box Derby Race go-carts against others at Netley Marsh in a fun filled afternoon. Starts 1pm, ice cream van present. Entry pack now published.
• 22nd September: Ferny Crofts Beavers Fun Day Similar to Squirrels Fun Day the previous day, £15, details on Ferny Crofts website.
• 13th October: Chief Scouts Award Day at Ferny Crofts, anyone who has received a top award in the past 12 months is invited.
• 19th October: Ferny Crofts Fright Night Recommended Beavers and above, with a large range of activities not normally available at Ferny Crofts such as Traditional Fair Ground Games, Inflatables, Creepy Crawlies and a Halloween Trail through the woods. Young person spaces are £25 each, details and booking on Ferny Crofts website.

Reminder: What you need to do this month for Transformation

In case you missed it from last month, we’ve all been asked to make sure these five things are sorted in Compass before the end of September:

• Check your personal details on Compass are accurate.
• Make sure you have an email, not shared by anyone else, on Compass.
• If you have an email you want to be emailed on, mark it as ‘Scouting Enquiries’
• Ensure you have a contact phone number and ideally an alternative listed on Compass.
• Make a note of details, such as ongoing learning hours, which won’t be migrated.

New Chief Scout

Last month we looked back on 15 great years with Bear Grylls as our Chief Scout. Well, we’ll find out who the new Chief Scout is within the week. Keep your eyes peeled on emails and the various Scout social media channels to get to know them.

Hampshire Scout Network Update

You may have missed a meaty and interesting update from the Hampshire Scout Network team, covering top awards opportunities, new members of the team and a new virtual Network if you can’t be involved in regular in-person meetings.

Check it out on the Scout Network part of the Hampshire website.

What’s been happening?

August is one of those funny months when Scouting often takes the form of camps, pack holidays or just personal achievements like earning a badge. We know there have been lots of adventures, but we’ve seen few pictures of them! Share your summer adventures with us at [email protected]. But we do have a couple of juicy stories:

Sandleheath’s Scouts have been having fun with their summer camp and, of course, some water was involved just to keep things interesting.

Lyndhurst’s Scouts enjoyed a taste of sea kayaking at the end of July after the Patrols Leaders asked for a night on the water. They booked a Sea Kayaking session through New Forest Activites at East Boldre, launching from a private point on the Beaulieu River known as Bailey’s Hard.

The scouts had a fantastic evening paddling down the river, getting grounded on a tidal inlet, playing tag, doing transfer between the kayaks. All in all everyone enjoyed themselves, even those that had some reservations and said can we do something similar next summer please.

And finally, the volunteers and young people at Testwood might have been surprised to see a familiar face from the Group popping up on the BBC recently!

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.

Lynn, Robin and Kevin.

Send your news and items for the next edition of Tails in September before the 26th to [email protected].