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| What’s Coming Up?
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| What’s been happening?
Welcome to Edition 44 of Tails of the New Forest. We’re a half term down, our district expedition has just returned from the Lake District after a week of adventure in beautiful walking country, and dare we say it the attention turns in earnest to the end of the year and 2026 beyond. Find your updates below:
What’s coming up?
There are plenty of District events coming up for our sections over the coming months, including Stag’s Head Trophy for Scouts, Sleeping with Sharks residential for Cubs, and the District Expedition to the Lake District for Scouts and Explorers too. Remember, full dates are in the District Diary.
Secret Agent District Cub Camp
Save the date! Our upcoming District Cub Camp, complete with Who Dunnit theming and a Secretive Secret Agent Agency, lands on Friday 1st – Sunday 3rd May 2026 at Foxlease Park in Lyndhurst. More details landing with Cub teams soon!
Navigation Experience Day
The District Program team for the Scout Section is offering you the chance to hone your Scouts’ Navigation skills.
Date: Saturday 7th February 2026
Location: Wilverley Scout Campsite
Arrival: 10.00, drop off in the main visitor car park
We aim to cover map reading/ plotting, compass set up / use for navigation, route cards, judging distance – so you know where the end is & relocation techniques. And then a chance to Navigate in the dark….
Note: the Eagle Trophy (Night Incident Hike) takes part in the evening.
A packed lunch will be required as part of your personal kit to hike in the New Forest, your evening meal will be provided by your leadership team. You will need Hike Boots Waterproof trousers and Jacket, Warm clothing, hat , Gloves and a personal first aid kit. Your entry to the Eagle Trophy is a separate event so you will need to reply to Kerie independently.
Best in Scouting
Barry
Founder’s Day Tea
Pop the date in your diaries now, and invite your volunteers and young people too. To celebrate Founders Day, the birthday of Robert Baden-Powell who founded the global Scout movement, you are all invited to afternoon tea on Sunday 22nd February, 2pm – 4.30pm at Sandleheath Scout HQ.
Reminders, opportunities and notices
All members call
Open to all volunteers and helpers of Scouting, the UK all member call happens twice a year to give you national updates from the UK Leadership team. Find details, catch up and sign up to join at scouts.org.uk. The next call is Tuesday 4th November at 7pm.
Scout Experience Survey
The Scout Experience Survey is HQ’s opportunity to hear about your experience volunteering with Scouts, and to hear from young people and their parents/carers about the opportunities Scouts gives to young people. It helps them understand what’s going well and where we can offer additional support. The deadline is Sunday 16th November.
There are surveys for adult volunteers, but also for parents/carers, and young people in the 13-18 age bracket. Being able to capture these opinions is so valuable, and even helps with evidence of the impact Scouts has for funding applications from external bodies.
The links to all the surveys, templates to help promote the surveys, and information about them are all on scouts.org.uk.
Want to be part of a big UK band?
Applications are now open for the 2026 National Scout & Guide Symphony Orchestra and National Scout & Guide Concert Band summer course, taking place 26th July – 2nd August 2026 at Old Swinford Hospital School, Stourbridge, and culminating in two concerts in Birmingham. The course is open to Scouts, Explorers, Young Leaders, and Network members aged 12–25 from across the UK. Applications close at 9am on Sunday 30th November 2025. Find out more and apply: nsgso-nsgcb.com. For queries, contact [email protected].
Autumn POR and Trustee updates
The Autumn 2025 edition of POR has been published and comes into effect. It can be found at scouts.org.uk/por. That page has a version with all changes highlighted, but in particular there have been updates to the rules covering the InTouch system, swimming supervision, role endings, changes to charity regulation, data protection policy, expenses cards and UK service teams.
HQ have a page covering Updates for Trustee Boards, summarising recent changes in regulations that have been reflected in this POR, alongside webinars explaining changes linked from the same.
What’s been happening?
Shine Walk Success
A few of the leaders from the 5th Testwood Scout group took part in the Shine Walk in London at the end of September, raising money for Cancer Research. We took to the streets of London, sporting our scarfs, walking a half marathon. We completed the challenge in just under 5 hours – not bad for a night-time adventure through the city!
Walking past London’s iconic landmarks under the stars was truly unforgettable. The atmosphere, the lights, and the cause made it a special experience for all of us. Our team raised £900 for Cancer Research! We finished not feeling too sore but definitely in need of some extra sleep! It was totally worth it!
Stag’s Head
Scouts from across the District took part in a day of Scouting skills, navigation, incident bases and more fun in the Stag’s Head trophy. Here, 1st Sandleheath sum up the event:
Stanley’s Own band doing outreach
The Copythorne-based team at Stanley’s Own Scout and Guide band were out and about beyond our borders, helping some Beavers in New Forest Solent district with their music skills. Find out more below and get in touch with the band if you want them to do the same with your Scouts of all ages:
Fordingbridge get stuck in
We’ve had multiple exciting updates from 1st Fordingbridge. First, their Squirrels recently had a visit from our local PCSO as part of their Superheroes night! They got to see inside the police car and try on the uniforms for size, all while learning about the people who help us in our community.
Then, the Beavers and Cubs recently had a joint camp at Harry’s Island, our District campsite. They enjoyed a variety of activities, both on site and in the forest, including a campfire with all the favourite songs. Looks like a fantastic time was had by all!
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 November before the 25th to [email protected].