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Welcome to Edition 46 of Tails of the New Forest. A belated Happy New Year to all our volunteers and we are happy to be back after a slight website malfunction over the festive period. See what we’ve got waiting below:
What’s coming up?
Cubs Swimming Competition
We are pleased to finally be able to send you the details of the next District Cubs Swimming Competition. We have struggled to get this event back in the diary as local venues were no longer able to host such events:
Where: Oaklands Swimming Pool, Lordshill, Southampton (just 2 miles from Junction 3 of the M27)
When: Sunday 1st February 2026, Approx 3.30pm – 6.30pm
Cost: FREE
Rules and safety notes for the competition should have been received by Cub Team Leaders, the Cub programme team and Group Lead Volunteers last month, but contact Kevin Harmer if you haven’t received them.
Scouts Navigation Day and Eagle Trophy Night incident hike
Hone your Scouts’ navigation skills and put them to the test with two events, one after the other, in a weekend next month – the Scouts Navigation Day and the Eagle Trophy night incident hike – both based around Wilverley.
Navigation Day
When: Saturday 7th February 2026, arrive 10.00am
Where: Wilverley, drop off in the Forestry England car park (Details)
Contact: Barry Stride
We aim to cover map reading/plotting, compass set up and use for navigation, route cards, judging distance – so you know where the end is & relocation techniques.
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.
Eagle Trophy night incident hike
When: Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th February 2026, starting from 16.30 and finishing around 02.00
Where: Wilverley Scout Campsite (Details)
Contact: Kerie Wallace
The event follows the format of 5-to-6-mile hike with four or five incident bases. Your Patrol or Team, a minimum of four, maximum of seven Scouts, will need to be prepared for this event. They will need to have with them the equipment associated with activities in hazardous country, be good at navigation (no electronic navigation systems are allowed) and most of all work as a team. The Eagle Trophy is awarded to the best Patrol/Team.
Closing date for entry forms is 28th January 2026, with final joining instructions issued afterwards.
Suisse Adventure 2027 roadshows
Staying in Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland, Suisse Adventure 2027 is open to all aged 14 to 25 in August 2027.
The Suisse team will be holding a number of roadshows around Hampshire in January and early February. These hour long sessions will give Explorers, Parents and Leaders a chance to discover more about the expedition and Kandersteg and ask any questions before deciding whether to sign up and pay the deposit.
Find out more and the locations of the roadshows on the Hampshire Scouts website.
Reminders, opportunities and notices
New Lead Volunteer at Eling Sea Scouts
A big thank you to Craig Challis who has stepped into the role of Group Lead Volunteer at 4th Eling Sea Scouts from 1st January. Craig has connections to Eling for many years and even when his volunteering moved to neighbouring 5th Testwood, he still maintained connections with the group and worked alongside them through events such as the Donkey Derby. We wish him the very best of luck and wishes in his new role.
Gambia 2026
Ready for a different kind of international adventure? Join the team setting off for the Gambia in December of this year!
Open to Explorers, Network members and adult volunteers, it is an amazing chance to experience the real Africa with your mates and help look after the Kairo Konko Scout Centre and the communities around it.
Find details about the trip, applying, presentation packs for sections and of the information evening on Thursday 29th January on the Hampshire Scouts website.
Young Leader Survey
Every two years, the County Young Leader Team put out a Survey to see how our Young Leaders are getting on and what additional support is required. This allows them to help shape our programme for the next couple of years and make changes where needed.
There is a Raffle for a £20 Amazon Voucher that can be entered for all who complete it. We are also asking any Leaders who support Young Leaders to complete our Survey as your feedback is also very valuable to us. Whether you are a Group Lead Volunteer, 14-24 Team Lead or you simply just support Young Leaders in your area, we want to hear from you! And there is also Amazon Vouchers up for grabs.
We look forward to hearing your feedback.
Sleepovers at Rock Up
We’ve heard from Rock Up that, from 23rd February, they’re offering overnight sleepovers at Rock Up.
Included in the package is an evening climbing session, food, an on-site overnight stay, and breakfast the next morning. It’s designed specifically for organised youth groups.
Drop them an email at [email protected] with the subject line ‘Sleepover’ to find out more and register your interest.
You can see their flier here, and as a pdf by clicking on the image.
Visits to Park Lane Dairy
We’ve heard from Abigail Rolf, a dairy farmer at Park Lane Dairy in Beaulieu. In 2025, they launched a new project – Park Lane Dairy educational farm visits – and reached out to us to find the groups interested.
Starting with a walk through the farm, the first stop is to watch the cows being milked through our robot parlour. Then, meet some of the younger members of the herd and learn about reproduction and calf rearing. In the future they hope to expand on this with possible tractor and trailer rides around the stock in the summer months. They are extremely passionate about farming and also about educating the nation, using experience of home schooling the family’s three children to help shape the visit’s curriculum.
They are currently offering a select number of funded educational visits and are looking forward to visits. There is no limit to how many groups and sections you can bring, but the dairy try to keep each group below 20 guests to give a really bespoke experience – this can be adapted if needed. Please feel free to contact her at [email protected] to discuss any further information or to reserve a visit date.
Sponsor or perform at Donkey Derby
The 4th Eling and 5th Testwood Scout groups are already advanced in planning for the Donkey Derby in May. They are looking for sponsors to appear in their programme and as names of the donkeys, and for performers in their arena. Do share with those interested or get in touch if you’re eager.
Gone Home: Kevin Townsend
As you may have seen in Hampshire Scouts Update, just before Christmas we learned of a past leader who has now sadly Gone Home. Kevin Townsend was Assistant Venture Scout Leader with the 2nd Copythorne Venture Scouts in the 1970’s, and after that a Scout Leader with the 27th (now 3rd) Ashurst & Colbury Group, when these two Sections were in Romsey District.
Kevin was a Leader that liked the great outdoors and you would always find him leading a wild camp expedition somewhere, with rock climbing and kayaking thrown in for good measure. Kevin was the son of former DC, deceased, of Romsey District, Ron Townsend. Our thoughts go to those who knew him.
What’s been happening?
A packed term for Netley Marsh Beavers
Netley Marsh Beavers have had a fun packed term. We started off with a joint camp with the cubs in Burley, which ended up being very wet, but the Young people were amazing and joined in with all of the activities. The theme was pirate camp and we had panning for gold, we made boats with strawberry laces and bread sticks, we did archery and made paracord bracelets as well as a hike with a scavenger hunt.
We went to Boltons Bench and we rolled babybel cheeses down the hill where we discovered that they roll really well! We have done a lot of badge work including our experiment badge where we learnt a lot of new experiments including making fireworks in a jar.
We had a lovely evening with our fellow Beavers from around the District at our Christingle and we finished off with a Christmas trip to Tenpin. We are looking forward to a new year with lots of fun things planned.
Massive Totton Santa Run for 5th Testwood
5th Testwood Scouts pulled out all the stops for their annual Totton Santa Run which raised around £3,000 for the group despite a change of home for their finish line fayre and the loss of other community events which were used to promote the event. You can read all about it below, and in the media too – this article from the Lymington Times for example.
Beavers team up for Christingle
The district’s Beavers attended their annual Christingle at Testwood Baptist Church with a great turnout:
Music to round out the term
5th Testwood joined together in song for a group campfire at the end of the term, while Stanley’s Own band held not just their Christmas concert but also performed at other festive events too:
Fordingbridge Scouts prove excellent citizens
1st Fordingbridge Scouts were rightly proud of three of their Scouts who proved to be excellent citizens:
Pioneering and sweet treats to round out the term
Looks like fantastic sessions all round for Fordingbridge and Sandleheath Scouts as the year drew to a close:
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 February before the 25th to [email protected].