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| What’s Coming Up?
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| What’s been happening?
Welcome to Edition 52 of Tails of the New Forest. It’s been a bit of a break from us after a summer and getting back, but we’ve assembled all that has happened into what feels like our biggest edition ever! We’ve got links to the round up from a summer of adventures and camps, a bucket load of resources and support for volunteers and as many upcoming events for your section as we can gather.
What’s coming up?
District Diary
New District Diary has landed, containing all the District events we know about and plenty of County ones too that our volunteers may need to know about. More details will often have been distributed already, otherwise for County events do check the County Calendar.
Section events coming up in next 3 months:
- Fright Night at Ferny Crofts, 17th October
- County Beavers Days at Paulton’s Park, 17th and 18th October
- Scouts of the World Discovery Weekend at Tadley, 23rd-25th October
- Tribe Camp for Explorers at Ferny Crofts, 30th October to 1st November
- County Patrol Leaders and Assistant Patrol Leaders training weekend at Lyons Copse, 13th-15th November
- County Kudu night hike for Explorers, nr Andover, 14th-15th November
- Cubs Swimming Gala, venue TBC, date pencilled in for 29th November
- Explorers Christmas Chaos Camp at Foxlease, 4th-6th December
- Beavers District Christingle, 9th December
Don’t miss out on Skills Days later this month
Join the adult learning team at Ferny Crofts on 24th and/or 25th October for two days packed full of useful skills for you. No matter how long you’ve been volunteering, there’s likely a session or two at some point this weekend that would interest you. You can stay for as long or as little as you like on this weekend, but make the most of the days. Details and booking on the Hampshire Scouts website.
Saturday’s programme includes axe, saw, knife and fire lighting skills, using knots in your programme, backwoods cooking, woggle making, 5 minute activity ideas, cooking with your section and little pickles (behaviour) and First Response. Meanwhile Sunday includes sessions on pioneering, maps and compass, Young Leaders, trails and wide games, Inclusion Plus, using Online Scout Manager and all about the Adventurous Activity permit scheme.
A host of new events from Hampshire Scouts
HIJ, Ahoy!, Tribe, Hog Fest
The various teams within Hampshire Scouts have been busy crafting a series of new events for all sections. Find out more if you haven’t jumped in already:
- Tribe Camp, for Explorers. 30th October to 1st November 2026, Cricket Camp. A new competitive weekend event bringing together adventure, competition and creativity. Explorers form ‘Tribes’ of 9–12 and across the weekend take on large‑scale activities and fast‑paced challenges, earning points until by the end of the weekend one Tribe will be crowned the overall champions.
- Ahoy!, for Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. 9th to 11th July 2027, YMCA Fairthorne Manor. An adventure and pirate themed camp with Queue and Do activities across zones grouped by age and type of activity. Groups will camp together in district areas, and take part in day time and evening activities with their sections.
- Hog Fest, for leaders and volunteers. 16th to 18th July 2027, Ferny Crofts. Because adult volunteers deserve some fun too! Adventurous activities and evening entertainment to unwind after a good year, and workshops and stalls to provide inspiration and support for the year to come.
- HIJ: Hampshire International Jamboree, for Scouts and Guides aged 10-17 years. 22nd to 29th July 2028, Sapley Farm, Overton. A week-long international Scout and Guide event, bringing together young people and volunteers from across the UK and around the world for adventure, friendship in a place where they belong.
Chief Scouts Award Day – delayed to a new date
We’ve heard you loud and clear – there are so many different events and opportunities now being offered in groups, district and especially within the County that the old traditional date of the Chief Scout’s Award Day, to celebrate those who had reached the top and earned their highest youth award for their age section, wasn’t working any more.
We’ve decided to move it to the spring, the 21st March 2027, where the events schedule is less crowded. Those who have earned their award will be invited ahead of that day, even if they have moved up to their next section. Group Lead Volunteers will be contacted closer to the time.
Reminders, opportunities and notices
Calling 14-24 year olds – can you help us fill any of these roles?
Calling all Explorers and Network (and their leaders of course)! We have a number of youth roles in the District that we’d love to get filled this year so young people can have their say, build their own skills and Scouting can get better. If you know anyone who might suit any of these roles, why not have a chat with them or let the District team know. Or you can register your interest in the roles and find out more through each link:
- Youth Lead. Youth Leads are 18-25 year olds who play a key role in our local leadership, driving youth shaped Scouts in the New Forest, and ensuring the voices of our young people are heard.
- Young person trustee. A vital behind the scenes role, our Trustees make sure Scouts runs smoothly, safely, and legally. We’re big on youth voice in the Scouts, so we’re particularly looking for young people aged between 18 and 25 years old to join the team!
- Media and Communications team member. Love scrolling, snapping, and storytelling? Help our Scout District shine online! Help us put together Tails of the New Forest and share our adventures on social media.
Carbon Monoxide and Gas Safety – free updated and new resources
There are new free resources on the Scout Store to help tackle the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning which we know can be often misunderstood by volunteers and young people alike.
A refreshed and updated safety poster about the risks, a new poster with clear details of symptoms and emegency action and new stickers for gas appliances to replace any lost or to add new clear safety instructions for users. They’re free to order now.
Welcome conversations
When we welcome new volunteers to our ranks, part of the joining journey is a welcome conversation to ensure they know where to find support, point them in the right direction and most of all make sure they feel welcomed! They should happen as early as practical, ideally during the first 30 days. As well as the new volunteer and the Group Lead Volunter, there should be a third party welcome conversation volunteer to support – drop Robin or the district team a line if you need help finding one.
Individual Support Plans – help making Scouts with needs find a place to belong
At Scouts, we want to include everyone. This means making changes to help disabled young people and volunteers join in. We’re required by law to make reasonable adjustments for young people. As we will likely have had new young people or volunteers joining your Section recently, make sure to speak to them, and their parents or carers where relevant, about any disabilities or support needs they might have.
If they have support needs, you may want to draft an Individual Support Plan to capture everything from needs and barriers, to medication dosages and if intimate care if needed. There is guidance on scouts.org.uk, and a webinar coming up on the 14th October on the topic, and local help on inclusion from the Support team.
Safeguarding and AI
With the rise of artificial intelligence tools everywhere, our District team recently learned from HQ and the Police that they’ve seen a very concerning rise in young people using AI to alter images to change what they show. At a minor level this can lead to bullying and other young people not feeling welcome in Scouts, and at worse it is creating and sharing images that are illegal in nature.
There is guidance about recording images at Scout events on scouts.org.uk which can help reduce the risk, as well as including activities in your programme the cover tips about online and digital safety. If you hear reports of images altered by AI depicting young people in Scouting, immediately notify the Safeguarding team, but do not open or view any images themselves to protect yourself.
Great Tommy Sleep Out
From the Royal British Veterans Enterprise
Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Explorers, & Scout Leaders are all invited to take part in The Great Tommy Sleep Out 2027 in support of Royal British Veterans Enterprise. It’s RBVE’s flagship fundraising event and, in 2027, will be entering its eighth year. In 2026, participants helped raise over £2 million, with 1,400 groups taking part, where they joined over 17,000 supporters from across the UK.
RBVE supports veterans facing homelessness & hardship by providing housing, welfare support, employment opportunities, & wellbeing services that empower them to rebuild their lives with dignity & independence. They believe every veteran deserves a safe place to call home, however, around 1 in 400 veterans experience homelessness. By taking part in The Great Tommy Sleep Out, Scout groups will help raise awareness & vital funds that provide a pathway back into society for vulnerable veterans.
Taking place throughout March 2027, participants are challenged to spend one night, or more, sleeping out while fundraising. Whether it’s sleeping under the stars, building shelters & bivvies, or hosting a camp-style sleep out, there are plenty of creative ways for Scout groups to get involved while having fun together. Groups that have previously taken part have told RBVE it helped their young people develop leadership, teamwork, community engagement, personal growth, resilience, & empathy.
To register or find out more, please visit https://sleepout.rbve.org.uk/ or contact The Great Tommy Sleepout Team on 01622 795951, 01622 795992 or [email protected].
Circus Skills for your scouts
Want a great opportunity for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers to have some fun whilst learning both hand eye co-ordination and balancing skills? We’ve heard from Shooting Stars Circus Skills who offer workshops at your HQ and have a long list of reviews from other Scout groups up and down the country. Their circus workshops consist of a circus instructor and a full range of equipment from juggling scarves, balls, spinning plates, diabolos, and flower sticks to larger equipment such as unicycles, tightropes, stilts and crazy bikes. They are now taking bookings for the year ahead, get in touch via their website to learn more.
What’s been happening?
Where do we start? If the summer months saw not so many adventures reach us here at Tails, we’ve been very luck over the past few weeks. So, what did our Scouts of all ages get up to as we rounded off the summer and welcomed autumn?
A summer of fun with so many camps and expeditions
During the summer months, so many of our Scouts from all ages and across the District have been on camps, adventures, expeditions and more. We’ve tracked down as many as we could and gave them their own article showcase the fantastic Scouting talent throughout the summer months.
Take a read of it on our website.
Plus, in case you missed it, we shared the many updates from 3rd Ringwood’s Group camp on our website back in July, but not in Tails so do take a read of that and look at the many pictures and awards well deserved too.
Explorer Scouts take on a huge cycling fundraising challenge
Well it’s not every day you hear a story like Scott and Rowan. Together they took on a 274km journey along the Way of the Roses on their own two wheels to raise money for their international scout trips next summer.
Throughout the trip they took on steep 20% gradient climbs, totalling a staggering 2,235 metres of elevation gain over the entire route.
Read more about in on our website.
Young Leader weekend
Once more the district’s team of Young Leader inspirers gathered at Lyndhurst to show 20 Young Leaders from across Hampshire the skills they need to be amazing future leaders, plus with plenty of fun too.
District Beaver campfire
Yesterday evening, 5 out of 12 groups came together for the annual District Beaver campfire. Unfortunately due to fire restrictions we can’t have a normal fire so we had an indoor one. What a great turn out! We had around 100 young people with Beavers and siblings. A big thank you to Craig for being our campfire marshall and leading the songs and to all the leaders for helping.
A huge congratulations to Richard
4th Eling’s beloved Akela, Richard White, who was deservedly presented with his 30 year length of service award among friends just before the start of the summer holidays. A huge congratulations and thank you for so many years of service to our young people.
Beavers having a Fun Day
Plenty of Beaver colonies from across the District joined many others from all over the County at Ferny Crofts for a fun day packed full of adventurous activites to try. We were thrilled to see that 1st Sandleheath Beavers have a great day out:
Councillor helps fund new equipment
As a Sea Scout group, 4th Eling are always in need of good quality boating equipment, and thanks to one local councillor they’ve received two kayaks and equipment to use for today’s young people. Fantastic stuff!
Teamwork makes the dream work with STEM and the Air Cadets
Air Cadets local to Fordingbridge were spotted showing some of our Scouts of different ages from Fordingbridge and Sandleheath various STEM activities to help them earn some of their Scout badges:
Squirrels at the Fire station
1st Fordingbridge’s Squirrels were out learning about local super heroes at the fire station. We’re not sure who is having more fun here – the Squirrel Scout or the Firefighter!
Tasty fundraising
Who said fundraising couldn’t be tasty? Sandleheath Beavers raised over £380 towards their activities through a cake and bake sale:
Volunteers Week posts spreading the word on recruitment
1st Poulner began a recruitment campaign over the summer and we love the impassioned words in the post from their Beaver Leader who has been loving being a volunteer for 40 years! We wish them the best of luck in finding the volunteers they need for the future.
A surprise for Steven
And finally, an evening drop-in to the District Scout Summer camp to capture pictures of the olympics evening ended with a surprise for Steven Osborn as he was presented with an Award for Merit.
Steven just this year handed the baton on as Group Lead Volunteer of 5th Testwood Scouts, and continues in the District as our Support Team Leader as well as helping with learning events and media and communications in both New Forest and wider in Hampshire county as time allows. Many in the District will have seen Steven at different events over that time either leading in skills, taking photos for Tails and writing our other communications.
Thank you Steven for all your efforts.
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.
Send your news and items for the next edition of Tails at the end of October before the end of the 25th to [email protected].