2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers Harry Potter Sleepover

Our Beavers fun weekend at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry began with them being sorted into their Houses by the talking Sorting Hat! They then had their ID photos taken for identification purposes. This fun was followed by their first wizarding class where they designed their magic wands! The Beavers then enjoyed the first Harry Potter film - The Philosopher's Stone, with some pizza and cake! We had some very excitable witches and wizards on our hands at bedtime, however they all got to sleep eventually and woke up in the morning bright and early for their fun Hogwarts classes and activities. Before this, they dined in the Great Hall for Breakfast. The Beavers then played Traffic Lights with a Harry Potter twist, designed their own witches spell, watched Hagrid's special potion class, pinned the scar on Harry Potter's head, and played quidditch in their houses! What a fantastic sleepover, we had some very well behaved Beavers stay at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pleased to say that they all graduated with flying colours. The winning House was Slytherin, congratulations to all in Slytherin! They seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and we did too; this is what Beavers is all about - fun and adventure! They have been told not to practice any magic at home and away from Hogwarts, we hope that they listen...

Charlie Lovegrove

Hornchurch District - New District Commissioner

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that David Wright has been appointed as District Commissioner for Hornchurch. David’s appointment will formally commence from the District AGM on 19th September 2022 (this is change of date for the Hornchurch AGM), however he will be District Commissioner designate from 25th July 2022, when he will meet with Group Scout Leaders and the District Team at their summer social meeting. David will use the time between the two events to meet with members of the team and potential new appointments, so that he is a position to prepare for his nominations to the District Executive at the AGM.

David brings with him a wealth of experience from both his professional management & legal experience and voluntary background. David has been a key member of 1st Squirrels Heath Scout Group for the last 20 years. He has led both the Scout Troop and the Viking Explorer Scout Unit and has been a driving force behind ensuring young people get to shape their own programme and leading countless outdoor adventures.

David said about his appointment “I am honoured to have been selected for the role of District Commissioner for Hornchurch. My family have lived in Hornchurch for over 60 years, and I have been an active Scout since joining Beavers in the late 80’s. My plan for Hornchurch District is to build on the great successes and to continue to grow, become more inclusive, be shaped by young people and to make a bigger impact in our community.”

Louisa Golder, District Chair, said “On behalf of the District I would like to congratulate David on his appointment. We as a District look forward to working with him and hearing his vision for how he would like to move the District forward.”

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dean Jefferys for holding the fort and overseeing the running of the District during this time. Dean has kindly agreed to continue with this current arrangement until David formally starts at the AGM on 19th September.

I hope that you will all give David your full support as he takes on the role of District Commissioner for Hornchurch and continues to grow and develop the District.

Best wishes

Lee Clark
County Commissioner
Greater London North East

2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers - Platinum Jubilee Celebrations!

On the 28th of May, 2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers held their Platinum Jubilee Event with Radfield Home Care Havering. Our amazing Beavers and their families got to meet the lovely Radfield clients and their families. It was filled with laughter, fun, happiness, relationship building and pure joy. At Christmas, last year, our Beavers donated kind gifts and wrote lovely Christmas cards out for the Radfield clients, so it was amazing that they got to be introduced to each other face to face. They got to speak to each other, share stories together, talk about their interests, and build up lovely friendships. The Beavers treated the lovely clients to a rendition of the National Anthem twice and also, one of our Beavers played the National Anthem on the keyboard to perfection. Just recently, our colony has signed up to become Dementia Friends and this project is so important for not only raising awareness for Dementia, but also the loneliness that elderly people face on a day-to-day basis. This event allowed the lovely Radfield clients to build connections with the Beavers, and reduce any feelings of loneliness. The bonds created, memories made, and smiles all round, for all that attended, is so important to reflect upon and remember. Thank you to all who made it possible and to all those who attended. Please enjoy looking at the lovely pictures, which are a mere snapshot of the amazing event! 

By Charlie Lovegrove. 

Hornchurch District Scout patrol leader training w/e

Over the weekend of 13th – 15th May 2022. Twenty six Scouts from seven different groups across the district, assembled at Warren lodge for this year’s patrol leader training camp. The aim of the weekend being the acquiring of the Team Leader challenge award.
The scouts were divided into six mixed teams, each identified by a colour. Saturday morning saw the teams taking part in site layout assessment, kit lists, team communication game and a very involved camp planning session. This involves everything from site selection to menu planning, activity planning, plus transport arranging, and costing.
After a well- earned break it was time for the teams to attend six leader lead bases. First Aid, Lashings, Axe work, Bearings, Stoves and Fire lighting were on offer.
With orienteering, more compass work, another type of communication active session and Guy building following on after lunch. In case you’re wondering about guy building in the middle of May. They became our casualties for a pioneering rescue activity later on. Also, of course, they burn well after use. (Always popular).
Many more items were covered from their work folders. Rachel Taylor (DESC) ran a session on the pyramid of scouting followed by information about moving on to explorers.
The last session on Sunday morning, just as the rain made its first appearance in an otherwise gloriously sunny weekend, saw the scouts involved in the ever popular fire on the lake activity. A nice challenge to round of a morning of listening to me rattling through things. Congratulations to all the scouts that took part in the course and gained their award.
And saving a very important thank you to last. A massive thanks to the leaders on site. Gerry Merritt, Lyn Merritt, ( most appreciated for all the cooking), John Reed, Dean Claxton, Dean Holden, Andy Rice, Glenn Daniels, and Rachel Taylor. Also thanks to Lisa for keeping me sane with all the money comings and goings. Without these good people the whole thing could not have run at all. 

Grand Job

Roger

District Leader

District Cub Camp 2022

District camp 2022 was really GREAT! 

138 cubs from11 groups, 9 young leaders and 34 leaders, with visits from Dean Jeffries and Linda Thorogood.

It all kicked off with a good old sing song around the campfire then bed though not much sleep!

Saturday - up,fed and watered then straight onto activities and bases galore including kayaking, rafting, air rifles, archery, climbing, crate stacking, cave bus, wheelchairs, bottle rockets, slack-line, lava floor, paracord keyrings, knotting, balistas, treasure hunt and bunting for our Jubilee fair in the evening... sooo much fun! And the food....scrummy especially the bacon rolls, thanks to Stuart and his team.  The cubs all had great fun making new friends, sleeping in tents, lots for them for the first time, and enjoyed EVERYTHING!

Corinne 

District Leader

St Georges Day

So, we thought that after a three year gap that St George’s Day 2022 might have been a small select affair - and how wrong we were!!!
The sun shone, the parade route was packed with cheering parents and residents and we had to get extra chairs out in the hall as everyone packed in!
If doughnut sales is a barometer of numbers all 500 of those went in a flash and many were left disappointed so we clearly had hundreds on parade!
It was lovely to see so many adults being recognised with long service & good service awards and the smiles on the faces of all the participants was great to see!
Can I thank the Police, the Council, Romford Drum & Trumpet Corps, the site team at Emerson Park, our Road Traffic Marshalls, our Pianist, Pete Seddon our Parade Marshall and everyone who helped to set up the venue yesterday and to tidy up today.
It was a lovely celebration of the family of Scouting in Hornchurch and I was bursting with pride seeing you all parading past!

Well done one and all!

Dean Jefferys
Interim District Commissioner

2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers takes on Wear Red Day!

On the 4th of February, the 2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers colony all wore red to our weekly meeting, in aid of #WearRedDay. This annual day is in the 10th year of it’s launch, for the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund - who are amazing in supporting research and encouraging awareness for congenital heart disease in both children and adults.
In order for the Beavers to wear non-uniform and attend the session in red clothing, we asked our parents to kindly donate £1, with all proceeds going to the charity. We were astonished by the very kind donations that we received - and managed to raise just under £65 for the charity in total - which is an amazing achievement.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of our lovely Beaver parents at the 2nd Squirrels Heath Beavers Colony! Your generosity will be very much appreciated by the charity.

Charlie Lovegrove

Cornwell Scout Award

Today we had the enormous pleasure to witness the award of the extremely rare Cornwell Scout Award for bravery to Eddie, a Cub Scout from 8th Hornchurch who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 6 and had to endure gruelling chemotherapy, six hour operations, repeated blood tests and infusions, and all with a smile on his face.

Despite all of this Eddie’s dedication and devotion to Scouting has been second to none - only missing one Scout event throughout his treatment and often rushing from hospital appointments to get to Beavers at 2nd Squirrels Heath and now Cubs at 8th Hornchurch.
Fortunately Eddie’s treatment has been successful and his tumour has now not grown for over two years. Throughout all of this his positive and inspiring outlook has been a shining example to all!

The award was presented to a surprised Eddie today in front of friends and family by Lee Clark, County Commissioner for GLNE on behalf of Bear Grylls, the Chief Scout.

We are all really proud of Eddie and hope that he has an amazing day when he goes to Windsor Castle in April to meet the Chief Scout and to join the National Queens Scout Service. It’s so well deserved!

Dean Jefferys
Interim District Commissioner

Recruit a Friend Badge 

The District has launched a Recruit a Friend Badge to help recruit young people.

These badges have been sent out to each group so we have enough for each person on the census.

To earn this badge the young person needs to recruit a friend and buddy them until they are invested.

Additionally if a young person wants to use to recruit an adult who takes out an appointment and is invested this is valid too. The badge is there to aid recruitment so do use it if helpful.

If any more are required then they can be obtained from the District badge Shop at no charge.

Paul Fix - Acting District Commissioner