News

This year’s District Cub Camp was held at Skreens Camp site in Chelmsford where 160 Cubs attended with 45 leaders and young Leaders.

Even though the weather wasn’t great the rain kept off until the night. All the cubs camped outside in tents which was a lot of fun.

Once everyone had arrived on Friday night and settled into their tents we had a camp fire where we all sung lots of camp songs.

Our District Commissioner came along and gave a 20 year service award to Dean Jefferies and made Mick Cross a District leader. The Cubs had sausages in rolls and a drink and went to bed.

On Saturday morning we all got up and had breakfast then the activities began for the day ranging from Kayaking, Crate stacking, Climbing, Badminton, Archery, Air Rifle shooting, wheelchair assault course, raft building, slack line and grass sledging.

On Saturday evening we had dinner followed by a night of Fun at the Fair games which included some of these games,  splat the rat, play your cards right, fish a duck, key in the box, football in the hole and Knock down bottles using a stocking over your head with a weight by swinging your head. After a fun filled night and tiring day we all had supper and went to bed with the rain pouring down on the outside of the tents!

On Sunday morning we all got up had breakfast and then we held a District Sports day with the usual activities of how far can you throw the welly boot, three-legged race, obstacle race, egg & spoon race, sack race, running race and wheel barrow race. All the cubs had lots of fun and enjoyed taking part.

A big thanks to all the leaders and the cooks team who helped make this such an exciting event for the Cubs.

Richard Thorn

District Cub Scout Leader

Hornchurch District held their AGM on Wednesday 4th Sept at Gwillcoo.

The meeting commenced with Louisa asking everyone to stand for a minute silence for Janet Winslow. Dean Jefferys read an Eulogy to Janet and Louisa explained her family had agreed to a trophy in her memory, to be presented each year to someone from within the District who like Janet, is willing to go and help another Group or section, in times of need.

Debbie Carter officially stood down as District Commissioner and thanked everyone for their help and support during her time in the role. Louisa thanked Debbie for all her hard work, dedication and time that she had spent over the last 4 years helping to make Hornchurch the great District it is and went on to present Debbie with some gifts from the District and Groups, and wishing her well

Lee Clark, GLNE County Commissioner also thanked Debbie before investing Lee Copleston as the incoming District Commissioner for Hornchurch.
Louisa then asked Dean Jefferies to present the following awards

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Young Leader of the Year
Charlie Lovegrove – 2nd Squirrels Heath
Jackson Memorial Trophy
This award is awarded to a group in the District which we feel has excelled in all aspects of Scouting and this year was presented to 2nd Upminster.
Ron Sorrell Shield
This award is presented to a leader who has been outstanding throughout the year and the recipient was Tony Pearce of 2nd Elm Park.
Dean then went on to present the following:
David Rogers – Commissioner Commendation
Glenn Daniels- Commissioner Commendation
Louisa Golder- Commissioner Commendation
Pink Parachute Pottery Shop- Commissioner Commendation.

Lee Clark County Commissioner then was asked to present Paul Fix on behalf of the Chief Scout with
The Bar to the Award of Merit

The formal part of the meeting closed and we then went on to have a short presentation from Roger Stannard from the new Water Activities Team which was launched earlier this year and he promoted the benefits the young people will get from this and asked for adults to come forward and assist the team.

Dean Jefferys and Tony Pearce then concluded the evening with the three young people, Dexter, Briony and Vienna, who attended the World Jamboree from Hornchurch this Summer as we heard of their experiences and watched a slide show from selection to arrival back in the UK. This way we could all see the fun they had, not just while they were in the USA and Canada but over over the last 18 months.

For some, the definition of a good camp could be summed up by beautiful sunny weather and the calming serenity of being one with nature. This camp was none of those things. In the latest episode of Hornchurch Network, we were plagued by heavy rain on day one and experienced the heart pounding stress of being flung around and dropped 100ft on various metal scaffoldings on day 2. Conclusion… best camp ever 🙂

On this adventure, Network had gone further than ever before. A four hour trip to the wonderful Consall campsite. A delightful wooded area where you can truly feel isolated from the world (quite literally as there was no phone signal). After putting up our tents in heavy rain, we met day two with anticipation of the main attraction, Alton Towers. Thankfully the weather held off and we got to enjoy the terrifying wonders of the Towers, from the vertical drop of Oblivion to the infamous loops of the Smiler. With the day coming to a close and our adrenaline pumping, we made our way back to camp for a tasty home cooked butter chicken curry with rice and naan. After another healthy dose of rain we wound the evening down and met the following morning with a cheesy, beany, eggy bready and bacony breakfast (courtesy of head chef Alan and sous chefs Lynden and Lauren) to set us up for the journey home.

 Despite being one of the wettest camps network has done, it was a camp full of the typical Networky banter and immaturity that can never be dampened. We may be adults, but we’re children at heart!

Elliot Chang – District Network Scout Member

What a packed event with 73 Cubs attending and 23 teams racing.

It was busy, a bit chaotic and karts everywhere. A big thank you to all the leaders who gave up their time to make this event happen.
It was a dry day but a bit over cast but the rain kept away. The biggest upset was for the leaders when the electric urn decided to give up the ghost and die. No more tea and coffee for the rest of the day.

A few of the newer groups to the event found out that their Karts were not quite up to the challenge and a number of wheels went astray. But there were plenty of carts to borrow and it did not stop the fun. Be prepared is the moto for next year. Kart building techniques were learnt by some.

This was some comments from 3rd Rainham Cubs about the event “had a blast” “it’s amazing” “fantastic great fun” “Thanks for having us” that is telling it all, the Cubs had a good time.

A big thank you to Nelms School for allowing us to use the playground and facilities.

With so many Cubs attending we had to drop some races as we did not have enough time to get them all in.

Lets see if we can have even more Cubs for next Year with three races running at the same time. Cub leaders and parents get building those karts.

The water committee got going with it’s first sailing day at Stubbers.

We have been fortunate to enter into a partnership with a family Sunday sailing club that enables us to take a group of scouts out each week.
The hope is that as scouts become proficient they may join the cub and become even better sailors.

There are 40 or so boats to sail of 5 or 6 different types. From single handed boats to larger Wayfairers as per the photo.

We hope we can find leaders or parents to join in and see how far we can take this project.

We have penned in two dates for leaders to have a go.

Saturday 27th July for kayaking and 15th Sept for leaders sailing

Contact waterteam@hornchurchscouts.org.uk

The Beavers descended on Thriftwood Scout camp for their District sleepover – this year’s theme was ‘Beavers in Black’ Spy Academy.

7 groups Friday to Saturday and another 7 groups Saturday to Sunday.

The Beavers had supper and then went for a night walk, which led them to a camp fire where they sang songs.
On returning to base they all had a hot chocolate & snack, then off to their dorms for the night.

The following morning after breakfast, the Beavers were officially enrolled in to the spy academy where they received their spy kits, disguises and ID badges.

After this, they were put into their elite task forces, and given the main mission of the day to find my brief case that had been stolen, which contained top secret documents. The spy that had stolen the brief case was described to be dressed in orange and wearing a mask. The Beavers spent all day guessing who this could have been, it was great to see them all using their imaginations.

As part of the Beavers spy training, they tackled an assault course and had an archery session – the Beavers showed good team work throughout. The Beavers also had the opportunity to learn how to lift finger prints, use their skills to decode secret messages, including writing their own codes with invisible ink. They also had a chance to test their steady hands as they manoeuvred their way along a giant buzzer wire.

For each mission that the Beavers completed throughout the day, they would receive a clue which would help them find the missing brief case.
The Beavers showed great courage as they climbed a very high wall as part of these missions, to retrieve a clue from the very top.

Each team was also given map coordinates, which they used to lead them to Headquarters and even found some more clues along the way.

I think the favourite mission of the day for both the Beavers and leaders, was Mission Impossible. The Beavers had to make their way from one end of basecamp to the other, to retrieve gadgets, however the tent was covered in tape and laser beams which they had to duck and dodge to avoid getting caught.

By the end of the day, the Beavers had become fully fledged special agents, as they discovered all the clues and put them together to find the missing brief case.

We all look forward to seeing what the next District sleepover will bring!

Michelle Haddon
Assistant District Commissioner (Beavers)

On the 26th April 15 Scouts from across the District came together for a Patrol Leaders (PL) training weekend at Thriftwood. The weekend started off very wet and windy but being Scouts, everyone was prepared with their waterproofs. Roger Huggett organised the weekend and programme to ensure the Scouts gained as much knowledge as possible. The Scouts started off learning about being a Patrol Leader and the skills, knowledge and experience required to run a patrol. After a short piece of theory work on running a patrol, planning a camp, including menu and activities, it wasn’t long before the Scouts were in teams and carrying out practical skills. Starting off with knots & lashings, lamps & stoves, bearings, first aid and using axes the Scouts had a full morning of activities. Following lunch they started work on compass points, fire lighting, problem solving and building a stretcher for their casualty.

After a busy start there was a short session on patrol forums, the Scouting structure and moving on to Explorers. The fun didn’t stop at dinner time as the Scouts worked together in several wide games when the leaders ‘lost’ them in the woods. They successfully navigated their way back to site for a campfire and a couple of games of Uno.

Sunday was just as busy with teams working together to build a floating raft that could support a lit candle. After packing away, everyone was presented with their Team Leader challenge award and a certification of completion.

Thank you to Roger Huggett for organising such an action packed weekend for our PL’s of tomorrow. My thanks also to Marc and Sarah-Jane Scarce for catering over the weekend. Not forgetting Gerry Merritt, Allyson Cheung, Dean Holden, Jessica Scrace, John Reed and Marc Scrace for running various bases and activities. Thank you all for the hard work and dedication you’ve shown to the Scout section. Here’s to our next event, the District Hiking Weekend on the 29th – 30th June.

Dean Claxton
ADC Scout Events

The Team Challenge was attended by 10 Colonies.

Beavers worked in teams where their problem-solving, team-working and leadership skills were put to the test. There was a variety of tasks which included Building a free-standing flag pole, design a flag to put on the top, using string, bamboo canes, sticky tap, elastic bands and paper.

The beavers created amazing pieces of art using mosaic squares to make a picture of a beaver. Then build a house from puzzle pieces. Each team got to answer 2 quiz sheets, to test their general knowledge.

There was great team work to decode questions to find the next task, that took them outside to find the longest blade of grass, believe me, I was surprised how long the grass was. The teams showed fantastic team spirit and encouraged each other to do their best.

2nd Upminster Gridirons Beavers came first and 3rd Upminster Wesley Beavers came second. Well done to all of the Beavers taking part.

Another Fantastic Team challenge, thanks to Sue Cruse and her team.