October 2021 Newsletter from the DC & DDC Team

The full text of the October Newsletter is below, but for a version with the photos included, please click this link for a pdf instead

Newsletter pdf

It has been a packed month for Ealing & Hanwell, with a real sense of Scouting starting to return to normal at last! Groups have held camps and trips and there have been two successful district events: a hike for our Beavers and the famous Monopoly Run for our Cubs. We also held our district AGM and announced a raft of leader awards, plus our build-up to Jamboree 2023 has begun.

Here’s a summary of this month’s Newsletter:

• Youshape Award

• News on recent District events:

  • AGM  & Virtual  Awards presentation

  • Jamboree Roadshow

  • Beaver Hike

  • Cub Monopoly Run

• News from the Groups

• Coming Up

  • Virtual Jamboree Roadshows

  • Remembrance Sunday Parade

  • District Campsite volunteer days

  • UWL Volunteering Festival

  • Jamboree selection days

• District news

  • New appointment, waiting list and expansion

  • Leighton hall facelift

  • St George’s Day 2022

• Training & GLMW news

• Covid update

YouShape Award – our District Youth Commissioner, Rob Scoynes, writes:

This week saw the exciting launch of the YouShape Award, a project which has been worked on by Youth Commissioners around the country in conjunction with young members, to promote, encourage and most importantly, award youth shaped Scouting. The award comes in four parts: the core badge, Plan, Lead and Represent. They are all available for Leaders to buy on the Scout Store now and there is also a certificate that can be awarded when the award is complete.

Unlike most badges, the members themselves choose when they have completed the YouShape award. This being said, it would be great to see it get incorporated into programmes across the District and see it appearing on uniforms. I will be running an evening to cover the core badge with my Beavers in a few weeks time – I am happy to share programme ideas as well as come and run meetings, award certificates or support in any way you might need. Please email me at r.scoynes@ealingandhanwellscouts.org.uk with the subject “YouShape Award”.

Recent District events

• District AGM Sadly our plans for an in-person gathering had to be abandoned again this year and instead, on 22nd September, we held a Zoom-version of the AGM and a Virtual Awards event immediately following it. Thank you to all who were able to join us. We were delighted to confirm Jonathan Bartlett as our Chair for a further year, and we were also fortunate to be able to re-elect Louise Woodward as our Treasurer and Jacky McKenna as our Secretary for a further year. In addition, we appointed Sheila Burt as our new independent auditor. The other members of the District Executive Committee elected for the coming year are: Ali Hall, Mary Power, Rosanne Elliot, Mary Harpley and Mary Rabey. We also have (ex officio) Rob Scoynes as DYC and Heather Jones as DC. The Executive Committee can also co-opt one or more further members at their next meeting in November – uniformed leaders and non-uniformed supporters are equally eligible. Please contact Jonathan or Heather if you would like to find out more.

• Virtual announcement of Awards  – At the end of the AGM, we held our virtual Awards presentation which included a variety of Service Awards and a number of  Wood Badges. The full list of all those whose achievements were celebrated on 22nd September is now on the District website here. Following the virtual event, the DC, DDCs and Chair are now in the process of arranging a number of ‘in person’ presentations and deliveries.

• Jamboree Roadshow  – On 28th September we had a very well attended and informative evening with the County Jamboree team about both the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea in 2023 and the Jamborette that same summer in the Netherlands. If any of your young people missed the Roadshow, please see the future events section below for details of two further virtual roadshows being provided by the County team. Please help us ensure that everyone who might want to apply gets the information they need. For the Jamboree and the Jamborette  Downloadable Presentations: https://we.tl/t-xJQ2pEz8aj  Applications are open until 31st October, and the selection days will be in November. The Application Form is here: Video Application Submissions upload here:

• Beaver Hike  – Over 100 Beavers joined our district hike. They walked around 3km and answered 30 challenging questions along the way. Many thanks to all the leaders and helpers who supported the event, and especially to Tash for organising the logistics and to Sarah for a brilliant route and quiz.  We were lucky enough to have fantastic weather and everyone had lots of fun.

• Cub Monopoly Run – ( Martin writes:) Our second ever District Monopoly Run took place on Sunday 10th October. Around 60 Cubs raced around Ealing trying to visit as many locations as they could in two hours and make it back in time. Achieving their Local Knowledge and Navigator Stage 2 badge in the process. Well done to the winning team from 16th Ealing. Here they are with their prizes – the Monopoly board game of course!

• Scout Totem Skills day  – Sadly rain stopped play! The district scout leadership team felt they had no choice but to cancel when it became clear that bad weather was going to prevent a lot of the planned activities from taking place. Stuart has promised to get a new date in asap to ensure young people get an opportunity to hone skills ahead of the Totem competition in the spring.

News from the Groups

• 1st Ealing North – Camps  – 1EN took 26 Cubs from their St Benedict and St Peter Packs to Phasels Wood in September. The Cubs had a great time – activities included: orienteering, climbing, aeroball and the legendary Cresta Run. Plus Scouts from 1EN have enjoyed two camps in the last month. In September they did a  scouting skills camp at Stoke Poges (modelled loosely on Totem) – with Howard & Terry putting their new Archery and Riffles skills to the test. Then at the beginning of October they did a camp at Phasels Wood packed with activities such as: climbing, orienteering and pioneering. Rain didn’t dampen spirits!

• 6th Ealing – Brentham allotments – Beavers from 6th Ealing have been embracing the spirit of Harvest Festival. They picked produce from their allotment and then made delicious plum crumble using the produce!

• 5th Hanwell – Perivale Woods excursion – An enthusiastic group of Cubs visited the woods at dusk in pursuit of their Naturalist badge. The rangers were fantastic – a highly recommended trip for groups across the district.

• 9th Ealing – AGM and cake competition – Our District Chair attended the Group’s AGM  and he was thrilled to present the previously announced Silver Acorn to Mary Power and the Bar-to-the-Silver-Acorn to Di Ljubisic. Judge Jonathan then selected (and tasted!) the winning cakes in the Group’s cake competition.

• 7th Hanwell – Expedition – Five very tired but happy Scouts completed their chief scouts gold award expedition – 29 miles over a September weekend. Many congratulations to them all.

• Ealing Marathon – Around 5,000 runners from all over the country descended upon Ealing for the Half marathon. They were lucky enough on their course to be met by 1st Ealing North Cubs, who were manning the first water station at Pitshanger lane (and of course cheering on runners as they passed by!). And the runner you can see one of the cubs handing some water to ended up being the race winner! The finish line was packed with 30 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from 25th Ealing and 13th Southall – who were handing out medals, water and snacks. And the icing on the cake was definitely seeing many Scout leaders racing over the finish line! Overall, it was a great community event, and the organisers said our Scouts were a great asset and a massive help. Well done to everyone involved!

To share YOUR activity experiences in our next newsletter- email n.patel@ealingandhanwellscouts.org.uk

Coming up

• Virtual Jamboree Roadshows, 12th & 21st October The link to sign up to either of these is here:  https://forms.office.com/r/i59pn1nsUB (and don’t forget that the closing date for Jamboree 2023 applications is end of this month, 31st October).

• Remembrance Sunday Parade, 14th November – Thank you to Muhummad Anam for stepping up to support this event alongside Holly Smallman, and to Mary Harpley for liaising with the Mayor’s office. Full details to follow soon.

• Monthly District Campsite volunteer days (site improvements) – We would love all groups to pick a date (any 3rd weekend of the month) to bring a group of adult helpers down to work alongside Waxwell on improvements to our district campsite. Parents, friends and supporters, leaders – please do offer to help if you can, via your GSL. Full details available from Cliff – c.brooke@walterdaviesscoutcamp.org.UK

• UWL Volunteering Festival 2nd November The in-person fair is back – and we really need a few people to help us show off what we do, and attract student volunteers in the process. The fair is on campus in South Ealing and is from 10am-3pm. Please contact Nisha if you are able to help

• Jamboree selection days After 31st October, applicants from this District will be contacted by the County team to be invited to one of the selection days at PACCAR (20th Nov in most cases or – if necessary – either 6th or 7th; but not 21st) . In addition, on Sunday 21st November, some E&H leaders are needed please to help with the impartial selection process at PACCAR for those from other Districts. Please liaise with your GSL (or the DC directly) to receive the link to a short form that Leaders can fill out to confirm their availability.

District news

• New appointment – At the recent District Beaver Leader meeting (held via Zoom) Pip Egan (8th Ealing) kindly offered to take on the additional role of supporting Tash in her District Beaver Leader role. Many thanks to Pip; it’s great to have your help!

• Waiting list – There has been a huge amount of work going on to rationalise our central waiting list and ensure that we can take as many young people as possible  into our groups. Many thanks to Mags and Nisha and Andrew for a mammoth effort on this.

• Expanding our District – Nisha is also working on potential plans to open new groups or sections to take the pressure off our waiting list and expand our offering. More news on this to come in due course. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch with Nisha.

• Leighton Hall facelift – Huge thanks to Jonathan Bartlett for arranging the brightening up of our District HQ – it’s now looking fresh and welcoming with white paint rather than dark red. The stylish original lettering for the hall name has been skilfully repainted too – and we now have a functional flagpole!

• St George’s 2022 – We will need a team to start planning for the event next year. It would be great to get some fresh thinking! Please reach out to Mandy and Nisha if you can help.

Training and GLMW news

We have had a real push across the district and county to get training up to date. Thank you to everyone who has completed modules recently, and huge thanks to GSLs and Training Advisors for working hard to get us into a good place as Scouting restarts in earnest.

Covid update

There are high infection rates in our area at the moment and a number of groups have had to adapt plans or invoke their covid-response (per their RA) as a result of young people or leaders testing positive. Protective measures therefore remain key as do robust protocols with registers etc. One of our Scout Leaders, Terry, recommends creating a separate WhatsApp group for each camp or event, as it can be very helpful with parent communications in the event of a covid issue.

Huge thanks to all Leaders for pushing on through the challenges, so that our young people can enjoy the Scouting they missed for so long.

Yours in Scouting

Heather, Nisha & Mandy

DC & DDC Team, Ealing & Hanwell

dc@ealingandhanwellscouts.org.uk

n.patel@ealingandhnwellscouts.org.uk

m.combes@ealingandhanwellscouts.org.uk

DISTRICT DIARY (in brief)

October

Tue 12th – Core Team meeting

Tue 12th – GLMW Virtual Jamboree Roadshow

Tues 19th – AAC* Panel (3rd Tues of month)

Thurs 21st – GLMW Virtual Jamboree Roadshow

Wed 20th – GSLs meeting

November

Tue 2nd – UWL Volunteering Festival

Sun 14th – Remembrance Sunday Parade

Tues 16th – AAC Panel (3rd Tues)

Sat 20th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

Sat 20th – E&H Jamboree applicants selection day (PACCAR)

Sun 21st – E&H leaders to assist with Jamboree selection day (PACCAR)

Thurs 25th – District Executive

December

Sat 18th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

Tues 21st – AAC (tbc)

January 2022

Sat 15th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

Mon 17th – Cub leaders meeting

Tue 18th – AAC (3rd Tue of month)

Mon 17th – District Beaver Leaders meeting

Tue 25th – Core Team meeting

February

Wed 2nd Feb – GSLs meeting

Tue 8th Feb – District Executive Committee meeting

Tue 15th – AAC (3rd Tue of month)

Sat 19th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

Sun 27th Feb – District Cross Country

March

11th -13th – District Beaver Sleepover

Tue 15th – AAC (3rd Tue of month)

Sat 19th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

April

Sat 16th – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

Tue 19th – AAC (3rd Tue of month)

Sun 24th – St George’s Day Parade

May

Sat 30/4 – Sun 1st – Scouts Totem competition

Sat 14th & Sun 15th – District Beaver Adventure Activity days

Sat 21st – Walter Davies work day (3rd Sat of month)

July

24-29th Camporee

*AAC is the District’s Appointments Advisory Committee.