Diary Dates

District Commissioner
Welcome to our Centenary Year and I hope we will fulfil the growth recognition and celebration goals that have been outlined by HQ.
There is already good news under all of these banners

Growth:
Early indications suggest we will have increased our numbers by over 50. My own calculation is 74 but either figure is really great news and a tremendous reflection of the fantastic scouting being offered right around the District. 13 out of 20 Groups increased their numbers. That is really great and my thanks to everyone for the continued good work.

Celebration:
We have sold 106 tickets for the Centenary Dinner, so only 34 left. It promises to be a great night and I am delighted so many are coming.

Recognition:
I was very privileged to travel to Austria to present Mary White with her Silver Wolf.  It was a magnificent occasion and one Mary thoroughly enjoyed.  Vice President Jack Atkins and Lesley and David Bixby also came and all assisted me in the presentation. My thanks to them for helping and supporting both Mary and me.

As well as her Silver Wolf, Mary was presented with her 40 year long-service award and a stunning floral bouquet from the Fellowship.

2007 Activities:
District Camp
A great deal of work is currently going on to put this together. The key to the success of the camp is Leader involvement in the activities. Peter Hutton is leading the way on this and we need as many Leaders as possible to be part of the activity set up. There are 8 activity zones and we need to fill them all. So please make time to become fully involved so that our young people can experience an unforgettable camp.

HOHO (Home Hospitality)

Plans are underway to prepare for a contingent from Chile prior to the Jamboree. They will be staying at Bow Lane

We are looking for 2 things at the moment:

  • 40 air beds for the unit to sleep on and 

  • on one of the days we would like families to entertain 2 Unit members from 14.00 in the afternoon till 22.00 at night, giving them a small taste of English family life and a English dinner. If you know of any family who might be interested in this let Evelyn Steele AGSL at 1st Lower Morden know.

District Team 
Keith Daly has upped sticks and moved to Rustington on the coast. He will still be involved up to the District Camp but clearly his time will be very limited.

Brenda Hunt was due to come to us as a District Cub Scout Leader but as decided that her work commitments mean that she cannot now join the team. However, we welcome Martin Neal back into Scouting as a District Cub Scout Leader.

The Beaver section will be run by a team of Leaders for the time being so Hilary Mavin, Clare Tweedley and Julia Doolan will join Mark Gales and Andy Elgar as District Beaver Scout Leaders.

I am delighted to also welcome Malcolm Cook to the role of Chairman of our Development Committee.  It is good to see Malcolm coming back into Scouting: he was formerly DC of Wallington and Carshalton and therefore brings a wealth of experience to this role.

Sainsbury's
There is to be a close link with Sainsbury's this year and they will be offering the "active kids" scheme solely for the Scout Association. So get registered and start collecting to enable Groups to redeem them against a very impressive list of equipment.

Bob Prescott

County Training for 2007 - Brian Beckley

All at Bow Lane Centre, Bow Lane, Morden.
First module on date is morning; last module on date is afternoon. Please check middle modules with your Local Training Manager.

First Aid Training. Ring Janet Drinkall for information. Next course planned for 11th March 2007.

To apply :

  1. If you are revisiting the Module as 'ongoing learning'. Apply via GSL to Joan Condon.

  2. If you already have a 'Training Adviser' please go via that Adviser to the Local Training Manager.

If you have any questions or queries or need application forms please contact either Joan Condon or Brian Beckley, Local Training Manager.

Please note that, as it is a very busy year for Scouting, there are NO modules planned from April to September 2007.

Beavers - Julia Doolan

For 2007, Bob Prescott has asked us to form a small committee of District Beaver Leaders, to help run and organise the by-monthly meetings.  Andy Elgar has had to step down as ADC, due to work commitments.

So far we have one member from the Morden Area and two members from the Mitcham Area.  We feel that it would be appropriate if two members from the Wimbledon Area could join the team, so that we can bring Wimbledon and Wandle closer together and hopefully have more Beaver Leaders attending the bi-monthly meetings. This would enable us to share new ideas, and any problems groups may have, and to help organise more events. We do appreciate that most of us work and have very busy lives.

Beavers are struggling as a District. We had to cancel the 20th Birthday Celebrations for October 2006.  However, we are arranging an Activity Day on the 25th March at Morden Hall Park with the Beavers bringing their bikes and doing a bike trail as part of the fitness badge.

The next Beaver Leaders' Meeting has been changed to Wednesday 28th March, still at Morden Hall DHQ at 8pm.

Cubs - Michèle McNamara (ADC Cubs)

Astronomer's day - hopefully all the Cubs enjoyed themselves and a big thank you to all the Leaders who worked so hard to make the day successful.

Our next event is the Adventure Day at Frylands Wood on Sunday April 1st. This will be open to all Cubs over 9½ years old. We need Leaders to run the bases so please come along to the next CSL meeting (March 7th) with some ideas please.

I shall be away on holiday from 7 -22 February so if you need to contact anyone, please speak to one of the District Cub Leaders.

Finally congratulations to all those Cub Leaders who received warrants, wood badges or long service awards at the All Leaders' meeting on January 31st.

Explorers - Neil McLauhlan (DESC)

I understand that the census figures look encouraging. Well done to all for the work being done at each Unit.

Don't forget that we have a District meeting for all Leaders and Explorers at Wimbledon College School, Edge Hill on Wed 14th Feb 7.00pm-9.00pm sharp (not uniform). We will go over the format of the District Camp and how the Explorers & Leaders will help to make the camp a success.

Network - Chris Dean

Congratulations to the following who have recently achieved the Queen's Scout Award : -
Christopher Allen, Madeleine Corrigan, Jessica Flood, Marie Killerby, Catherine Morgan, Jonathan Nassar, Dominic Travers, Lucy Walsh

2006 ended on a high note with the annual Scout Network restaurant meal and a Reunion of those who undertook their Explorer Belt Expedition in either Lithuania or The Seychelles last August. The decision has been taken in principle to run the next Explorer Belt in 2009.

2007 got off to a flying start with a Volleyball Competition for over-18's at Overton Grange School in Sutton on January 12th. 6 teams of which 4 were Networks competed for a trophy donated by the Seychelles Scouts. The winners were 7th Malden who defeated 2nd Whitton in the play-off final. The highest placed Network team from the 'round robin' was Croydon Crusaders.

The next event is Operation Red Flare on March 3rd. This is a night hike with challenges at checkpoints along a 12 mile route somewhere in the Weald of Kent. Entries are accepted from teams of  4-7 Explorer Scouts, Senior Section Guides and Scout Network members, or any combination. Entry forms are available from myself.

We are holding another Scout Network Investiture ceremony on Brownsea Island over the weekend of May 12/13 - watch out for further information on www.glswscouts.org.uk/network

On June 30 the Scout Network is organising a day of water and land-based activities for Explorer Scouts at Richmond, and all Units will receive an invitation shortly to this event.

Finally, the County is holding a 'Muster' of Queen's Scouts and King's Scouts at KCS Wimbledon on the afternoon of Sunday 30 September. It would be helpful if GSLs could look through their Group records and send me a list or potential invitees. Invitations are being printed and will be sent out in March.

Fellowship - Linda Vaudrey

A very enjoyable evening was spent at the Blue Ball on Saturday 20th January, for the New Year Meal.   Many thanks to Dave and Jean for organising this.

Reminders for future events:
31st January - All Leaders' meeting at the Kenneth Black DHQ at 8 p.m.
24th February - Centenary Dinner - tickets available from Bob Prescott

Please note that the Fellowship A.G.M. will be held on Sunday 18th March, at the Morden Hall DHQ  - 7.30 for 8.00 p.m.   If you are unable to attend please ensure that you let Betty Cronk know.

Bill and Enid Walden have moved.  Their new address is available on request.

Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act

The District is registered under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act so it is not necessary for individual Groups to do so.  If you are running a fund raiser which falls into this category, please contact Eric Hayward to register the event and ensure that you are complying with certain minor requirements.

Orienteering Course for Leaders

An orienteering course will be held at Bentley Copse on Saturday 21st April.  This one-day British Orienteering Level 1 Coach Course will provide the knowledge, understanding and practical ability to teach the basic skills of the sport of orienteering.
Cost: £7.50 - includes British Orienteering registration and attendance certificate and resource CD.

For more info contact: Christine Robinson chris@britishorienteering.org.uk  Tel 020 8255 7176.

Badges

Please note that the badges will not be available at the Store on 8th February.

Scouters are asked to give reasonable notice if they require large numbers of badges.  While we try to maintain reasonable stocks, if you are doing a challenge or activity with a whole Section you should allow two weeks for sufficient badges to be ordered.

Sections are welcome to open badge accounts - contact Lesley Bixby for more details.