Diary Dates

100 years of Scouting
The Centenary Camp was the most amazing event.
What's next?  Jamboree; Scouting Sunrise; Group events . . .
If your Group is doing something special to celebrate,  I would be delighted to receive a short report for publication in Links.

District Commissioner

My thanks to all those who contributed and came to the  AGM, it was a successful evening much enjoyed by the Mayor Geraldine Stanford. Once more, my congratulations to all the award recipients

I have formally appointed Lesley Bixby as Badge Secretary operating from the Morden Hall DHQ, many thanks to Lesley who has been doing the job for a while.

Liz Laverick will be moving from ADC Scouts to ADC General Duties with special responsibility for Young Leaders. This is a job that desperately needs some concentrated work and Liz's work with the Scout section will help her in this respect. She will need to work closely with Group Scout Leaders and all section Leaders so please co-operate so that we can get Young Leaders regulated and trained.
I will announce the new ADC Scouts in due course and in the meantime Liz and Dave Hodges and Tim Kerridge will deal with any Scout matters.

Cliff Condon continues to do great work around the DHQ and has been re-titled as Property Manager. Keith Angliss is rejoining the Executive Committee as Chairman of the Property and Finance Committee. My thanks to all those serving on the committee and look forward to another year of great support from Eric and his team.

Bob Prescott

District Cub and Scout Sports Day 2007

The 2007 Wimbledon and Wandle District Scout and Cub Sports will be held at the Wimbledon Park Athletics Arena on Saturday July 14.  Gates will open at 10.00, events will start at 10.30 and are expected to finish mid-afternoon.   Teams should register between 10.00 and 10.20.  (TBC)

Parents and other supporters are welcome to come and watch.

More details including a schedule of events will be circulated shortly.  I am looking for teams of Leaders to run a) the track and b) the field events.  Please contact Peter Hutton if you can help. The more help we have the better event it will be!

Store
J.I.C. Scarves:  if you have ordered any extra scarves, they have now started to arrive.

Centenary Polo Shirts:  sizes XL and XXL are currently in stock, other sizes can be ordered if required.  Cost £12.50.

Badges
Due to other commitments, Lesley will not be at the Store on Thursday 5th July so the badges won't be available that evening.

Miscellaneous Items Available
Can you use any of the following?

If so, please contact Cliff Condon.

District Directory

The new directory was available at the AGM.  If you didn't get a copy and would like one, please contact the District Secretary, Sue Southwood.

Training - Brian Beckley

Please note that, as it is a very busy year for Scouting, only a limited number of modules are planned from May to September 2007.

We are planning a 'Getting Started' course, Modules 1, 3/4, 6 shortly. All Provisional warrant holders needing these modules will get a letter inviting them to the training. Anyone else wishing to do this training should contact the Local Training Manager.

During June & July various modules are being planned. (Module 8, 11, 15 and others.) They will be held at Bow Lane on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. Cost £5 a module. Please contact Joan Condon for full information.

First Aid Training. Contact Janet Drinkall for information and booking.

More Modules will be added during the year and all will be advertised here in 'LINKS'.

Anybody can do or revisit any module and is welcome to apply.
Applications can be made :
a) If you are revisiting the Module as 'ongoing learning'. Apply via GSL to Local Training Manager.
b)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 your Local Training Manager, Brian Beckley.

Beavers - Julia Doolan (DBSL)

All the Beavers enjoyed the centenary camp, even though it was a long day. Each one of them seems to have something different to say about the day, which was all good news.

The March Activity Day Bike Ride raised £93.00 for the National Trust, which will be used locally in Morden Park. We have received a lovely Thank You letter - they did not expect such a large donation.

St Georges Day Parade  - There was some concern that the traffic started to move on one side of the road near Wimbledon Village roundabout while we were still marching. This needs to be looked into further for future marches.

There will be an Activity Day on Sunday 14th October 2007 for the over 7's at Bow Lane, Morden.  Any new activity ideas would be welcomed at the next meeting.

Next meeting will be on Wednesday 18th July 2007.

Cubs - Michèle McNamara (ADC Cubs)

Athletes badge testing - takes place on Friday 8th June from 18.00 - 21.00 weather permitting (if it is raining the event will be cancelled) at Grand Drive Sports ground between Southway and Cannon Hill Lane. The cost is £1 per Cub to include either the athlete's badge or the athletes plus badge.  Couple of volunteers still needed to run activities. Any questions please call me.

Football - Of the 18 teams that originally entered 14 teams battled it out at Raynes Park High School for the trophy.  This caused a bit of a problem but the eventual result was as follows - joint 3rd place, 23rd Mitcham & 14th Wimbledon, 2nd place 6/12th Mitcham and 1st 5th Morden.  My sincere thanks to the 2 referees who did a magnificent job on a very hot day, without them the event couldn't be run.  Many thanks also to the team from the 23rd Mitcham for keeping us all fed and watered throughout the day.

Camps - Please remember to get your nights away notifications into Keith Daly at least 14 days before the proposed date.

Scouts - Liz Laverick (ADC Scouts)

We had the highest attendance at the last District Troop Leaders meeting in a long time!  The meeting went well and thanks go to Dave Hodges again for chairing (I was late through work commitments) and Tim Kerridge for taking the minutes.

Everyone agreed that the District Camp had gone very well and that everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable time!

Our next District event will be the Patrol cooking and camping assessment weekend on the 9/10th June.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the District Sports on the 14th July!

Network - Chris Dean

The annual 'pilgrimage' to Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island on May 12/13 was much enjoyed by all who took part despite mixed weather conditions. Having met at Rownhams service area on the M27 early Saturday morning the next task was find our way to  Sandbanks where we parked the cars outside a 'celebrity mansion' and then took the ferry to Brownsea. On arrival we tried to blag youth group membership of the National Trust, but were too old apparently! Having set up camp it was time for lunch before an excellent archery session and then an exploration of the island. After a very substantial evening meal the evening was spent relaxing and chatting about all and sundry. The onset of rain just after midnight heralded a swift departure to bed. The heavy rain lasted until Sunday lunchtime when it was time to strike camp and head for the ferry back to the mainland. Kit and Simon were so enamored with the place that they almost missed the boat !  Brownsea is well worth a visit especially during this centenary year. The Scouting Heritage Centre should be completed before August 1st when there will be 1000 Scouts visiting the island.

Scout Network members were heavily involved in the various District Centenary Camps, many as section Leaders, but also as Service Team or providing activities. Members from Croydon, Royal Kingston and Sutton met up briefly at Walton Firs campsite, where Donald Lewis (Croydon) was invested.

Forthcoming events for Network members can be found on www.glswscouts.org.uk/network. In addition to those published we are planning an evening sail at Wimbledon Park Lake during June - please contact me for details. At the end of the month we hold our annual Conference at Petersham & Ham Scout HQ, Petersham near Richmond. Details have already been circulated, but the arrangements are Saturday 30 June 3pm for the Conference, followed by a BBQ and 'Social' in the evening. We shall be camping in the adjoining field overnight so as to be ready to welcome Explorer Scouts for their Water Activity Day on the Sunday.

Finally, I am seeking to appoint a County Scout Network Leader for the Network in the Wimbledon & Wandle area. If anyone would like to know what is involved please contact me.

Fellowship - Linda Vaudrey

Summer Meal - Saturday 9th June at the Blue Ball, Walton on the Hill, 7.30 p.m.  Please let Jean Gould know if you would like to go.  This is where we had our New Year meal and everyone seemed to enjoy it so we have decided to visit in the summer too.

B.B.Q.  - again at Jean and Dave Gould's home, to be held on Saturday 21st July at 7.00 p.m., cost is £5 per head, please bring your own drink.  This is always a very pleasant evening, regardless of the weather, so it would be nice to see everyone there.  Jean needs to know numbers by Tuesday 17th July.

Later in the year we are hoping to get a party together to go firstly to the Gang Show - this is normally during the October half-term - exact dates to be confirmed - and then to Wimbledon to see the Pantomime during December.  If you are interested in either of these events please let Dave Gould know by 30th June 2007.

Please contact Jean and Dave by telephone regarding the above events.  At the moment their e-mail is a little temperamental!

We are still awaiting confirmation of dates for our visits to the local fire station/House of Commons.

Don't forget Bill Walden's speaker on Tuesday 18th September.  Light refreshments will be served so please let Bill know by 10th September if you are hoping to come.  If you have not managed to come before it would be good to see you, as Bill's speakers are always interesting.

I know some of our members managed to visit the Centenary Camp at the beginning of May and enjoyed their time there.  Many thanks to all those who organised such a successful event.

Water slide

The water slide proved very popular at the Centenary Camp and one of the sheets of polythene survived the weekend.  If anyone would like to take it to their summer camp - all you need is a hill, some water and washing up liquid - please contact Dave Bixby.

Scouting In Miniature Exhibition
2-14 July

Contact Harry on 020 8949 7871 to book a time to view the models etc.

The event is held in a marquee in his back garden along Kingston Road New Malden.

Friendship is like a boomerang; you give out your friendship to another chap and then to more and more and they give you their friendship in return.  So your original friendship and goodwill, as it goes to others, increases in strength and brings back this good will to you in return, just as the boomerang comes back to its thrower.

Scouting Round the World 1935





 

Centenary Camp Challenges
The results of the various challenges are below - please congratulate your Beavers, Cubs and Scouts:

Please note early copy date due to the Editor's holiday.