|
 Welcome to the 5th Billericay Scout Group website. This site will provide you with all the information you need regarding our Group and its sections. Scout Groups are divided into three sections, with young people moving between each section as they reach certain ages. In our Group we have 1 Beaver Colony - Woodside, 2 Cub Packs - Comanche & Cherokee, plus 1 Scout Troop - Genesis.
The purpose of Scouting is to promote the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities. Activities we undertake are developed with this aim in mind and are appropriate for each age group and are aimed at the development of the young person, within the broader aims of Scouting. Every Scout group is an autonomous organisation acquiring and managing its own property and equipment while admitting young people to membership of the Scout Group subject to the policy and rules of The Scout Association. The 5th Billericay (St Johns) group has an affiliation with St John’s Church, Outwood Common and part of the Billericay and Wickford Scout district. It is also a registered charity and is required to submit audited accounts to The Scout Association as well as the charity commission. Our group policy is that we require all new parents to undertake a CRB check. This is because some sections run a parents rota to provide additional adult supervision within the sections, or invite parents to assist with activities and it is considered to be good practice for any adult having contact with young people to have completed the relevant checks. A CRB form is available from your section leader or direct from the Group Scout Leader. It is also a group requirement that all parents actively assist on section rotas where they operate.
|
|
|
Written by Ian Mitchell
|
|
For the duration of the trip to Kandersteg we will be periodically publishing news about the trip to a dedicated news area that can be found here. We hope you enjoy the blog as much as we enjoy the trip. |
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 July 2010 21:50 |
|
Written by Ian Mitchell
|
 As any charity organiser will tell you, fund raising for the charity is always hard, especially in tough economic times such as those we are currently experiencing. This worry is then further compounded by having to raise a certain amount of funds, by a specific date, ie for an event.
A year ago the Scout troop leaders decided that in July 2010 we would take the Scouts abroad for their annual summer camp. This fitted perfectly into our rolling 4 year programme that gives the Scouts a chance to gain the highest Award (Gold Chief Scouts Award) that any Scout can attain, whilst giving them a variety of camping experiences.
This was going to be a big challenge to organise, and would need levels of fund raising above anything we had ever done before. With a target of nearly £5000 to raise a fund raising plan was created. This involved a mixture of activities from Car Park management to sponsored walks. Even with all the array of fund-raising activities scheduled we still had a £1000 shortfall. That was until we had an offer from the manager at the local Iceland store to do bag packing at the end of the tills. We jumped at the opportunity and set ourselves a target of £1000 over 3 weekends, each with 3 shifts of 4 hours. Scouts put their names down for a shift in each weekend, spreading the load on them, but ensuring that we always had all tills covered.
Once the Scouts had learnt how to pack bags properly, some of the older scouts also got the hang of 'Home Delivery', where customer items have to be packed in a certain way, to keep all of the frozen stuff together, etc. At the end of the first weekend we reached £390, £60 over the weekends target, this was looking promising. The subsequent weekends also produce similar amounts and we managed to raise over £1100. Exceeding our target by £100.
Normally the story would stop here with a round of back slaps and thanks, but in this case this is not the end, because one month before we had to depart we held a car wash, with the expectation of getting £1000, this became a dismal flop, only raising £300. What were we to do with such a short amount of time left. Well, one quick call later to the manager at Iceland and we had two emergency bag packs scheduled and due to the success of other events and some donations we were only £300 short. At the two Emergency Bag Packs the Scouts worked exceptionally hard, receiving £400, helping us reach our target in time.
We are now on the eve of our trip, funds raised, stress removed (apart from getting 14 Scouts and 6 leaders to KISC in Switzerland and back again!) and with all Scouts excited beyond belief. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to firstly thank the Scouts and leaders who turned up at the bag packing and worked so hard. Secondly I would like to thank all of the customers at Iceland and parents who donated money in exchange for their bags being packed. Thirdly I would like to thank the staff at Iceland for being so supportive and making us feel very welcome when we were there and finally a very big thank you to Jason the manager for making it all possible and for being so approachable and accommodating making a tough task easy for us. |
|
Last Updated on Saturday, 17 July 2010 10:58 |
|
Written by Ian Mitchell
|
|
 On Friday 26th of March Scouts enjoyed themselves by going to a 70s disco organised by the Patrol Leaders, with a guest appearance by the 'Village People'. People dressed up in 70's outfits and came to the disco with a friend. People got their dancing shoes on and danced to the rhythm with two dance competitions. The prize for winning the competition was 100 points for your patrol and a pass to the VIP area!!! I won one of the dance competitions and Joseph the second one. There were also many other competitions with the VIP room getting packed to the limit. Over 1000 points were won for some patrols.
All in all the night was a complete success with all members of 'Village People' (the Patrol Leaders in fancy dress) showing up!!!!!! The disco was enjoyed by many many people with also special thanks to Ian, Claire, Matt, Gareth and all of the Patrol Leaders for organising this unforgettable event. There was also special guests who came along to the night, not just scouts but friends of the Scouts, who also thought the night was a big success. All of the costumes were fantastic and a big congratulations to all people who got into the VIP room. Some of the dances Were amazing we had the robot conga line everything you could think of and once again a very big thanks to Ian Claire the patrol leaders and everyone who came to make this disco a success.
Written by: Jack - Fox Patrol |
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 29 April 2010 19:42 |
|
 Amidst the trees of Mill Meadows, Friday night started off like any other night. It was a dark and cloud free sky, with a hint of a promise of rain. The trees resting from a day of dawning spring, gently rustling, unable to stay still. Here and there the scurry of a mouse, or the flutter of a bat, the only sounds of life, until from the bottom of the hill you could see the marching army of head torches, accompanied by the sounds of excited Scouts. The woods would not be the same tonight! On this night the 5th Billericay Scouts were in Mill Meadows on a night navigation exercise, practicing the various map and compass skills they have been taught, during the day, at night.
The exercise was simple, there were four teams, each team first had to go to base X' hidden in the woods. Once there each team was given one of four sets of different instructions, ranging from compass bearings and grid references to satellite images marked with an X. Each group then had to find the corresponding base for the instructions we had. Once at the base we then had to do different activities to earn points, returning to base X for our next set of instructions. The twist to all of this was that we only had 15 minutes to get from Base X to the target base and back again. At the end all of the points were added up for each team to determine the winner. My team one, the prize being to write up this article about the night. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and from the sound of the other Scouts in the hall after we all got back it sounded very much like they did as well. enjoyment, despite the fact that it was cold and muddy; fortunately the leaders had already highlighted the importance of the right clothes, boots & equipment. If you were to stay in the woods after the scouts had returned to the hall, you could be forgiven for thinking you heard the trees and wildlife sigh in relief at the fact that they could all snuggle up and slumber for a few more days, in peace. Well at least until proper spring, which is just round the corner, arrives in earnest, with chirp here and a blossoming bud there and the rampage of summer outdoor activities for the Scouts. Written by Matthew - Fox Patrol Leader |
|
Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 March 2010 12:37 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 2 |
