Scafell troop unusual investiture

9th August 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

2016-07-27 11.08.14Congratulations to Bobby who has been invested as member of scouting.  The investiture was done whilst at summer camp.  We swam out to a rock in the middle of Tintagle bay, stood on the rock, surrounded by scouts.  Bobby made his promise and Claire invested him into scouting.

Video of investiture

Bobby has been volunteering for Scafell troop for two years.  He officially moves into the role of Assistant Scout Leader.

This is following a theme of investing in unusual places as last month we invested a new scout half way up a climbing wall.

2016-06-30 21.02.33

Scafell and Nevis Bude Summer Camp 2016

4th August 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

Our tentsDay one – Saturday

The day started early at 6:30 meeting in Elmers End.  17 people are in the mini bus, the remaining six are in two cars and all our kit is in the trailer.  Then for the long journey to Bude in Cornwall.

We arrive in good spirits and set up camp.  That takes the rest of the afternoon.  We have a quick wide game then supper and bed.

Swim safeDay two – Sunday, our busy day.

By 9:00 we are off in the mini bus to Church in Launceston.  I was very proud of our 16 scouts and young leaders looking smart in their uniform, well behaved and attentive.

Then it was a dash back to Bude, a quick change and onto Swim Safe.  It was a shame it was in horrible weather.  But if you are in a wetsuit and in the sea pool then you are not really going to feel the rain.

Swim Safe was held in Bude Sea Pool.  This pool is naturally refreshed twice a day by the incoming tide.  Our scouts learnt beach safety and in-water tuition.

Hike routeAfter the Swim Safe we had a quick change and a bite to eat.  We sheltered from the last of the rain before setting out on our hike.

It was a challenging hike, up and down clifts along the scenic South West Coast Path, from Bude to Duckpool, then around Coombe Valley.  We cut the hike short at the end of Coombe Valley.  Our late start (due to rain) meant we were running late at that point.

We wrapped the day up with wide game on the beach.

KayakingDay three – Monday, kayaking and surfing

Monday saw us dividing into two groups to do kayaking and surfing.  The waves were “huge”, so we changed from sea kayaking to kayaking along the canal.  It also meant that the surfing was challenging and our scouts rose the challenge.

In the afternoon we went to Summerleaze beach for body boarding and beach fun.  The waves were the biggest I have seen in years.  The body boarding was exhilarating.

We welcome our last participant, Gary, who joined us for the rest of the week.  We wrapped the day up with yet another wide game on the beach.

Adventure courseDay four – Tuesday, cycling and adventure course

On Tuesday we divided into four groups and went cycling.  We did more of the South West Coast Path, this time heading south and then along Bude Canal.  That burnt off some energy.

After lunch we did a trip into town for the scouts to spend all their pocket money.  Sainsburys and the Co-op were the most popular shops, as the scouts had worked out they could get cheap sweets and pop.  Our scouts were demonstrating budgeting.

In the afternoon we did an adventure course – space hoppers, custard tunnels, custard in wellies then sliding down the water slide trying to avoid the attentions of the rest of the scouts armed with water pistols and soaking sponges.

Video playing on the adventure course

Video – more playing on the adventure course

And guess how we rounded the day off – yep a wide game on the beach.

Burying the dead jellyfishDay five – Wednesday, Coasteering and BBQ on the beach

Wednesday saw us travelling to Tintagle and into the bay for Coasteering.

Before we started leaping off rocks and clifts, we had a special occasion to mark.  We invested Bobby as an Assistant Scout Leader.  We all swam out to Central Rock to witness Bobby saying his promise and receive his woggle.  That poor scarf was wet on its first outing.

The afternoon saw us back on the beach.  Unfortunately the wave conditions were too rough, so body boarding was stopped quite quickly.  We still had fun having games of badminton, cricket, burying scouts and chilling.  We stayed on the beach for the rest of the evening having a BBQ.  It was very beautiful watching the sun setting whilst eating a burger.

And we still had a wide game before bed.

Investiture

Coasteering

More coasteering

 

SurfingDay six – Thursday, surfing and kayaking take two

Thursday again saw us dividing into two groups to do kayaking and surfing.  The waves were still challenging, so again we changed from sea kayaking to kayaking along the canal.

The afternoon saw us having activities at the campsite.  Sober beer pong was a firm favourite.  This involved two benches placed 10 metres apart with a bucket of water placed on each bench.  The players need to stay behind the bench and trow tennis balls into the opposite bucket.  The first team to get three balls in the bucket wins.  You can imagine the excitement when B and J lost to Claire and Gary.  Claire and Gary really enjoyed throwing a bucket of water over their sons!

Kayaking

Throwing a dab

Chicken run whilst kayaking

More kayaking

Packing away tentsDay seven – Friday, pack up and epic journey home

All good camps have to come to an end.  Friday saw us striking camp and leaving on time (amazing).  But the journey home did not go to plan.  Unfortunately the mini bus was stuck in countless traffic jams, including one where we went two miles in one hour and the M3 being closed.  Fortunately all the scouts were in good spirits and in was good fun in the bus.

 

Special thanks

Thank you to:

  • the leaders and young leaders for all the planning and energy whilst on camp.
  • the patrol leaders and assistant patrol leaders for looking after your patrols
  • Bude Football Club for loaning us their site for camping and the clubhouse for cooking and eating.
  • Shoreline extreme sports for providing safe and exciting surfing, kayaking and coasteering.
  • the volunteers from ASA and the RNLI to running a special Swim Safe session just for us.
  • Bude Bikes for loaning us the cycles.
  • and for all the scouts for making the week the best ever.

 

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Water activities at Dockland Scout Project

11th July 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

What a great day!

Dockland Scout Project is an amazing project.  They are in the scenic location of Docklands.  They own the Lord Amory ship that sleeps 60 people.  They have a full compliment of volunteers who staff the activities every week on a rota and have volunteers from all over the UK.

Five scouts from Scafell troop went on an adventure on 10 July to Docklands.

The activities we did on Saturday were rowing (pulling), bell boating, sailing and kayaking.  Each of the activities was around an hour long.  The instructors (volunteers) were excellent and really made it fun.  Half the time the scouts were unaware that they were learning things.

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Scafell climbing archery and investiture July 2016

by Claire Shadbolt

How did you get invested as a scout?  For Scafell’s newest Scout is was half way up a climbing wall at Frylands.

 

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Fun at Scafell’s May camp 2016

1st June 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

What was the best thing about camp?

“Teamworking”  “Food”  “Activities”  “Wide games”

Scafell camped at Pinewood Campsite from Friday 27 to Sunday 30 May.

The hike was challenging, not due to the terrain or length, the challenge was the geocaching.  We found the first two, but the ones in Addington Hills alluded us.

We attended mass at Our Lady’s and the scouts were suitably behaved.

Then the scouts cooked a meal using the ingredients they bought earlier in the day – they all choose burgers.

Sunday saw us developing our knife skills.  We whittled some boats and sailed them on the lake.  Dave (owner Bobby), The Failure (Kieran) and Montana’s nameless boat seemed to sail the furthest.

Then for dinner we had roast chicken, roast potatoes and roast veg followed by steamed chocolate pudding.  All cooked in Dutch ovens over an open fire.

We followed it with a huge campfire.

Monday saw us learning it takes a long time to clean a billy if they haven’t wiped it with washing up liquid before they started cooking.

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Scouts at Apple Store, Bromley

18th May 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

12 May saw Scafell troop descend on The Apple Store, Bromley for a field trip.  The staff showed them how to work iPads, Apple TV and how to make a comic.  Then our scouts got to show their creative abilities by making comics.

Thank you to The Apple Store for inviting us and for all their support in the evening.

At the end we had 15 minutes spare, so we continued our physical training challenge – Regularly take part in physical activities over a period of four to six weeks. Keep a record showing your improvement.  Thank you to Intu Centre for letting our scouts show off their prowess.  Only one more week of training before we reach our goal.

 

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Bag Pack at Tesco for Scout’s summer camp

by Claire Shadbolt

Thank you to Tesco, Beckenham for allowing our scouts to complete a bag pack on 15 May.  Plus thank you to the scouts who came along.

I am pleased to say that no bottles of coke were placed on loaves of bread, nor bottles of bleach placed upside-down next to food items.  Our scouts were very professional bag packers.

After two and half hours I did hear Luke saying “Have a good you and thank day.”  I believe he had said the correct phrase so many times his mouth had given up.

I am delighted to say we raised £269.33.  This money will go towards our summer camp.  We are going to Bude in Cornwall.  It is expensive to get the scouts to Cornwall, but it will be worth it as they cannot really go sea kayaking in Croydon or surfing in Beckenham.

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Scafell scouts complete their expedition

29th April 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

“Shall I tell you the name of the Bridleway?  I am walking over to to read it.  It says, “Permissive Bridleway.”

On a cold April morning, five brave scouts embark on an expedition to walk to Biggin Hill and back.

We started off by walking 5 minutes to Addiscombe to buy food supplies for the weekend.  We will overlook that they blew the budget by 50%.  We can return to keeping in budget for another event.

Next step – they are off, walking, by themselves for 13.5 miles.  Photographic evidence seems to suggest that actually they went to the closest sweet shop and bought another load of supplies – energy drinks and sweets.  It kept them all in good spirit.

They were running a bit late for their first checkpoint, so the leaders checked in on them using mobile phones.  They had strayed off course.  It was a challenge to work out where they were when they did not know and the mobile coverage was poor.  That is the time of the famous quote, “Shall I tell you the name of the Bridleway?  I am walking over to to read it.  It says, “Permissive Bridleway”.  He now knows that a permissive bridleway is a bridle way (which could be for walkers, riders, cyclists, or any combination) whose use is allowed by the landowner.

We collected them from outskirts of New Addington and put them back on the right path.  Only for them to stray again an hour later.  So they were collected again and put back on the path again.  This time they made it.  They walk all the way to Waylands Campsite which is to the east of Biggin Hill.

Once they arrive at camp they put up their hike tents – thank you Jack Petchey Foundation for funding them.  Then they started cooking their evening meal.  They soon discovered that cooking on Triangias was hard work.  They still managed to produce a lovely meal of chicken stirfry with noodles and wash up.  By which stage is was quite late, so they elected to skip dessert (cake) and supper (they had only just finished eating) and went to find the other group camping to enjoy a bit of their campfire.

Sunday morning started very cold with ice on all the tents.  The scouts managed to take around two hours to cook some bacon and then they were off again.  This time they did pretty well with navigation, but they were very much behind time.  At one stage they were walking 2km per hour.  So we did have to cut it short and drive them home.

At the time of writing the scouts have still to draft their reports and conclude their task on comparing the litter in a rural or urban area.

They had a great time and we are looking forward to their reports.

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Scouts at Survival Camp April 2016

10th April 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

Five scouts from 28th Croydon and dozens of over scouts from other troops simulated a survival situation Pinewood Scout Centre on 9 April 2016.

The morning we spent brushing up our skills that would help us in a survival situation.  Ask one of them what way is north just by looking at a mossy tree and they will tell you.  Plus they may show you their spoons that they whittled themselves.

Then they had to survive for 24 hours.

Before we knew it, the shelters were built, their fire pits were going and they were butchering a rabbit for dinner.  The challenging bit was the night.  It was very cold.  At one stage it was minus one degrees.  So some of them warmed up around the fire in the middle of the night.

In the morning the scouts had to cross a “raging river” just using a rope.  They got enough over and successfully earnt their fish for lunch.  They gutted and prepared the fish.  Wrapped it in wet newspapers and cooked it on their fires.

The end was in site.  The parents were on their way.  All they had to do was signal them.  So they built a smoke signal which could be seen for miles and they were rescued hurrah!

What was the best bit? Most of them said, “Fire”.  Some said, “Meeting new people”.

What was the worst bit?  “Someone following me around with a camera.”  See if you can guess who said that from the photos below.

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Scafell Scouts Jambowlree

4th April 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

21 scouts took part in Jambowlree – World Scout Ten Pin Bowling Competition!

We went to Tenpin Croydon, Valley Park Leisure Complex and playing a game of Tenpin.  Our six best scorers have been entered into the competition.  If our scores are high enough we will be in with the chance of winning the Jambowlree.

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Scafell Scouts – Eight new First Aiders

by Claire Shadbolt

On 2 April eight of our scouts attended Pinewood for a day learning about First Aid and all earnt level 3 emergency aid badge.

Our scouts know when and how to call for help.  They can deal with unconscious and not breathing casualties.  We are confident that they can deal with minor burns at camp – and know how to avoid them.  Plus a whole host of other things.

It was a funny when our mock up of a chemical spill wasn’t that realistic and one scout tried to use the “cleaning fluid” to mop up the blood on our unconscious casualty.  Fortunately that says more about Claire’s skills at mocking up a scene than our scouts abilities.

Special thanks to Katy who volunteered her time and her dummy to teach CPR.  Also thank you for Montana for helping on the day and being our actor/unconscious casualty.

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Scafell scouts at county night hike

14th March 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

Well done to seven scouts who took part in the GLSW county night hike on 12-13 March 2016.  They completed eight miles during the night arriving back at the camp site at 1:30am.

44 teams and 230 young people took part from across the county.  Many of them were from Croydon.

It was very muddy underfoot, the only problem this caused was muddy scouts.  That didn’t worry them one bit.  It was also very cold, with a heavy frost.  Again that didn’t seem to worry them as they were well prepared with clothes, sleeping bags and plentiful supply of sweets.

We used our new hiking tents and new compasses bought with money donated from Jack Petchey Foundation.  The scouts were very comfortable in the tents and the compasses worked a treat.  Thank you Jack Petchey Foundation.

Jack Petchey Foundation

Scouts at county cooking competition

19th February 2016 by Claire Shadbolt

Six intrepid scouts traipsed to Hook to represent 28th Croydon scouts in Greater London South West county cooking competition.

The theme was  A Meal Fit for Today and our scouts choose menus based on that.

Team A choose a start of mozzarella cheese and tomato which was beautifully presented.  Followed by chicken casserole which was a challenge being prepared in a small space and on a gas burner.  And for dessert they made Eton Mess.

Team B chose mackerel, halloumi and salad for a starter.  It was a shame that the one piece that the judges tried had a bone in it even though the fish had bought deboned.  Their main course was breaded chicken and salad in wraps.  Finally for dessert they did home-made icecream.  It must be the only recipe that calls for duct tape and woolly gloves.

The competition was fierce and there were lots of teams.  Team A came joint fifth and Team B came 18.  Well done both teams.

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County Cooking Competition 2016 results

Scafell troop at Scarefest

13th December 2015 by Claire Shadbolt

On a dark, dark night, a group of scouts crossed London whilst the Friday night commuters picked their way passed the big rucksacks.  They were on their way to Gilwell Park – the home of scouting.

Gilwell was filled with ghosts, goblins, wear wolves and witches on this last weekend in October.  Some of them were from our own troop.

The monsters took part in spooky mazes, scary tricks and more normal activities such as climbing Jacobs ladder.  Halloween was topped off with an amazing firework and laser show.

By the Sunday our scouts resembled zombies as they made their way back home, still smeared in fake blood, coloured hair and other weird things.

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Scafell’s successful bag pack

23rd September 2015 by Claire Shadbolt

Scafell troop held a very successful and productive supermarket bag pack on Thursday 17 September.  Thank you to Tesco Elmers End for supporting us in this venture.  We raised £178 towards our Scarefest Camp at the end of October 2015.  As well as being a lot of fun for the scouts, it will also provide them with the opportunity to try many new things and will take place at Gilwell Park which is the home of scouting.

Well done scouts for helping your community and showing that scouts is an organisation to be proud of.

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March 2015 Scafell and Nevis scout camp at Frylands

20th March 2015 by Claire Shadbolt

Scafell Investiture

23rd January 2015 by Webmaster

Several new scouts within the Scafell Troop were officially invested as full scouts in a ceremony at HQ on Thursday 15th January 2015. Prior to that, plenty of games were played and enjoyed by all the scouts.

Ready, Steady, Cook!

13th October 2014 by Webmaster

Last Thursday night saw the culmination of Scafell Troop’s cooking preparations. The troop split into groups and had an hour to prepare their dishes.

The fare was wide and varied and included wraps, customised beans, fried chicken and rice, beef burgers, tomato and vegetable soup, hot chocolate and ‘bacon pancakes’.

Snowdon Troop River Medway Adventure

18th September 2014 by a_gaunt

We set off early on Friday 29th August with 13 Scouts and 4 leaders – our destination – Tonbridge. This was the starting point for our 2 day 26 Km Canoe Trip along The River Medway.

We carried all the necessary kit (tents, food, stoves and personal clothing) for our overnight stay at Yalding.

Beautiful scenery, good weather and a bit of fun on the Canoe Shutes

 

The trip ended at Allington Lock.

To see more pictures from this event take a look at the gallery.

Water activities at South Norwood Lake

27th July 2014 by Webmaster

All Scouts from 28th Croydon Scouts were invited to take part in three sessions of water activities at South Norwood Lake. Recently unofficially renamed ‘Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Lake’, the local beauty spot provides an invaluable local resource to learn skills in sailing, canoeing and kayaking, as well as general safety in open boats on the water.

Each session was held on a Saturday morning and gave the scouts three hours of time on the water (for only £6!). Everyone agreed it was a great success, even Troop Leader Tony, who ended up in the lake!