A Little Damp

Perhaps an understatement for the Carnival, I must admit I have never been so wet in my uniform in my life, but with this in mind I must say thank you for all the people in the village who turned up to support your Scout Group. Well done especially to all the helpers who still made the floats look great, and the kids for still smiling, even though they were getting wet and cold. We raised around £2000 on the day, which considering the weather is a fantastic figure. We usually raise around £4000 during Carnival so with this in mind fundraising goes on. Thank you to all THE CREW for putting on the Carnival especially the Chair of the Group Mrs Marilyn Marrison for her continued support.

Scouting’s Centenary

As you may have gathered scouting is now officially 100 years old. The official birthday being the 1st of August at 8am. This is the exact time 100 years ago that Lord Baden Powell started his experimental camp on Brownsea Island Dorset. From this camp of 20 boys we now have over 28 million Scouts throughout every country in the world, except four, and throughout this time over 450 million people have been Scouts.

To celebrate this year, the Scout Association wanted every Scout across the world to camp on the same weekend and that was May Bank Holiday. The Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the Burton district gathered en mass at Catton Park and yes, it rained, but we had a good time! We twinned up for the camp with St John’s Scout Group and I think the kids really got a lot out of the camp by mixing with another group. My thanks to Stacey Goodfellow (Cub leader for St Johns) for helping me run the camp and also to all the leaders and support crew who gave up their bank holiday weekend. The camp was full of activities, from climbing to a bouncy assault course, a truly memorable weekend. Also may I thank Mrs Joy Salvey for being the chief cook on camp. Cooking for 4 can be tough but spag bol for 86, is a challenge that she took on and won, thanks you.

In the centenary year the UK hosted the world Jamboree. Four Scouts from Burton were there and the leaders from our group visited the site. It was a fantastic event one which will be a tough act to follow.

With the summer fast approaching we held a badge presentation. This was designed for all the sections to hold back the badges that the Beavers Cubs and Scout had achieved in the last 3 months and present them on a night, when we could invite the parents down to see what the sections were doing and it worked. It was really well attended, the leaders presented over 200 badges on the night and yes, it rained!

Scout Group Fund Raising Initiative

We have launched a new fundraising imitative which is open to all.

It is called –
www.easyfundraising.org.uk

Simply type this into your internet browser and it will take you to the site. Basically stores such as M&S, eBay, Amazon, Viking direct, and a host of insurance companies to name but a few. They will donate a percentage of what you spend with them at no extra cost to you.

You do not have to have any involvement with the group to help. When you enter the site it will ask you to find a cause. Go to the 0-9 section and scroll down to 24, you will find us there -

24th Burton (Rolleston) Scout Group

Select us, fill in a very short form and go shopping. The proceeds of this venture are to be split directly between the sections and the procurement of new tent for the kids. Every penny goes directly to them, so help us to give then the best kit we can.

May I end this report by saying thank you to everyone that has helped, supported and donated to the group; you make us what we are. The group is continuing to grow and with this in mind over the next 6 months we are restructuring the executive committee, so if you fancy that you would like to be involved our next meeting is Wednesday 18th of September.

We are planning new events for 2008, in which the group celebrates its 75th birthday - so watch this space.

Yours In Scouting

Graham M Jacks
Group Scout Leader
01283 543 194
07768 047 332

On Sunday 29th April 2007 the Scout Group took part in the annual St. Georges Day Parade in Burton Town centre. The parade marched from the Market Place to the Town Hall where a service was conducted to celebrate the birthday of our Patron Saint of Scouting St. George. The service also looked at how Scouting has evolved over the last 100 years. As this is the year that we celebrate 100 years of Scouting. I would be interested if any of you out there that have some interesting stories or memories of what Scouting was like in years gone by would get in touch with me.

I have to say how honoured I felt to lead our Scout Group in the parade as everyone looked very smart in their uniforms and looked very proud to be taking part.

The Scout Group at present is very busy preparing for the annual Rolleston Carnival which is to take place on Sunday 13th May 2007 with the theme ‘A decade or moment in time from the last 100 years’.

We are also looking forward to the District Centenary camp to be held at the end of May. This event coincides with the Scout Association wanting all members of the Scout Movement to camp over this specific weekend and share experiences, fun and friendship. It looks to be a good weekend.

I would like to thank all my leaders, helpers and Executive Committee for all their help and continued support they give to the Scout Group, without them we would not be able to deliver the high level of Scouting in Rolleston that we are currently achieving at present.

Yours in Scouting
Graham M Jacks
Group Scout Leader
Tel: 01283 543194
Mob: 07768 047 332

Were you a Scout, Girl Guide, Cub or Brownie?

2007 is the Centenary of Scouting. Rolleston Scout Group intend celebrating this as part of the RODSEC Heritage Weekend. This will take the form of an exhibition of the history and development of scouting. To do this we need items for display, for example old uniforms, badges, items made, photos. Do you have any items we could borrow for the 14th to the 17th September. We wish to cover all aspects of Scouting, including Beavers, Cubs, Explorers etc and lets not be sexist we will include the girls, so any Guides, Brownies, Rainbow items.

If you have anything suitable please contact Helen Barnett:- 01283 814791

100 years of Scouting

Scouting will celebrate its hundredth birthday in 2007 and the organisation, started by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, has now grown into the largest co-educational youth movement in the UK with over 400,000 young members and 100,000 adult volunteers. The Centenary Celebrations will signal a new era in scouting, and will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the movement was founded, what it has achieved and how it can help to create a better world in the future.

Scouting has evolved over time and today combines adventure and personal development for young people with international friendship and a culture of peace. Across the UK and the world, 2007, the Centenary of scouting, will put on some of the biggest events since the millennium.

We, as a District, are staging a district camp at Catton Park to celebrate the Centenary on May Bank Holiday Monday. This weekend, all members of the association will be camping, so over half a million Cubs, Scouts and helpers, will be camping all over the UK, the idea is to share a weekend of fun all at the same time.

In July, with a contingent from Burton, we will be camping at Hylands Park in Essex. This is to be the setting for the World Scout Jamboree. Over 40,000 scouts from over 150 countries will be there, a truly global town for two weeks.

We as a scout group will, as ever, be staging the annual Carnival on Sunday May 13th and the floats will take a decade or moment in time from the last 100 years, so your guess is as good as mine what the lorries will be turned into.

Looking forward to the future, your Scout group will celebrate 75 years of continued scouting in Rolleston. To mark this event we are to camp as a group in the foothills of Switzerland. Kanderstag International Scout Site (KISS) to be precise. We are planning to take a full coach of cubs, scouts and leaders to the site for 10 days of activities, camping and fun. This is obviously not a cheap camp, at places set at a cost of £550 each, so fundraising starts in earnest to bring the cost of the camp down. The group will and does support all of its scouts and truly believes that events such as this are not just available to the more fortunate of its members.

For the last 8 years I have held the position of Group Scout Leader in Rolleston, and I have seen many changes in that short time. The Scout Association has changed its uniform, revamped its training, its adult support network, welcomed girls into UK Scouting and continues to provide a balanced programme to fill their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, whilst still continuing the tradition of the original scouting programme of camping, lighting fires, adventure and teamwork.

It has not been easy recently we have really struggled for uniformed adult support, but I am pleased to say that we now have 14 uniformed leaders in the scout group, the membership has increased by 32% and we are still providing a high standard of scouting.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my leaders for the help and support that they give me and the level of dedication that they show by leading your Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

If you have any suggestions for fundraising ideas for our international camp then please do get in touch. We are at present restructuring our Executive Committee and are seeking new representatives from all the sections and from the village. We hold 8 meetings a year when all managerial decisions are made and we appropriate funds and work on projects in and around the building. If you are a parent, grandparent, supporter, or feel you could help the group in any way then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for taking the time to read this report, without the support of the village we cannot deliver the high level of scouting that we are achieving at present.

Yours in Scouting
Graham M Jacks
Group Scout Leader Tel: 01283 543194
Mob: 07768 047 332

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Last updated: 31 August 2007