As well as doing the Acorn on the 3rd of November, the Group spent a large part of the day at Sainsburys in Broadcut, packing bags for customers and running a collection at the door. It was a long day (10 - 4) and not the most interesting of tasks to perform, but it is most definitely all worth it, as we managed to raise a total of:

£969.50

Which is as fantastic total - our best yet if memory serves!

A good turnout from the Troop played no small part in this total, so all 18 of you that attended - give yourselves a pat on the back!

A very big thanks should go out to Angie, for not only organising the thing, but for staying there the whole day - a marathon effort!!!

I’ve had a chance to look at the final scores for the competition, and another ‘well done’ goes out to Paul, Simon, Chip and Jack for coming fifth out of twelve teams - only eight points off getting second place.

This feat is made all the more impressive when you consider that the average age of the team was 11!

Also, looking at the breakdown of scores for each base, it looks like Paul’s team won the ‘Tents’ category - what was this about, speed of erecting them or something?

We won!!!

A very big ‘well done’ to Spud, Joe, Ben, Tyler and Josh for winning this years District Nighthike competition.

Lets have some comments from you about the night.

For my part, it was a cold night, as the base we were asked to run was placed on the ridge of a hill, with no shelter, and a constant chill breeze running over us, which got even colder the moment the clouds decided to leave us. To make matters worse, there was no firewood around, so we had to ration what we took with us, and kept only a small fire going all night - not enough to keep us warm. To cap off the evening, we all crashed in our cars, which, as anyone who has done it will tell you, are possibly one of the least comfortable places to sleep ever created.

The standard of teams was wildly erratic - some teams (and not just from our Troop!) were excellent, while others were….well, I wondered if they actually wanted to be there! I mean, I know it was getting late by the time the last teams got through our base, but the hike was so short, and only four bases…….come on!!! Now when I were a lad, we used to take part in

real

hikes. Seventy plus miles through snake-infested tundra, with naught on our feet but strips of chewing gum. Fierce mongol hordes would hunt us down and beat us with the flats of their swords if they found us. Checkpoints involved taking part in a full triathlon, or wrestling anacondas, or developing theories on quantum mechanics….all in twenty minutes per base.

The youth of today….they’ve got it so easy!

Exaggerate? Moi? Mais non!

…..well OK, maybe I did embellish the truth a smidgeon….but still, nighthikes used to be a lot harder than they are now!

To finish, thanks to John, Martin, Limpet, Adam and Rob for manning the base with me.

It is high time that this website got a much needed overhaul. It really isn’t being used as much as it could (or should) be. Despite the efforts of some of the Senior members of the Troop, the site has not grown as originally intended. This is primarily my fault, and I intend to take steps to amend the situation.

Over the Christmas break, it is my intention to change the theme, get the photo galleries populated with the mass of photos I have from camps, hikes, and other events, add other pages of information that will be useful for award work, etc, and possibly some other upgrades.

I say ‘it is my intention’, as I will also be a little tied up with sorting out the stores, and refurbishing the hut, so I make no promises!!!