…and boy do I feel guilty!
At the weekend, Limpet and I were down at Braggers Wood, collecting a load of pioneering poles to bring back to the hut. On the way back, we stopped off at Lyndhurst.
There is this little shop that sells cheap toys and games, and in there, as well as finding a load of light footballs (which are an incredibly scarce commodity at present), I found these large soft frisbee type things. Eighteen inches diameter plastic ring, with a protective tube of foam rubber.
“Cool”, I thought. “We could heave these around all day at the hut and they won’t hurt anyone”. So I bought three of them.
Tonight (Monday) the expedition team have finished their meeting, so I decide to get them out for a chuck around. All is going fine for a few minutes, then I hear Chip comment “I haven’t had a throw yet!”.
So I aim one in his direction….
Now, I didn’t know this at the time, but there is a half inch gap, where the foam rubber doesn’t quite meet, and the plastic tube is exposed. Still, it’s quite a light plastic, so when I say that it caught Chip sweetly in the forehead, you may think “no harm done”.
…and that’s exactly what I thought, even when Chip slowly slid to the floor. It was only when I walked over to him and asked to take a look…..and the removed hand…and entire forehead were covered in blood….that I thought
“Ouch!”
I nearly had a funny moment, as I haven’t had to treat an injury in years (Gareth always took care of that, since he does it by profession - when are you coming back Gareth?), but then of course, the training kicks in. I was like, you know, ready to do CPR and cordon off the area and all that stuff…no sweat.
Chip nearly freaked out (I wonder if that should be ‘froke out’? wierd.) when he saw all the blood, but fair play to him - he manfully held on to his composure throughout the cleaning of the wound. And to be fair, there was a lot of blood - head wounds always look a lot worse than they actually are.
Once exposed, the cut was quite small, but quite deep, so he is going to have a nice battlescar to make me feel guilty whenever he feels like it in future!
Sorry Chip!
Wow the site looks amazing! Maybe you should get a gallery of past and present photos, Dave? Well done to all the people who turned up on Thursday for the swimming night, you all did really well. Oh and just a reminder that the expedition teams and Pl’s are needed on Monday 3rd, for a meeting.
2nd November ‘07
This is the first night back after the half-term break. We will be having a firework night as it is the closest troop night to the 5th November. There will be fireworks, food and drinks. Non-uniform but wear outdoor clothes and bring gloves. Bring in £4 on the night.
3rd November ‘07
Bag Packing at Sainsbury’s, Broad Cut. It is a great fundraiser, so maximum attendance is requested. Could each section arrive at the following times:
Scouts 10a.m. - 2p.m.
Cubs 12 noon - 4p.m.
Beavers 2p.m - 4p.m.
The above are core times but if any Cubs or Scouts wish to arrive earlier/later are welcome. Wear full uniform - iron your neckerchief and polish your shoes!
28th December ‘07
Panto at Ferneham Hall. The price of the ticket is £8. Reply slips for each section need to be in on the following dates:
Beavers Monday 12th November
Cubs Wednesday 14th November
Scouts Friday 16th November
Arrive at Ferneham Hall by 6:10p.m. The performance starts at 6:30p.m. Full uniform needs to be worn. There will be sweets and drinks at the interval so you can take money if you wish.
80 seats have been booked so it is first come, first serve.
South Today - Scouting Centenary - Scouting 100
Watch as the scouts set up camp and explore the island where it all began. Take a look at how the scouts are celebrating the centenary on Brownsea Island.
Scouting is a movement because it keeps on moving forward.
If it stops moving it becomes an organisation and is no longer scouting!
- Robert Baden-Powell
In the Beginning
On 25 July, 1907, Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell of Gilwell - or simply ‘B-P’, as scouting folk refer to him - a British soldier and hero of the siege of Mafeking, took a trip to Brownsea Island, just outside Poole Harbour. He brought with him 22 young boys from a range of social backgrounds. He taught them camping and survival skills; he taught them tracking and trailing and he taught them knotting and pioneering1. More than that, he taught them to forget social barriers and to work as a team and to be responsible citizens.
The 14 days that followed are seen as the start of the scouting movement. That camp and BP’s book Scouting for Boys encouraged many boys to take up his ideas and so spawned a movement that now spans the globe. Now, 155 countries have national organisations recognised by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, or WOSM, the internationally recognised governing body. A further 26 territories are controlled by other national associations and 35 countries where there are organisations that are not yet recognised.
UK Scouting is now split into five youth sections:
- Beaver Scouts, aged five to eight
- Cub Scouts, aged eight to 11
- Scouts2, aged 11 to 14
- Explorer Scouts3, aged 14 to 18
- Scout Network, aged 18 to 25
Some groups specialise in particular activity areas and are known as Sea and Air Scouts. There are also other specialist groups that often cover different age groups such as university and hospital groups. These groups aim to allow people to keep their scouting links when a link to a regular group is not possible.
Scouting aims to teach young people values that make them valuable and useful citizens. This is best explained in the promise and laws of the UK Scout Association4. Also, the motto should be considered.
The Promise
On my honour I promise
That I will do my best
To do my duty to God and to the Queen5
To help other people
And to keep the Scout Law’.
Let’s take that one line at a time:
On my honour I promise: BP put it best himself in Scouting for Boys:
If a scout says ‘on my honour it is so’ then it is so.
So for a scout this is a promise to make what follows the truth. Using the phrase ‘on my honour’ makes this an unbreakable promise.
That I will do my best: This expresses the sentiment that scouts do their best in all things. Also, that no one can do better than their best.
To do my duty to God and to the Queen: This is a beginning of a list of duties. Here they are put in order of the importance that scouting believes they should be taken. The full list is God, Queen and Self. This is repeated in the three-fingered salute used by scouts, each finger representing a duty. Duty to God is a bit of a sticking point for many people. This is one of very few absolute conditions to joining the Scout Association: you cannot be an atheist. It is considered an important part of a scout’s being to have some spiritual belief and guidance. What type is irrelevant and the promise may be adjusted to reflect this. In the context of the promise the Queen is used to represent the country. So the scout is not really offering allegiance to a person but to a country. It is considered important that scouts have a sense of duty to the country in which they live. How this duty manifests itself is another matter.
To help other people: A straightforward one. If everyone tried to help other people the world would be a much better place. It should be pointed out that helping other people doesn’t just mean people close by or on a one-to-one basis. Scouts likes to promote a worldview. Helping other people might be taking part in a charity event to raise money. Or sometimes it is going out there and doing the work. It could also be as simple as being there when someone needs you. In doing all this don’t forget: the old lady still needs to cross the road.
And to keep the Scout Law: The Law is a list of principles (currently seven) that every scout should stick to.
The Law
A Scout is to be trusted.
A Scout is loyal.
A Scout is friendly and considerate.
A Scout is a member of the worldwide family of Scouts.
A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.
Trusted: You should be able to trust a scout with anything from a bottle of milk to your life. You should be able to trust a scout to do their best to fulfil a task assigned to them. A scout should be trusted to tell the truth at all times.
Loyal: This is a hard one to define. Everyone knows when they are being loyal or not. Everyone thinks they know when other people are being loyal. Without resorting to a dictionary it is difficult to define. We all have an instinctual understanding of loyalty. Most people agree it is a virtuous characteristic. In scouting it appears on many levels. Loyalty to your friends, your scout group, the Scout Association, your country and arguably, your god.
Friendly and considerate: Again, scouts have qualities that most would agree are good. Scouts try to encourage friendliness and consideration. This is helped by them being reminded of it every time they hear the law.
Member of the worldwide family of Scouts: As stated above, scouting is available in some form in over 200 countries worldwide. That covers a large percentage of the world population. Scouts like to remember that. Every four years, scouts from around the world meet for a World Jamboree. This is a large camp that thousands of scouts attend. Every year there is also the Jamboree on the trail (JOTT), Jamboree on the air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI). For JOTT, scouts across the world go out ‘on the trail’ on the same day and then share reports and pictures. For JOTA and JOTI scouts get together on radios and the Internet, respectively. Those are just some of the ways scouts keep in touch with their worldwide family. Also, scouts have sisters in the Guide movement who use the same law which was also organised by BP.
Courage: Courage comes in many forms. One thing scouts pride themselves on is giving people the opportunity and encouragement to try new things. For some activities the need for courage is obvious, like abseiling. What about the eight year-old who has his first night away from home? Or the shy scout who is asked to lead a game? All of this requires courage and that is what is expected of scouts.
Careful of Possessions and Property: This law is about not being wasteful. In a modern context it can be viewed as environmentalism, the idea that we should not waste what we have. Thrift, the make do and mend attitude, is just as relevant today as it was 1907. If you can make do now it may save you from hard times in the future.
Respect: A scout wears a uniform, and that uniform is meant to be tidy. This is an outward display of self-respect. A scout should always have the self-respect to keep him or her self as clean and tidy as possible. They must also respect themselves enough to stand up for what they believe. Respecting others is about doing as you would be done by, if you respect their beliefs, their personal space and their property they will respect you.
The Motto
Be Prepared
Seemingly self-explanatory, but look deeper. Being prepared is not just always having a pen and paper. It is also being prepared to be challenged and to also have your skills tested. Also, scouting hopes to make its members better prepared for future life.
Conclusion
If you still wondering how far scouting can take you, consider this: John Glenn and 11 out of 12 astronauts ever to walk on the moon had been scouts.
1 Construction using only wood and ropes.
2 The term ’scout’ also refers to any member of the scout movement.
3 Explorer Scouts and Scout Network replaced Venture Scouts during reorganisation of the Scout Association in 2002 and 2003.
4 This is the scout section version, actual wording varies across sections.
5 Or ‘the Country in which I now reside’.
All are alive and well after a week of camping in Surrey. No Scout’s returned with Foot and Mouth, only with cuts (thanks to Limpet) and scrapes. In all it was a great week, especially as halfway through we saw the dawn of the new centary of Scouting. Some pictures to come soon!
Here is a link to the Meridian TV website to see what else happened on that very special day on the 1st August.
As no comments were left, here is aother image, from my school production from last year. Happy captions!
HERE IS THE NEXT PICTURE TO HAVE CAPTIONS ADDED TO. IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANYTHING TO SAY, ADD IT TO THE WEBSITE IN THE FORM OF A COMMENT. MY FAVOURITE CAPTION WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON 9TH JULY APPROX.
Thanks to Adam for the last caption. Have a go at this one - The winner will be announced at the end of May. Good Luck!
I thought it should be said to all those Scouts that attended St George’s Day Parade yesterday, that you all did yourselves proud.
I think we had the biggest attendance of any section….again, and we were the best presented…..again!
It’s not the most fun of activities, and the church service can be a little bit nauseating. Most of you know that I am not a Christian, but one thing I do love about the Church is the music - some of the finest pieces of music ever written were made for the church, and it is a crying shame that the modern church seems to disregard this wealth of wondrous music for some of the drivel that passed as songs yesterday. Gimme ‘Jerusalem’ any day of the week!!!
Anyway, my point was that it’s not the most fun activity, and I know that some of you are going through that phase of caring what anyone thinks of you, and fearing the embarrassment of being seen in public in uniform. So thanks for being there for each other, and remember - if somebody takes the rip out of you for doing something you enjoy, and that is worthwhile - their opinion is not worth listening to, coz they’re a complete……oooops! Can’t say that on here!
Well done lads.