Last meetings before Summer Camp

At last night's meeting Scouts went on a hike to practice their map-reading and navigation skills. Our route took us along the Dearne Valley returning via Hollins Wood and Horsecarr Wood, a total distance of approximately 5km.

Meanwhile our Explorer Scouts successfully completed a six-week archery course, gaining their Physical Recreation badge. This was a joint activity with Barnsley Meths Explorers.


For Scouts and Explorers going on Summer Camp next week, please don't forget to bring your kit bag on Friday night at 7pm. We will be meeting at 9.30am Saturday, aiming to set off for camp at 10.00am. Remember you must travel in uniform and you will need a packed lunch.


There will be no Scout/Explorer meetings next week due to camp, but we are meeting through the school holidays.

Synergise cancelled

Unfortunately, this weekend's Synergise event has been cancelled due to the adverse weather and water-logged condition of the site. As soon as we have further information relating to rearranging the event or refunding payments we will let you know. The organisers have asked us to pass on their apologies for any inconvenience caused.

5 go on an Expedition

The Famous Five at the end of the adventure

5 Explorers undertook their Bronze DofE this weekend, and successfully achieved their aims and objectives.  They survived the worst that the British weather could throw at them, and they had tall stories of wild beasts causing them delays and detours along the way.  What is most important is that they all enjoyed each others company and using the skills of the group they got to where they needed to be.

Well done to all 5 of them and I hope we hear more of their adventures and experiences when they give their presentations.

Cathedral Sleepover

The Sheffield Star has run an article about tonights sleepover: http://www.thestar.co.uk/community/the-diary/the-diary-sleep-worshippers-take-over-cathedral-for-kip-in-the-crypt-1-4699932

For those who are attending, don't forget your forms:
NAIF and Kit List - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8SjhnTFlxdjI5Wlk

Sponsorship Form - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8UlQ4b3dmeTVCRms

Cathedral Sleepover 06/07/2012

For those Scouts who are brave enough to sleep in the medieval cathedral, please meet behind the Sheffield Cathedral, Church Street, Sheffield 06/07/12 19:15

Summer fair

Thank you to everyone who helped us raise a fantastic total of £612 at today's summer fair.

Summer Fair

It's this Saturday, all the fun starts at midday. Bring your money and your kids and their friends, in fact bring anyone who has a pulse and a wallet or a purse :-). See you at the Scout Hut.

Scouts Geocache is live

Scouts attending the Turf N Surf weekend, hid a geocache as part of their activities.  That cache is now available to hunt and has already been found 5 times!

You can keep track of it by visiting its own webpage: http://coord.info/GC3P82B and see how many visitors we get over time.

Cathedral Sleepover - NAIF, Kit List and Sponsorship Form

Please find the Nights Away Information Form, Kit List and the Sponsorship Form for the Cathedral Sleepover on the 6th of July 2012.  Please complete these if you are attending and bring them with you on the night - please do not send them in prior to this, thank you.

NAIF and Kit List - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8SjhnTFlxdjI5Wlk

Sponsorship Form - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8UlQ4b3dmeTVCRms

Thanks.

Ed.

Turf N Surf Weekend - A great escape (from the weather)

10 Scouts joined in for a fun packed weekend, starting with a sleepover at the Scout Hut on Friday night, where after pitching up hike tents in the main hall, the Scouts played a Wii Bowling competition.  As usual the Scouts stayed up chatting and catching up through the night, but all were really well behaved and that did not change all weekend.

On Saturday the Scouts enjoyed various activities including hiding a geocache treasure*, making nettle tea on the trangia stove, practising their first aid skills and some of the younger Scouts were introduced to a few knots and as a result had fun building shelters and tripods.

Our newest Scouts enjoy their first Nettle Tea

Always choose the location of your shelter carefully, inside the Scout Hut gives the best protection against the elements!

Check out those lashings!

Later in the afternoon we played table tennis, pool, table football and darts and picked our time (watching the weather) to set up a gazebo under which we had placed our BBQ.   As well as doing all these activities the Scouts had already put down their tents to make space for the games in the hall and had prepared the best tasting jacket potatoes of the year that included a range of delicious fillings and had prepared a fire (for cooking the potatoes on).

When it was time for our BBQ, the weather was the best it had been all week and we enjoyed a few hours eating and experimenting with some new menu additions, our newly added Spicy Lamb Kebab went down a storm with 9 out of 10 customers!

Sitting round the camp fire with these Scouts was a really enjoyable experience, made all the better for the support of all the adults who helped on and off during the weekend, and the 2 young leaders.  Thank you to Andrea, John, Gareth, Ian, Richard, Sam and Ethan.

On Sunday after quickly packing up, and having had some tasty bacon sandwiches, we set off to Pugneys waterpark to join the rest of the district Scouts, some 120 young people, who were making their day in Canadian Canoes and Kayaks on the water.  Whilst the weather was not that of the same event last year, it did stay dry and was reasonably warm.  The Scouts as you will be able to see from the photos shown on Flickr, all had a really fun time in the end, despite some of them being a little apprehensive of going into the water at first.

Thanks to all the leaders from across the district who volunteer to set up and run these district events, they are always really well received by the Scouts.

This canoeing lark is much easier with a tow!

Developing their paddling skills, Ardsley Scouts take to the water

It's all smiles at the Turf N Surf Weekend Finale

*Details of the Ardsley Scouts Geocache hide will be appearing shortly.

Next Sleepover will be inside a Medieval Cathedral in Sheffield City Centre - here's the all important link: http://ardsleyscouts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/cathedral-sleepover.html - replies are due in at the Scout Meeting this Wednesday.

Link to all the photos from the weekend on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30263703@N04/sets/72157630267381960

Ed.

Turf N Surf Weekend Information

For those Scouts (and their parents/carers) going on the Surf N Turf weekend, here are some information sheets for you.

First is the Nights Away Information Form (NAIF)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8Z3ZSWTdjbmVJb2c

Please complete and return this by Wednesday 20th June 2012

The second information sheet is the Kit List
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6_BzVAudyX8cXBTUF85amFfSHM

The special items to note are:

Old Trainers or similar to wear during the water activities - required as the shoreline may be rocky and unsuitable for bare feet.

An item for the Geocache - the aim is that each Scout places an item of low monetary and sentimental value to make up the treasure.  You are unlikely to see these items again as when the Geocache is found the tradition is that an item is taken and replaced by another of a similar value.

Penknife and personal first aid kits - are on the kit list as standing items, but not essential for this adventure.  If you have them already, bring them along, but don't buy anything especially for this weekend.

We have not yet got the timings from the organisers of the WaterSports Day on the Sunday, I expect that we will know this by the time that you drop the Scouts off on the Friday evening at the Scout HQ for 20:00 - Please check with one of the leaders that you know that we have sufficient transport in place for the Sunday to get to Pugneys Waterpark in Wakefield before you leave.

Any questions, please ask.  Thank you.

Ed.

Farewell

Joining in on the adventure of Summer Camp this year at Hawkhirst Scout Centre, Northumbria, will be my last activity as a Scout Leader at Ardsley. Since "just helping out" with my first ever Summer Camp at Waddecar, Lancashire back in 2006, I've "just helped out" in Beavers and Scouts, in many different settings. And whilst I've enjoyed my own adventure, I've equally enjoyed seeing the Scouts through theirs.

I'd like to thank all the leaders, parents and young people, including all the ones that have grown up to be bigger than me, (which isn't hard), whether they've moved on or are still in Scouting.  But my appreciation really does go out to my wife, Andrea, known to many as Breeze, our Beaver Leader, who I roped in a couple of years ago to "just help out" in the Beavers section, don't tell her that was 2 years ago!  Finally I have to say that I've always had a favourite Scout, even though I hid it from others well, Ethan, my little boy, who is not so little anymore, is still the best Scout that I'm going to ever know and the reason why I'm still doing Scouting today.  He is "just helping out" as a Young Leader with Beavers, who know him as Rain, and has been doing so for the last 2 years.

I'm still intending to be involved in Scouting across the Barnsley District, so I hope that this is more of a 'Au Revoir' than goodbye.

So with still 2 Scouting events and 6 troop meetings nights at Ardsley to go before Summer Camp, if someone comes up to you and asks if you can "just help out", I'd recommend grabbing the opportunity with both hands, you never know where it might lead...

Yours in Scouting,

Ed.