Church Parade this weekend

This Sunday we'll be taking part in the Harvest Festival Church Parade at Christ Church, Ardsley. This is one of four Church Parades we do through the year as a Group.

All members are expected to take part.

We'll be meeting at 10.15am on Sunday at the Scout Hut. The service will finish at approximately 11.45pm.

Please wear full uniform.

Parents are welcome to stay for the service.

The Billingham Activity Centre

Please read this notice from our District Commissioner. We would be very grateful if you could support this funding bid, which is awarded on the basis of public votes:-

With your help 2012 will see the transformation of the Training Hut at Silverwood into a custom built facility to support Scouting in Barnsley & South Yorkshire, plus all young people both locally and nationally who have a love for the outdoors.

For many years now the Training Hut has been a popular building used by Scouts to provide catering and dining facilities, a base for camps, training courses and for evening activities. It is by far the most popular facility Silverwood Scout Campsite has; however as with all old timber built buildings it has seen its fair share of wear and tear and as such, it is in constant need of repair.

So the time has come to replace the building with “The Billingham Activity Centre” using newer and stronger materials and at the same time update and enlarge the facility so it will continue to be used by Scouts and attract other users, providing much needed revenue for Scouting in Barnsley and Silverwood.

Thank you for supporting Scouting in the Barnsley area and providing us with the means to provide continued adventure to young people for many years to come

Please follow the link, register and vote for us. Spread this message far and wide so that that we can build the Billingham Activity Centre at Silverwood. We really do need your votes, your tweets and you to ‘like’ us because we are competing against many other worthy causes! Voting started on 26th September and closes on 23rd October 2011 so please don’t delay! If you are unable to vote online, please ring the Community Force helpline on 0800 2100 246 to register your support. I can assure you that your help will be greatly appreciated by everyone involved.

The Link http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/1236

Beaver and Cub Sleepover

We are holding a Beaver and Cub sleep over from 16:00 Saturday 1st October, which will be followed by our annual Harvest Festival with Church on Sunday 2nd October.

There will be games, a movie, pizza and other snacks.

This will give both the Cubs and Beavers chance to mix as a group and it will also count towards their nights away badge total.


The cost will be £5 to be returned with your consent form (available from your leader) no later than 29th September.

Backwoods Camp - 8 October

A District Backwoods Camp is being organised for 8-9th October. The event will take place at Silverwood and is open to Scouts and Explorers. 'Backwoods' is a style of basic camping, where cooking is done on open fires. This is a training camp where Scouts will learn backwoods skills - there will, hopefully, be a competition next year.

The camp will be from 9am on Saturday 8 October to 2pm on Sunday 9 October. The cost will be £15.

If you would like to take part in this camp, please bring your £15 (non-returnable) to Scouts by Wednesday 28 September.

UPDATE 28/9/2011

Please note: The venue for this camp has been changed to Squirrel Wood Camp Site, The Abbes Walk, Burghwallis, Doncaster, DN6 9JQ.

Beaver Olympics - Tuesday 20th September - Directions

Hi to everyone coming on the Beaver Olympics on Tuesday the 20th of September 2011.  Please click on the link below for a map and directions.

Please park on Queens Drive, Look out for Ardsley's Beaver Leaders

Wear Trainers.

Bring Bottle of Water

Bring Waterproofs if you have them.

Session Start: 5.30pm to 7.30pm

Click Here for Directions

Breeze

Advance Notice - Subscriptions to rise to £9 from January 2012

The group has agreed to raise the subscription charge to £9 per month, for all members, in all sections, starting in January 2012.  The fee has remained at its current level for many years and we regret having to raise the charge at a time of economic hardship for so many.  But as all of you will know, living costs have continued to rise steadily over the past 5 years and the cost of the utilities is expected to continue to keep rising in the near future.

However I'm sure that you will agree that this charge still represents fantastic value for money. We strongly believe that Ardsley Scout Group provides a well rounded programme of scout based activities for all sections from Beavers, Cubs, Scouts through to Explorers.  We look forward to your ongoing support and your continuing commitment to help us provide all our Scouts, whatever age, with a range of exciting adventures.

Thank you.

Summer Camp 2012

Next year's summer camp will be held at Hawkhirst Scout Activity Centre, which is situated on the edge of Kielder Water, a magnet for water sports enthusiasts as well as boasting 70 acres of forest for traditional scouting activities. 

The camp dates are Saturday 21st July to Saturday 28th July and the cost will be £220.


As usual this camp will be open to Cubs, Scouts and Explorers.


More details about the site can be found at the following location:

http://www.scoutactivitycentres.org.uk/locations/hawkhirst/

More details about booking will follow, please do not send any money until requested.

Ardsley Air Scouts Group Camp 2nd to 4th September 2011

From Friday the 2nd to the 4th of September, 38 members of the group enjoyed a weekend up at Silverwood, which as we were the only group camping you would have expected to be quiet. But on Saturday and Sunday we shared the site with a Scout Marching Band, who were rehearsing a set to the Mission Impossible theme tune! - all day, both days.

It's all go!

As usual a lot of effort went into setting up camp, by the Leaders, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers.

Follow the Bear?

Ripsaw

The search for wood had begun and there was lots of sawing to be done to keep 2 fires going.  For supper there was tomato soup and crusty bread.







Whilst the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers stayed over on the Friday, a couple of Beavers joined us for a full day on the Saturday.  Ollie the dog was camping too.

Dog Tired?

Whilst the Explorers were taken to the Sculpture Park for a walk, the Scouts set about a pioneering project, which was to construct a climbing frame to hang a cargo net.  The Beavers and Cubs got all creative and made face masks and dough bread sticks on the fire.

Construction of the frame is well under way

Getting creative on the grass

This beaver can't believe what that looks like!

The Scouts take credit for building the cargo net

Is this a Halloween Camp?

Little fingers make the dough

Not everyone is sure that these dough sticks will work!

Our resident minstrel is finding it harder to keep an audience these days...

The BBQ was fired up and after what seemed to be about 5 hours later, long after the Beavers had gone home; we all had enjoyed a great meal quickly followed up by hot chocolate and 'Maureen' buns before bed.  As usual some Scouts had thought it was a great idea to sleep out in the woods in a 'Bivvy' - the idea lasted until dusk fell and then they said 'it was too dark' to sleep out.  Never mind, it kept them busy whilst we were cooking tea :-)

On Sunday the rain came, mainly on our tents, and caused us a few problems with getting them dried out this week.  But all in all, another great camp.

Whilst this camp marked the end of the traditional camping season and the return to school for the kids, planning is already underway for 2012, more details to follow!

The remaining pictures (there's not a lot, as I've wore the camera out and it's being retired) from the weekend can be found here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30263703@N04/sets/72157627497322693

Weekend Camp, 2nd - 4th September

Our next camp is fast approaching! It's a weekend camp, over the first weekend in September. Register your interest now to be sure of a place.

Cubs, Scouts and Explorers will be camping from 6pm on Friday 2nd September to 12noon on Sunday 4th September. The cost will be £15.

Beavers can attend as day visitors on Saturday 3rd September, between 10am and 6pm. The cost for Beavers will be £8, including lunch and evening meal.

If you would like to take part, register your interest using this online form.

Permission to camp forms and kit lists will be posted on the blog nearer the time.

Summer Camp Success for Waddecar

Waddecar Scout Activity Centre proved again to be a great base for this years Ardsley Scouts Group Summer camp.
23rd to 30th July 2011

5 leaders, 6 Explorers, 13 Scouts and 6 cubs set off from Scout HQ on a sunny Saturday morning.

After arriving at the campsite on the Saturday, the tents were quickly pitched and the camp took shape on a quite corner of the camp site at Waddecar.  The Scouts enjoyed beefburgers and fries - camp style and had an excellent start to the week with a camp fire and a few songs from our resident minstrel.

On Sunday, we awoke to more Lancashire sunshine and after breakfast we enjoyed a morning of a traditional school sports day, which included a long list of relay type races, including egg 'n' spoon, 3 legged, obstacle and wheelbarrows.  The competition was intense due to the quality of the prizes on offer;

Gold, Silver and Bronze - prizes galore!

The 'wooden' spoons for the runners up :-(

The assembled teams, ready for action...

One of the explorers took some action shots of the activities, thank you, you know who you are :-)

What poise for the egg and spoon race

The wheels have fallen off this 'barro.

It's a photo finish in the skipping race

Teamwork pays off in the 3 legged event

You spin me round like a ...hula hoop?

On Sunday afternoon, we soaked and splattered one another with water bottles and had a great big water bomb fight, as well as having loads of fun on the water slide.  All that activity built up great appetites for the spag bol meal, which was delicious and it never had any mushrooms in, honest ;-)

By Monday, the campers had adjusted to getting up around 7.30 and preparing for the day ahead, today we took the cubs and younger scouts on a hike up to Beacon Fell, to do a spot of orienteering.  The Explorers and older Scouts took to the high ground around Bleasdale for a much longer expedition.

Route planning, Ardsley style

They all made it back safely, to enjoy some camp activities including fetching wood, helping with the preparation of the fire whilst many enjoyed playing swing-ball, volleyball or helping to prepare the evening meal which was lamb kebabs.

Ardsley Scouts invent 'Crazy' Swingball

On Tuesday there was great excitement as the mountain bikes were delivered, after what seemed like forever, we matched riders to bikes and 29 riders set off to tackle a circuit of the quiet lanes around the area.  With such a large group of different abilities it did take quite some time to get to the first checkpoint, but with some of the younger riders retiring after about 5 miles, the remaining group split into 2 groups.  Again the older Scouts went with the Explorers, whilst the younger scouts and 1 very fit cub continued the adventure for about another 12 miles.  After this second day of high impact activity most of the camp were tired out, but turning our hands to preparing the evening meal was all part of the day, so without further ado, a very tasty pasta dish was prepared (Chicken and Asparagus) to restore our energy levels.

An explorer shows a scout how cooking in this skillet is easy.  

On Wednesday, a trip to Lytham and St.Annes for a spot of shopping, followed by lunch near the sea, then onto Blackpool for an afternoon in Sandcastles Waterpark - 'the largest indoor waterpark in the country.'  On the return many of the Scouts were asleep on the bus, it's great what 40 winks will do for you, if you can get the chance!  Wednesday night is traditionally BBQ night on camp and this year was no exception, what a feast!

By Thursday, many had thoughts of home, but they were soon put to one side as everyone had hours of fun with rifle shooting, archery, climbing and abseiling. After a hard day having fun, all of the Scouts tucked into a great curry, with Nan bread and pappadams, plus pickle tray.  As darkness fell across the land, the Explorers and the oldest Scout were whisked up to Beacon Fell to practice their orienteering skills in preparation for the APEX Challenge.  Needless to say their is a bigger story behind this headline, why not ask your Scout about the Beast of Beacon Fell? You'll fall about laughing.

The highlight of the week for most Scouts is the visit to a theme park or similar.  Camelot, hosted our great day out and we watched the amazing knights!  

An Amazing Knight? - with all that hair, how can he fight?

Perhaps some of the rides at Camelot were just to much for some of our Scouts...

Ardsley Scouts, ready for take off?

His hair was not this colour when we brought him...

Even one of the leaders thought they needed to get a disguise, prizes if you can guess which animal its supposed to be;

A. Panda
B. Killer Whale
C. Friesian Cow

Our Explorer leader found an excellent mascot (Explorer Unit is called Ardsley Eagles), but could not find a bag big enough to bring it home in.

"That's a big bird"

After a fun half hour on the dodgems, the Scouts assembled for a farewell picture;

End of the day at Camelot - what fun!

After a short minibus ride home, we all enjoyed a light supper of fajitas and tortilla chips, with a singsong round the camp fire.  The week went really fast, we were blessed with fantastic weather and some great kids. Everyone I spoke to really enjoyed their adventure.

Thanks to all those who helped out on this camp, those that went, and those who helped behind the scenes.

There's normally pictures from every day on camp, but we were a bit down on the numbers of leaders on this year, so apologies if there a fewer images than normal.  Anyway what we have got is available at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30263703@N04/sets/72157627200681557

Coming Soon: Ardsley Scouts - Group Camp 2nd to 4th of September 2011 at Silverwood Camp Site
* Put it in the calendar now for your Scout! *

* All Sections *

+ More details to follow +

Waddecar Summer Camp 2011 - Personal Kit

The start of the summer holidays are here, it's the first Saturday of the kids school holidays tomorrow and we are nearly ready for camp.

Please bring your Scouts personal camping kit tonight for loading into the van at 7PM at the Scout Hut.

Your assistance in loading the camping equipment into the van would be greatly appreciated.

If you have not already returned your Scouts completed permission to camp forms, please bring them with you tonight.  

Thanks 

Ed.

Summer Camp 2011 - Waddecar Scout Activity Centre- Notice for Parents/Guardians

It's just 2 more sleeps until we are off on our annual week long group summer camp.  There was an information sheet for parents sent home with the permission to camp forms, Scouts and Explorers should have returned these by now.

Camping is a big part of why children enjoy coming to Scouts.  In order to ensure that we get the best start to this year's camping adventure for our Scouts, we need parents to pay particular attention to the following advice;

- Scouts must travel in Uniform.
- Please ensure that we have all medicines and they are on the Medicines Form. If Scouts self administer, check they have what they need to last the week.
- No food and drink is to be consumed during travel in the minibuses or within the sleeping tents.  Only provide your Scout with a packed lunch, suitable for the Saturday lunchtime.  Please do not provide any additional food and drink, such as sweets, crisps, biscuits or chocolate and pop beyond this, it's not needed.
- Ensure that your Scout has correctly fitting waterproof shoes/boots suitable for walking in, along with a waterproof jacket (bottoms if they have them).  Hopefully the Scouts will need to put suncream on and a sunhat at some point during the week, so check those items are in their day sack.

- Label all personal equipment clearly with names or initials.

We've planned a packed programme of fun, frolics, with lots of exciting activities, as well as great days away from camp for the 30 Scouts aged between 8 and 15 this year.  I'm convinced that they will all have a fantastic camping experience and fun holiday.  Your cooperation in preparing your child for this adventure is vital and would be greatly appreciated by all the leaders.

If you have any queries please contact myself or Ian.

Kind Regards and Thank You.

Ed.