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Representatives from each Scout Group in Christchurch, assisted the Mayor with the delivery of the Goodwill fund Christmas gifts again this year.
The Christchurch District Scout Fellowship had the honour of attending the first Carol Service to be held in the newly completed High Cross Church in Amethyst Road, Somerford. The members made the service the subject of their December monthly meeting. The Fellowship members, joined by the District Commissioner, Mark Flexman, the County Commissioner, Dr James Morton and the Assistant County Commissioner for Fellowship, Jim Davis, filled the church together with members of the local congregation for a programme of carols, readings and prayers led by the minister, the Reverand Frank Beattie.
In welcoming the Fellowhip the Minister, an ex naval chaplain, expressed his gratitude to Alan Jones, a Fellowship member, for his splendid work in creating the new liturgical furniture in American white ash.
After the service everyone enjoyed mice pies, tea and coffee.
High Cross Church is to serve the United Reformed Church and Anglican congregations under both the Minister and the Vicar of Christchurch, the Reverand canon Hugh Williams.
The Church’s dedication has been set for Saturday 29th January 2005 at 3.00pm when the Bishop of Winchester and the moderator of the Wessex Synod of the URC will lead the worship and thanksgiving.
At a ceremony held this evening, the 57th Mayor's Scout was presented with the sash of office. Beth Allebon, an Explorer Scout takes over from fellow Explorer Scout Scout Samantha Evans. Beth currently goes to Bournemouth School for Girls and is a member of the District Explorer Scout Unit. Beth is also a Young Leader with the Bransgore Beavers. She lists her hobbies and interests as archery, horse riding, travelling, socialising, and music. In particular the harp, piano and drums. After taking her GCSEs, Beth plans to take her A levels before studying psychology and animal sciences. She also plans to travel abroad with work.
A special presentation evening was held today at Hurn Bridge Sports Club for those young people who gained the highest award in their section - The Chief Scouts Award. The County Commissioner, Dr James Morton presented certificates and badges to Beavers and Cubs from across the District.
In an effort to reduce the amount of paperwork you have to complete, the District with help from Dennis Miller has created an on-line version of form NAN for your use. Click the link to start using this new facility. Click here for NAN
The annual district swimming gala took place on Saturday 2nd October. Mudeford were joint winners of the Scout Cup, sharing the top prize with Bransgore. Highcliffe took first place for the Cub Section by just one point Mudeford won the Group relay event.
The full list of results can be seen below
| Cub Section | Scout Section | Group Relay | Group Fun Event | |||
| Pack | Troop | |||||
| 1st Place | Highcliffe | Bransgore | Mudeford | Mudeford | ||
| 2nd Place | Mudeford | Mudeford (joint 1st) | Bransgore | Bransgore | ||
| 3rd Place | Bransgore | Jumpers | Jumpers | Jumpers | ||
| 4th Place | Jumpers | Highcliffe | Highcliffe | Highcliffe | ||
| 5th Place | Burton | Burton | Burton | Somerford | ||
| 6th Place | Somerford | Town | Somerford | Town | ||
| 7th Place | Town | Somerford | Town | Burton | ||
A team from Highcliffe Cubs beat 6 other teams from around the District to win this year's District Cub Quiz. The Trophy Boys soon lived up to their name and carried home the trophy following a challenging evening answering, at times, some really difficult questions set by this year's quiz master Paul Root. Congratulations to the winners!
It is with great sadness that I report the death of Ken Ewing. Ken has been a strong supporter of Scouting in Christchurch and was District Chairman from 1977 to 1981. He died after suffering a heart attack on 22nd September at the Nuffield Hospital aged 91. There will be a private family cremation. A service of celebration of Ken's life will be held at St. Mark's Church, Highcliffe on 27th October at 3pm to which all his Scouting friends and colleagues are invited. Donations to the Lewis-Manning House Cancer Trust c/o A V Ridout Funeral Director, 414, Lymington Rd, Highcliffe On Sea, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 5HE Tel: 01425 271000
The September edition of Christchurch Capers is available now. Follow the link to get your electronic colour edition. Click here for Capers
The morning begins at 6:30am as it is was very early start. It was now time to wake up and begin to get prepared for one of the most important days in our lives. During the previous week Maureen Milton had washed and pressed every single uniform which includes shirts, ties, berets, gloves, trousers, socks and black leather shoes which have been polished beforehand. Every one of the instruments also had to be cleaned and polished these were also done previous to the performance.
On the journey to the performance we were listening to 2CRFM and they were talking about the whole thing so I rang them up and explained that the Christchurch Scout & Guide band would be in the performance - talk about good publicity for the band. When we arrived at the entrance to Kings Park there was an official waiting at the road entrance to check all the invitations.
We were not the only band there the Bournemouth Salvation Army Band was also there so we were not playing for the whole two hours, they played for a bit whilst we got set up. They then stopped playing after about ten minutes and then we played for about ten minutes and we went on like this for about an hour and a half. Then the Queen and Prince Phillip arrived in their helicopter. They met a group of people that were gathered behind the trees where the band was stationed. During their landing we were performing and when they interviewed Prince Phillip he said that he could hear the band playing as they were arriving.
As the Queen and Prince Phillip began their walkabout we completed the piece of music that we were playing and the Bournemouth Salvation Army began to play as we had a well earned rest. Again after another ten minutes we commenced playing again until the Queen and Prince Phillip were just metres away from us; of course we had to quickly cut short our performance so that they could hear and talk to other people properly. When they reached us the Queen did not stop to talk but carried on but there was still a sheer thrill of nerves, excitement and of all around success because we had done a performance strictly for the Queen of our country and that was such a huge honour for everyone of the members in our band and of course some of the members of Bournemouth Scout band that came along to help us out because we did not have quite enough members.
When Prince Phillip reached the band he stopped and spoke to the Bandmaster Roger Milton (my granddad) and asked him many different questions such as "How long have you been involved with the band?", "How old is the bands youngest member here today?" After the Prince had finished talking to the Bandmaster he then walked across to the Drum major Oliver Maidment and our band mascot Paul Milton was stood by the side of Oliver and the Prince came up to him and began to talk to him the crowds were silent. Then everyone broke out laughing including Prince Phillip, much to our amazement we soon found out what had happened Paul had stuck his tongue out at Prince Phillip and of course being six he had no recollection off who the Prince was so he thought that he had done no harm until shortly after that Oliver the drum major told him that the person he stuck his tongue out to was the Queens husband he was shocked he could not believe what he had done. It wasn’t till later on in the day after the performance and the Queen had left we found out that Paul was sticking his tongue out at his mother until Prince Phillip came along and as Paul and Oliver were waiting Oliver apparently said to Paul "I bet you won’t do that to him!" You guessed it he did; I mean what do expect a six year old boy to do when he is practically dared to do something funny like that. Another highlight of the day was that AFC Bournemouth were there and Paul and I had our photo taken with them twice, they were signing autographs having photo’s taken right up to last minute just before they left I guess they had to get back to training or some thing.
The whole day was just such an experience I don’t think that anyone in the band on that day will ever forget.Click the thumbnails below to see pictures of the event.
At a ceremony held yesterday, the 56th Mayor's Scout was presented with the sash of office. Samantha Evans, an Explorer Scout takes over from fellow Explorer Scout Scout James Tallant. Samantha currently goes to Bournemouth School for Girls and is a member of the District Explorer Scout Unit. Samantha is also a Young Leader with the Bransgore Brownies. She lists her hobbies and interests as sailing, travelling and art. After taking her GCSEs, Samantha plans to take her A levels before studying medicine. She also plans to work on a Scout Camp in America and travel abroad, possibly helping in under privileged schools or hospitals. In November, Sam will handover the sash to fellow Explorer Scout Beth Allebon.
The annual St George's Day parade and service was held on Sunday 26th April 2004 and was attended by the Mayor of Christchurch Cllr Eric Spreadbury CBE and the Mayoress Mrs Barbara Spreadbury. The parade started at the Quomps in Christchurch after the Mayor completed a formal inspection of all those on parade including the Scout and Guide Band. After taking the salute in Church Street, the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Guides, Explorers, leaders and members of the Scout Fellowship and Network went into the Priory Church for a special service, this year organised by the 20th Christchurch (Somerford) Scout Group who are celbrating their 50th Anniversary this year. After witnessing the blessing of the new District Explorer Unit flags and a new specially made District Colour, the parade continued round through to the Priory House gardens for the handing over of the District Colours to the District Explorer Scout Unit and formal dismissal by the Mayor and the District Commissioner. Over 421 members of the Scouting and Guidling movements in Christchurch took part in the parade and service.
Please be advised that this year's District Sports Day will now be held at The Grange School, Redvers Road on Saturday 5th June.
All leaders and Sectional Assistants are invited to attend the annual All Scouter's Service of Rededication. This year it will be held at The Congregational Church, Southey Road, Somerford starting at 7.30pm on SATURDAY 24th APRIL. Uniform should be worn.
The Letchford Trophy competition was held today. Teams of Scouts spent the morning learning basic first aid skills and then had to demonstrate their knowledge in dealing with injuries such as nosebleeds, burns, resucitation and head wounds in the afternoon. The winners were a team from Mudeford. Congratulations and well done!
Interviews for the next two Mayor’s Scouts took place at the Christchurch Scout Centre on Thursday 18th March. Samantha Evans from the District Explorer Scout Unit was selected to be Mayor’s Scout from 5th May until 3rd November. Beth Allibon, also from the Explorer Unit will then take over until 4th May 2005. Congratulations to both of you.
2005 interviews will take place on Thursday 17th March 2005 starting at 7pm at the CSC.
The annual Cub handicradt competition - "The Scrapstore Challenge" took place last night at the Christchurch Scout Centre and was attended by teams from all 7 Packs in the District.
Teams were given the challenge to make a vehicle that can travel a distance with one push (best of three). They also had to decorate it to a theme and include one working gadget. Points were awarded for planning, teamwork, theme, use of materials and distance travelled.
Bransgore Cubs won with 94 points out of a possible 105 with Highcliffe in second place.
A reminder that the selection interviews for the next two Mayor's Scouts will be held on Thursday 18th March at the CSC.
Nominated Scouts should arrive at 6.45 for registration in full uniform. Interviews will commence at 7pm and the selection process should be complete between 9.15 and 9.30 (depending on the number of nominees).
Leaders are reminded that "Scouts aged between 14 and 16 years of age who have a proven commitment to Scouting; in depth knowledge of Christchurch and the surrounding area; a pleasant character and confidence are usually selected."
Following the St George's Review that was sent out with the last District newsletter, completed forms have now been received and 67% have voted to keep the parade as is (Option 1). I t is therefore proposed to continue along the same route for another three years.
At the cooking competition held last weekend, Scouts from Mudeford came second by just one point to a team from Bournemouth. All is not lost however and the team will go forward to the regional finals with Bournemouth.
During a busy weekend, other Scouts from Mudeford also took part in the National Sea Scout competitions held at HMS Raleigh. There were 26 teams taking part with Mudeford doing very well. The Otter Trophy was retained by the 8th Norwich who have won the last two years. 1st Lilliput (from Poole) were runners-up. The Explorer Trophy was won by 6th Torbay with Mudeford coming third. Mudeford won the Scouts football competition. All the Scouts had an excellent weekend with activities such as boating, football, line throwing being held to keep them busy and on the Saturday evening they had tests on scouting skills. They had lots of bases with knot tieing, first aid, map reading, team building exercises etc. Congratulations to all involved.
The Nights Away Advisers (Sheila Davies, Roger Murray, Rich Stevenson and Steve Haskell) are now ready to accept applications for Nights Away Permits. Anyone in the movement may apply for a permit but there are two pre-requisites:-
1 - You must hold a first aid qualification to a minimum of first response
2 - You must have been cleared through the CRB process
The application form is available for download at the following address http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs120432.pdf each of the Nights Away Advisers have a number of paper copies. Please complete the form and return to the DC with a recent passport photograph. The photo will be attached to the permit card.
On receipt of the form, the details will be checked and the form will then be passed to one of the four advisers for assessment. Depending on your knowledge and experience the assessment could take a number of different forms:-
1 - a short meeting with an adviser to ensure you fully understand the new system and have all the required skills to carry out a Nights Away Experience
2 - a short meeting followed by a hands-on assessment of one or more of the skills areas
3 - any other way as agreed with the adviser
The results of the assessment will then be passed to the DC and a permit will be issued which will be valid for no more than five years. However, this will usually coincide with the review of your Leader warrant.
Once a permit has been issued, the permit holder may lead any number of nights away experiences without having to complete a form PC. However a Nights Away Notification form (FORM NAN) must be completed for every nights away activity. A sample form is available from http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/ps/nightsaway/pdfs/form_nan.doc. The information required by the form NAN may be sent in a number of ways:-
1 - on paper. Print a copy of the form NAN and post to me at the address below
2 - by e-mail. Send all the required info to nightsaway@christchurchscouts.org.uk
3 - by phone. Call the DC with all the necessary information
More information on the Nights Away scheme can be found on The Scout Association's web site at http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/ps/nightsaway/index.htm
The continued success of Explorer Scouts and the hard work carried out by GSLs on development over the last year has meant that the overall membership figures show an increase in membership this year of 25 overall (1 more young person). Venture Scouting ceased to exist on 31st December 2003 and the 4 members shown last year have transferred to the County Scout Network.
The breakdown of membership figures for the various groups and totals for the District is shown below with comparisons against previous years.
| 2000 | 99/00 | 2001 | 00/01 | 2002 | 01/02 | 2003 | 02/03 | 2004 | 03/04 | |
| Town | 84 | +19 | 87 | +3 | 72 | -15 | 70 | -2 | 67 | -3 |
| Scoutlink | 13 | -2 | 14 | +1 | 17 | +3 | 16 | -1 | 15 | -1 |
| Jumpers | 98 | -4 | 100 | +2 | 90 | -10 | 74 | -16 | 87 | +13 |
| Highcliffe | 63 | -13 | 65 | +2 | 68 | +3 | 74 | +6 | 55 | -19 |
| Bransgore | 99 | -1 | 94 | -5 | 92 | -2 | 89 | -3 | 90 | +1 |
| Burton | 66 | -16 | 74 | +8 | 78 | +4 | 75 | -3 | 65 | -10 |
| Mudeford | 107 | -3 | 115 | +8 | 114 | -1 | 100 | -14 | 107 | +7 |
| Somerford | 54 | +5 | 60 | +6 | 51 | -9 | 45 | -6 | 55 | +10 |
| District Fellowship | 13 | +1 | 31 | +18 | 47 | +16 | 34 | -13 | 30 | -4 |
| District Team | 23 | +3 | 14 | -9 | 15 | +1 | 36 | +21 | 44 | +8 |
| All Beavers | 145 | ----- | 145 | ----- | 149 | +4 | 156 | +7 | 127 | -29 |
| All Cubs | 161 | -18 | 169 | +8 | 148 | -21 | 150 | +2 | 163 | +13 |
| All Scouts | 136 | -10 | 158 | +22 | 167 | +9 | 145 | -22 | 143 | -2 |
| All Ventures | 46 | +1 | 39 | -7 | 28 | -11 | 4 | -24 | ||
| All Explorers | 50 | +50 | 73 | +23 | ||||||
| All Adults | 132 | +14 | 142 | +10 | 152 | +10 | 158 | +6 | 182 | +24 |
| All Youth | 488 | -27 | 511 | +23 | 492 | -19 | 505 | +13 | 506 | +1 |
| Total | 620 | -13 | 653 | +33 | 644 | -9 | 663 | +19 | 688 | +25 |
A team from Somerford beat off still competition in this years 5 a side football held today at 2 Riversmeet Leisure Centre. After playing against teams other Troops in the District, Somerford were held to a 2:2 draw at the end of the final but pulled through 4:3 after a thrilling penalty shoot-out against a team from Bransgore. Congratulations to Somerford and all who took part.
The Scout Cooking Competition was held at the CSC on Sunday 18th January. The event was well supported by eight teams from across the District. The competition was judged by three members of Fellowship and was again won by Mudeford. They now go forward to the County competition.
The 31st December saw the end of an era when Venture Scouting officially ceased to exist after 30 years of providing Scouting to 15 to 20 year olds. In Christchurch, Ventures were based at some time or another in all of it’s Groups and countless number of young people enjoyed the activities it had to offer. However following the programme review Venture Scouting was to be replaced by Explorer Scouts (14 to 18 year olds) and the Scout Network (18 to 25 year olds) and both new sections are developing well paticularly in Christchurch. Although the end of 2003 marked the end of an era, more importantly it marks the beginning of something new and exciting. Thankyou to all the leaders who have been part of Ventures over the years, particularly to Chris Root who as the last ADC (Venture Scouts) for Christchurch has helped to ensure the smooth transition to the new structure.
Fellowship continue their programme of social events over the next few months and invite everyone to join them.
FELLOWSHIP QUIZ NIGHT Clarendon Road School, Xch. on Friday 20th February 2004. Tickets £5.00 per person.
TOMMY’S TROPHY Bowling at Hoburne Caravan Park , Highcliffe on Monday 1st March 2004. Menu details available.
For further details and tickets please contact, Tony Cumes on 01202 482124 or Peter Andrews on 01202 421610.
Town Group gave a fond farewell to Sheila Haskell recently after her retirement on 27th July. Members of the Group and representatives of the District attended a surprise get together on 29th September to say thanks for nearly 30 years service to Scouting, 20 of which as a Uniformed leader.
If you have not yet heard of or read details about the new Nights Away Permit scheme, please get in touch with your GSL or any member of the District Team. Nights Away Advisers have now been appointed by the DC and are:- Roger Murray (SL Mudeford) Rich Stevenson (GSL Jumpers) Mrs Sheila Davies (ADC Cubs) Steve Haskell (GSL Town) Supplies of the Nights Away Application forms are available from the Scout Information Centre, the DC and the Advisers (contact details are shown on the back page of this newsletter) who will begin accepting applications from February. Applicants will then be assessed and permits will be issued by the DC. If you have any concerns or questions please get in touch with any member of the District Team.
As you may have heard by now the adult training scheme is changing from 1st January. Dorset has now been split into 5 areas for training. Christchurch, Vale of Allen and Crane Moor districts have been linked for training purposes and I have been appointed as your Local Training Manager. The role of ADC (Adult Training) ceased to exist on 31st December and can I take this opportunity to thank Brian Davies for all his efforts over the past years in this role and for making the task of taking over the training in Christchurch that much easier. I believe that Brain will be taking on a new challenge as ADC (Scouts) and he has also agreed to be a Training Adviser so I look forward to working with him in the future.
The training scheme is now in a modular format much like the NVQ system. Each new learner will have a Training Advisior to help guide them through their training. There are now a variety of ways to recieve your training; by attending courses, distance learning, video, e-learning and accrediation of previous knowledge. In addition to training new warranted leaders, all new helpers and officers of executive committees will be asked to attend a Getting Started course which covers the essentials of health and safety and child protection.
Do not worry if you are part way through your training as I will be getting in touch with you soon to look at which modules you will need to complete to finish your training. I also hope to be able to visit all of the groups to get to know you all or at least put names to faces!
The new training scheme will be launched on Saturday 17th January at Trinity Centre, Shaftesbury and Sunday 18th January at the Denis Gooding Centre, Poole 10am -3pm. If you would like to know more or would like to come please let me know. I can be contacted either by telephone on 01202 516742 or by e-mail shrgale@aol.com. If I can be of any help to you regarding training please let me know.
Members of the Christchurch Fellowship observed a one minute silence recently in memory of Doreen Terry who died in December. Doreen, with her husband Ted was a very active member of the Christchurch Fellowship and the Scout Holiday Homes Trust and regularly attended Fellowship activities. She will be sadly missed. Doreen and Ted joined the Fellowship following their move to the area in 1997. Previously a member of the 1st Langley group commitee in Slough for 25 years Doreen joined the Slough Fellowship in 1990 and was awarded the Bar to the Long Service Decoration in 1999. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ted and his family at this time.
Happy New Year to all. All the very best wishes for a happy, healthy and exciting 2004.