G O V T A THE C R E I R U CO The Area
g.org
www.catvo
inter 2014
Issue 121 W Newsletter
Lord Mayor’s Own on duty
Awards Presentation Evening
The LMO were on duty at the Welsh National Service of Remembrance in Cardiff, this was the twenty first concurrent attendance and was the largest contingent ever. The weather was again fair after some very heavy rain in the previous twenty four hours which enabled us to show off our colours to the best effect. As it was also the 100th anniversary of the declaration of WW1 the public turnout in Cardiff together with the armed forces was also larger than usual. The LMO were once again wreath bearers for the Lord Mayor, The Presiding Officer Dame Rosemary Butler AM and the President of the Cardiff branch of the Royal British Legion Mr Wyn Calvin. MBE.
Well done to the 55 Chief Scout’s Gold, 11 Chief Scout’s Platinum, 7 Chief Scout’s Diamond, 10 Gold Duke of Edinburgh and 11 Queen’s Scout Award recipients presented at the annual Lord Mayor’s Own presentation hosted by Rt Hon the Lord Mayor Cllr Margaret Jones.
New Appointment
Grant meeting dates Looking to purchase something
Chris Parsons
Barry District Commissioner Chris is very well known in the District and has held various roles including his current Assistant Group Scout Leader Role. He has a breadth of scouting knowledge built up not only in Barry, but through his involvement across the Area and in the national Scout Association. This coupled with his professional experience equip him well for the role.
Website stats (for our Techie readers)!
Last year the area website received 34,000 visitors with 305,000 pages viewed resulting in 72.7Gb of data being transferred.
during 2015?
nt towards it. The Then see if you can obtain a gra mmittee will take meetings of the Grants Sub-Co place on the following dates. 16th July 15th January 20th August 19th February 17th September 19th March 15th October 16th April 19th November 21st May 17th December 18th June ge of the Area Forms available on the Grants pa @catvog.org website or by contacting: grants
New website!
Approval has now been granted for the long overdue redevelopment of the Area website. Please let us know if you have see n any good Scouting websites and what you would like to see on the new site. Contact: comms@c atvog.org
Photo of the month - December
A special guest arrived to say hello to all of the very excited Beavers during the 22nd Cardiff Beaver sleepover. Remember to keep sending your images in to comms@catvog.org
Swimming Gala dates 2015
u o y r o f s Update
It has been confirmed that the Swimming Gala heats will take place on Sunday 1st March and the final on Sunday 29th March (2.30pm to 5.30pm on 1st March and 3.30pm to 5.30pm on 29th March.) It will be held at Penarth Leisure Centre as this has now re-opened.
STRETCHED WINGS TOWARDS THE SOUTH
Entry forms, rules and further details of the gala are on the events page of the Area website.
www.stretchedwings.com You can see an image of the 4th Cardiff Troop Flag in The Gallery Section ~ image 41/50.
Macmillan coffee morning
On behalf of Sue Ryan may I thank everyone who so generously supported the MacMillan Coffee morning at the Hub today. We raised in the region of £130, which I’m sure will be greatly received by the charity. For those who had more than two of the superb cup cakes (that’s me!) it’s extra long dog walks for a week to help the waistline.
Training or permit assessment hillwalking/climbing weekend
April 6th to 9th in Snowdonia, cost £95pp. Contact AAC Activities Steve Evans for further details: activities@catvog.org
The Flags of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13
For all Polar enthusiasts, a virtual online exhibition has been launched about the flags from Scott's 'Terra Nova' expedition. The exhibition web-site is designed primarily for touch screen and mobile devices but it will also work happily on your lap-top/PC (although older browsers may not support the site's full functionality). It can be found at:
Scout Community Week 2015 Scout Community Week 2015 will take place Saturday 3 October to Sunday 11 October 2015. Build upon the success of 2014 by making a bigger impact by focusing on four specific social issues with a range of resources and tools available. Make a positive impact in your community, prepare your members to be active citizens and embrace and contribute to social change.
Spring into summer… Come and join us for an action-packed day out at Gilwell Park or Woodhouse Park Scout Activity Centre in 2015. Fundays is the largest event in the year for Scouting’s younger members, Beavers and Cubs. And Rainbows and Brownies are invited too… Running at the beginning of the summer, we’ve had some sizzling events in the past. At our past events there have been a wide range of different activities on offer, including the usual favourites: aerial runways, abseiling and climbing, high ropes, rafting, water slides, grass sledging, prusiking, and our famous 3G swing. All this, plus face painting, bouncy castles and a fairground. There will be something for everyone in your group, whether they’re interested in adventure, creativity or something new. http://fundays.scouts.org.uk/
1st Penmark with Porthkerry collect ramble trophies Following the Roman treasure ramble that local Scouts, Cubs, Brownies and Guides took part in around Barry in September, the winning groups were presented with their trophies by Jane Hutt AM on November 21. Among the winners were 1st Penmark with Porthkerry Cubs. They were a team of four who took part in the ramble and two of the four were present to collect their trophy on behalf of the group. 2nd/4th Barry Scouts were also winners in their category. In addition, a donation of ÂŁ500 was made to Llandough Breast Cancer Unit. This was raised by the young people who took part in the ramble, in the form of sponsorships. Well done to everyone involved.
Scout presentation goes underground 12 Scouts from 1st Cowbridge took part in an activty weekend in the Brecon Beacons which resulted in three of them completing their 4th trip underground and qualifying for their Cavers badge. Saturday 18th October was spent on the mountains, practicing navigation skills and learning new ones with the senior Scouts using their skills to locate the wreckage of a Welling Bomber, crashed on the mountain side in 1941 and now a memorial to the Canadian RAF crew who died.
(From L-R) Edward, Chris and Harvey with Piers Hallihan after completing their 4th trip and earning the badge.
On Sunday 19th, the group was split with a team of 8 Scouts continuing their navigation practice while the remaining 4 headed deep inside the mountains. 3 of the 4 have now completed the requirements for the Cavers badge and were presented with their badges underground by CATVOG Area Caving Advisor, Piers Hallihan. These Scouts are the first in 1st Cowbridge's history to earn the Cavers badge. Scout Caving in CATVOG re-started in February of this year after a long break. As well as the three who completed their badge this weekend, more are well on the way and will complete their badges in the new year. Explorers get to join in too with two Explorers caving days planned for November. If your Troop or Unit would like to try caving, then email caving@catvog.org.
Ed, Chris, Harvey and Piers with John Forster (who is only one trip away from completing the badge) and Martin Taylor (Section Assistant with 1st Cowbridge) at the formation known at The Trident, deep inside Ogof Ffynnon Ddu.
The Scouts checking out the wreckage and memorial of the Wellington Bomber MF509
Commissioners surprise! “Kim, whilst studying
towards a PGCE & working weekends to support her studies managed to plan & deliver an amazing programme as well as trebling the number of nights away per year.�
Wednesday 21st November 2014. A day which will be remembered for a long time by those associated with the 49th Cardiff (1st Rumney) Scout Group, a full Cub pack in attendance for the first time under the current Akela and a surprise visit from the Area Commissioner Richard Edwards to award Kim Chesher 'Akela' & I (Carl) with the Commissioner's Commendation Award - the first 2 to be awarded the award since its recent re-launch. Shocked is an understatement! Rewind back to Wednesday 5th September 2012 & the first time I stepped into the Group's hall on the first night of the Cub pack's relaunch when I took my eldest lad to join. He spent that night with 2 Cubs that had returned. Over the coming months I got talking to Kim & Marc Cattle (East & South's Project Manager) & watched the Cub pack grow. Learning their desire for more Leaders & seeing the vision for the pack I knew I wanted to be part of it.
By December 2013 Marc had had to move on to support another Group, with concern for the Group's future & after discussions I was appointed GSL in March 2014. Throughout 2014 young people in the Group have grown from 44 to 75, with Beavers now experiencing attendances of 24. Each section has attended recent District events & managed nights away. Behind the scenes the Executive Committee has strengthened & managed to obtain a grant for a new boiler/radiators as well stage 2 Fayres & other fundraising streams to put the Group in its strongest financial position for a number of years. The awards & recognition are very humbling, thanks to all that have supported us both individually & as a Group. But, without the young people turning up & wanting to be there, we're no-one. It's the young people that make the Group. Here's to 2015... Carl Rogers - GSL
Area Shooting Events Calendar 2015 Please note the dates below which can be found on the Area Website, the 8 week NSRA YPS Air Rifle & Pistol courses for Scouts and Explorers can be arranged to run at your own Groups. 6 weeks’ notice is required by the Area Shooting Team. Contact Richie Phillips: shooting@catvog.org or 01446 748 688 for more details. Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th January Adult Air Gun Instructor Diploma 2 day course at 5th Barry Scout Hall (Venue and dates to be confirmed) Monday 19th January Closing date for both YPS Courses Sunday 25th January YPS 2 – 8 week course for Scouts & Explorers at 13th Cardiff Scout Hall Sundays until 22nd March Thursday 29th January YPS 1 – 8 week course for Scouts & Explorers at 5th Barry Scout Hall Thursdays until 26th March Friday 30th January Closing Date for Postal Shoot Entries and YPS Air Pistol course Thursday 5th February YPS – 8 week Air Pistol Course at 94th Penarth Scout Hall Thursdays until 2nd April Wednesday 4th March Postal Shoot Round 1 – completed and returned by Wednesday 29th April Postal Shoot Round 2 – completed and returned by
Friday 1st May Closing date for Open Air Rifle and Air Pistol competition Sunday 17th May Open Air Rifle and Air Pistol Competition at 13th Cardiff Scout Hall Open to CATVOG Districts and neighbouring Scout Areas Wednesday 27th May Postal Shoot Round 3 – completed and returned by Sunday 20th September Closing Date for Target Championships Monday 21st September Closing date for both YPS Courses Thursday 24th September YPS – 8 week Air Pistol Course at 94th Penarth Scout Hall Thursdays until 19th November Sunday 27th September Target Championships at Jubilee Field. Open to Scouts, Explorers & Adults Monday 28th September YPS – 8 week course for Scouts and Explorers at 1st Cowbridge Scout Hall Mondays until 23rd November Friday 16th to Sunday 18th October 2015 Scouts Championships, Bisley, Surrey.
Ian Moody from 1st Wenvoe is retiring from being their Group Scout leader as of the 31st December. Also Karen Ghazi-Torbati from 6th Barry is stepping down as Group Scout Leader. Both have done a great job with their groups for many years and we wish them well. If you are interested in taking on their roles, please contact Chris Parsons on 07534408767 or email barry@catvog.org for an information pack.
Rhiwbina Scouts Gain “Smallholder badge” Five scouts from 2nd Rhiwbina Troop have learnt about vegetable growing by looking after a garden over the summer. The five scouts, Rhys, Emily, Jamie, Reg and Alex met up from May to September for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoons. They grew runner beans, French beans, potatoes, peas, courgettes, pumpkins, butternut squash, radishes, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and chilli peppers. The “Jack O Lantern” pumpkins did particularly well. The produce was shared between the Scouts and the owner of the garden. In the autumn the Scout Troop had a Mexican cooking night using some of the chillies (hot!) and a pumpkin night when the scouts made soup, roasted the seeds and carved some impressive Halloween lanterns. Everyone enjoyed it and we hope to do it again next year, perhaps linking in with other “Eco” projects in the local community. Ian McDowell ASL, 2nd Rhiwbina
“All the best for Scout Post 2014”
We wish you a Happy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year See you in 2015 Submission deadline for the next Courier is: Sunday 22nd March 2015 Editor: Gareth Johns c/o The Hub CATVOG Scouts Maitland Street Gabalfa, CF14 3JU