1st Roade Scouts - BASECAMP Jan 2024 Newsletter

Official Newsletter of 1st Roade Scouting

January 2024

BASECAMP 7 Scouting Resolutions

2023 in review New Year, New Adventures

Discover Inside

Jess Do It! Intergalactic Squirrel Role Models + Plenty more gallery

Inside this month’s BASECAMP Badger’s Blog

An update from our Group Scout Leader (GSL)

7 Scouting resolutions

Discover some New Year promises and pledges to make

Since we last spoke

News from the 1st Roade Scouting community

Jess Do It!

How one of our young people earnt every badge possible

The Year that was

2023 in review, with quotes and photos

All that glitters

Looking back at the Christmas craft of Beavers and Squirrels

Putting the fun in fundraiser A big thank you to our army of helping hands

Squirrel role models

Rabbit and Raccoon recognised by District

Intergalactic gallery

Our cubs have been busy portraying the planets.

January’s Cover Star is Emily (Cubs), taken when the Cave Bus entertained the group last summer.

Log in to Online Scout Manager

Badger’s blog.

We haven’t just been sat enjoying mince pies and pigs in campfire blankets though. No, during the break we have still found time to get together as leaders, alongside a box of Quality Street or two, to plan and prepare this term’s programme for all sections; from Squirrels to Scouts.

First up, the whole 1st Roade Scouting team would like to wish you a very Happy New Year.

We like to try and keep things fresh and interesting and the 12 week plan we’ve put together - starting from this Tuesday (9 Jan) - is just that.

Here’s to a scouting 2024 full of fun, life skills, challenges, teamwork and adventure!

As much as I love Christmas, and the hectic run up to it, I also look forward to the start of a new scouting term in a New Year. The leaders come back refreshed from the break and with renewed energy to go again. Our young people quickly get back into the Tuesday routine of things with bundles of energy, and are always eager to tell us about their Christmasses.

The two weeks off are definitely good all round to recharge the batteries.

We’ve also been able to use family feedback in a few areas to improve the programme.

From Pancake Day, green fingered gardeners badges and tent peg/totem challenges to more nights away camping, cooking and hiking, we’re back to doing some more traditional scouting.

The programme is up and running on OSM so, let’s get going!

Badger

Scouting Resolutions Do more for your local community.

It is one resolution we have for the whole of 1st Roade group, and it’s to be even more active within the village, volunteering to help out with community projects.

From litter picking, assisting the Community Larder, to weeding of the villages green spaces, we will be encouraging our young people to show some real community spirit and get stuck in throughout the year.

Mingle More.

A resolution that fits directly to parent feedback into us; mingle more on a Tuesday – with other sections - so you can meet other scouting young people of other ages. It will help when you move up through the sections. Maybe even make friends with fellow young people in lodges, sixes and patrols to widen your friendship groups.

Commit to the cause.

Attending weekly sessions is one thing, but pledging to represent 1st Roade at community events, fundraisers, parades and services is quite another. Only a small number of our young people actually fully commit to the scouting cause each time we put the call out – and it’s usually the same faces. So this year, why not pledge to be an ever present who turns up come rain or shine?

Take up a new hobby/sport It’s a regular resolution of people of all ages, but taking up a new hobby or sport – and particularly one that can lead to a staged activity scouting badge – is definitely one we’d encourage.

From Sailing, Ice skater and musician to artist, entertainer or equestrian there are plenty of hobbies and sports to choose from.

Keeping it friendly

Go on a digital detox Scouting is all about outdoor adventure, fresh air and developing new outward bound traditional skills. So we’d encourage all young people to put down the games controller, tablet, mobile phone, tv remote or switcn and embrace a more digital detox away from scouting sessions. How about try cutting your screen time by 20-30% weekly?

Start a new collection Bringing personal pleasure, pride and joy, collating a collection - be it trading cards, coins, comics, stamps, fridge magnets, keyings, toy cars, painted rocks or even teddies - encourages the worldly wise life values of commitment, focus, organisation, expertise, as well as teaching the value of money. The scouting Collectors Badge is one of the most popular to earn.

What New Year resolution will you pledge to, and promise to keep?

Scouting is something best shared with friends, so we’d love all of our young people - be it a Squirrel, Beaver, Cub or Scout, to talk openly and honestly about being part of 1st Roade. We are confident your pride, and sense of fun for the weekly sessions will inspire your non scouting friends to give us a whirl. Go on, encourage your classmates too.

Since For your diary we last spoke The Scouting term runs weekly from Tuesday 9 January 2024, and there’s a 12 week programme of activity at the Football Club.

Tuesday 20 February (February Half Term)

However, there are a number Tuesday 2 April Tuesday 9 April of Tuesdays when sessions (Easter Holidays) for all sections won’t run.

Full steam ahead Log in to Online Scout Manager

From making pancakes and Squirrel’s Super Chef cooking and Cub’s comic book designs to new camp weekends to Easter Egg hunts, gardening badges and sessions on Fair Trade, Recycling, and even tent peg challenges, there’s so much to look forward to this term, right up to 26 March.

The programme for all sections has been set up on OSM (Online Scout Manager) now so you can take a look and get your young people inspired.

We will also be revealing the dates and prices of camps and day trips so please log in and refresh yourself with how it all works.

Have you paid this term’s subs yet?

Thank you to those families who have paid their £40 subs for this term - starting in January 2024.

This month’s recommendation to work towards your Book Lovers badge.

This recommendation really is a No Brainer!

The 18th book in the internationally popular Wimpy Kid series was launched at the end of last year and is a Number 1 best seller already. It's up to Wimpy Kid Greg and his classmates to save his school before it's shut for good.

When Greg realises he's being sent to a different school than his best friend, he decides to do somthing about it.

Subs were due on 19th December so please pay them asap. With camps and day trips coming up, we’d hate for young people to miss out because subs were unpaid.

Squirrels Sleepover overnighter of the The eagle eyed among you will have year. We are just confirming up plans seen a Squirrels on price and location. sleepover on the programme of activity So keep your eye on for this term.

OSM for more info Please mark 23 March over the coming 2024 in your diary as weeks. our first Squirrels

Thank you. A bumper Birthday Roll call.

A big Scouting thumbs up to our friends at Roade Community Larder who ran a community tombola at one of their December openings and awarded the funds raised to 1st Roade.

This random act of kindness and goodwill put another £46.50 into our fundraising kitty, We will make sure we put it to good use at our Tuesday sessions across all sections.

Roade Community Larder runs out of the Village Hall on Monday lunch times.

Everyone connected to 1st Roade Scouts would like to wish a big scouting Happy Birthday, in January, to:

Rocco Lyla Amolay Star Jack Robert Aiden Olivia Oscar A Maria-Rose Nick Have a fab day, however you choose to celebrate.

Land of Everyone’s Lights trip, a winner. a success After an evening of brain teasers and a test of Cub’s knowledge, we were all set to announce the winners of the Cub’s festive quiz, hosted by Kite.

Imagine our surprise then when the annual quiz ended in a 5 team draw, with each team finishing on the same number of points.

Questions ranged from Christmas pantos, scouting history, books and what we’ve learnt about the leaders last term.

Well done all.

Over 40 Squirrels and their families joined the leaders for an ‘enlightening’ preChristmas evening out at the Land of Lights in Milton Keynes - and it has positively received by all that attended..

JESS From Cook and Camp Crafter to Money Skills and Photography, there are 23 activity badges in the Beavers set. Add in 6 challenge badges including an adventure quest and personal challenge - and 1st Roade’s Jessica has earned every single one of them.

Complete the collection with the Chief Scout’s Bronze Award - the highest accolade a Beaver can earn - and it all adds up to some haul for Jess, and a great deal of sewing for her adults.

It all means the sleeve of her uniform is a rich record of all the skills she’s turned her hand to, and given a go.

“The last badge she earnt was the Global Issues Badge”, Beaver leader Owl says. “For the Faith badge, she read out a prayer in the school assembly.”

What parents and carers probably don’t know is that paracord craft is big business and we can’t move for Christmas Paracord decoration videos on Youtube.

Search Paracord Christmas Ornament and be inspired

Jessica was named Beaver of the Year, back in May. It is easy to see why.

It takes a great deal of focus, dedication, commitment as well as time at home to make your way through the badge collection.

Jess swam up to Cubs in September, ready to add to her collection as she settles into her new pack.

The year that was.

2023: what a year!

BASECAMP asked some of our younger members to each pick out their scouting highlights and key memories from the past 12 months.

There were plenty of firsts for our Squirrels Drey, plenty of outdoor fun for our Beavers, and our Cubs got stuck in the mud on many a hike and, especially, county camp last summer.

And there were plenty of positives to choose For our Scout troop it was from. also back to basics with a From overnight camping with county cubs in a muddy field, and our first Squirrels scurry to cave pods, fishing with the Scouts, Halloween trails, trips out to the fire station, Hazard Alley, MK Safety Hub, Conkers and of course Gullivers, 2023 was a busy one for all the sections of 1st Roade.

real focus on bushcraft and traditional scouting skills, such as open fire cooking, suvival skills and team work.

And we all came together for St Georges parade, village gala and Remembrance Sunday.

Lyla & Star’s Favourite was going to the pantomine, because it was their first one.

Sophie listed lots, but she said she loved sleeping at Gullivers, the trip to Conkers & the caving pod.

Luke’s favourite 2023 memory was the Squirrels’ Easter Camp at Cosgrove. It was also his first time ever staying away.

Annabella’s was the camp fire night, singing Boris the Spider and that Daddy could come.

Toby has said his faves were Gullivers & Conkers & the cave pods. He can’t choose just one thing!

All that glitters… ...Must be gold, right?

Well, not always but our crafty Squirrels and Beavers did shimmer and shine their way through a Christmas Craft session, which was full to bursting with sparkle.

And no shortage of glitter.

But we also like to make sure any craft activity we host catches their imagination and goes beyond simply colouring.

Our festive crafts were great fun and got the young people excited for the festivities.

There were handmade We know the young people Christmas cards to jazz up, with glittery sprinkles and do enjoy an arts and craft even googly eyes. session every now and then, proving that scouting Another station saw the is not all about campfires, childen design their own badges and outdoor wooden baubles, with adventure. some choosing to display them on the Christmas tree in the football club.

Then there was the reindeer food, packed with all the goodness of rolled oats, and magic dust to help Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and ‘Eric’ fly on Christmas Eve. Yes, Eric (that was a reindeer name suggested by one of the Squirrels) Given the choice of ‘super fast ‘ dust or sprinkles that ensured the reindeers had the staying power to go right round the world, speed won!

Oh, and to the Squirrels who tucked into the real gold nuggets in the super fast magic dust - we hope you haven’t taken flight at 300mph just yet.

Whilst the Squirrels and Beavers were getting crafty, the Cubs enjoyed one of Kite’s festive quizzes.

The Scouts had started their own festive craft project, making hand crafted wooden tea light holders, each with a festive designed scorched into the wood using a soldering iron under the supervision of the troop leaders.

The pyrography proved a big hit with the Scouts, and some of the designs were exceptional.

Putting the fun into fundraiser.

We have raised in excess of £3,000 in fundraising for the 1st Roade Scout group coffers during 2023.

Can you help our fundraising efforts fly?

Boosted by our twice yearly jumble sales, online nearly new sales, contributions from local organisations and family fun activities at the village’s summer gala, we are super proud of this total.

Do you work for a business that offers employees a fund matching scheme as a way for supporting the community? If so, we’d like to hear from you.

In many instances, this could really help double our fundraising at events such as jumble sales.

We’ve even been crushing cans in their hundreds to earn a few extra pennies.

It is especially important to us as we make it our mission, as a not-for-profit organisation, never to intentionally inflate the costs of camps, day trips or ticketed events to families so to take a profit ourselves.

It is marvellous reward for plenty of hard work, time and manpower put in by our wonderful volunteer army of helping hands who helped man stalls, sell refreshments, set up activities, or imagined up some fun ideas for us to get stuck into.

But we can’t do it alone – and we’d like to extend our thanks to the whole scouting community, whether it be for donating brica-brac, clothes and toys for the jumble sales, baking cakes for us to sell or just popping along to a fundraiser to spend some spare change.

We have some grand, and exciting, plans in 2024, to put the funds raised to maximum use and make scouting life easier for many.

So watch this space!

Organisation that offer fund matching as a perk include: banks & building societies, insurance companies, supermarkets, construction firms, transport hubs, FTSE100 businesses, utilities providers, phone companies and car manufacturers – so please ask your HR contacts.

Role Models

Our Squirrels will learn all about role models and the inspirational people in their lives during January, and they won’t need to look too far from the drey to spot a couple who more than qualify.

Squirrels leaders Rabbit and Raccoon, aka Claire and Jo, have been recognised for their excellence and influence in setting up the 1st Roade Squirrels - the first drey in the district - by being

Check out the full programme

handpicked to be key cogs in the Squirrels District Support and Programme team, who hold the responsibility of setting the programme of activities across Northamptonshire.

With more Squirrel dreys being set up in the District in 2024, Claire and Jo will be a

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crucial part of the future direction, and we ae confident this can only be to the benefit of future Squirrels who join 1st Roade.

Their influence and value to District has already seen; our Squirrels were invited to the first ever Squirrels scurry an event we enhanced with the first ever overnighter.

Intergalactic gallery

it was fantastic to see lots of Cubs get arty just ahead of Christmas, to create artwork that depicts the solar system. Perfectly displaying the planets was part of the homework they needed to complete in order to earn their Astronomy badge.

Showed off at the last Cubs session, or uploaded via OSM and Whatsapp, we think the artwork is so out of this world, we wanted to create this intergalactic gallery and share some with the world.... and maybe even further afield..

If your Cub has not yet completed their solar system artwork, please let them be inspired by these examples, and create their own.

They can be drawn, modelled, made out of fruit, balls or anything that comes to hand. As long as they are labelled and shown to Fox, then they can help towards the Astronomer Badge.

BASECAMP

We’d like to celebrate all achievements of our young people, in and outside of Scouting.

Send any photos and details, and we’ll do our best to feature them in future editions of BASECAMP :

roade.chairman@hotmail.com roade.treasurer@hotmail.com