1st Brookside Scouts

Sponsored Bike Ride

1st Brookside Cubs and Scouts were supposed to be doing a sponsored cycle ride today to try and raise funds for the group.

Unfortunately, the weather has put paid to that idea for this weekend but they will be rescheduled in the next week or two.

When the rain lets up for long enough for them to do it, the Scouts will be cycling 26 miles and the Cubs 10 miles.

We need your help

1st Brookside Scouts held its AGM on Thursday 21st May at our headquarters.

After 6 years of service, Sue stood down as Secretary and was replaced by another parent, Leanne.  Martin was re-elected as Chairman and Deb as Treasurer.  Gary stood down as Group Scout Leader and a replacement will be appointed by the District Commissioner in due course.

The last 12 months has seen our long-time Leader, Dave Greening, leave 1st Brookside Scouts after almost three decades in the job and Paul take over as Leader for Cubs and Scouts.  We also saw a Beaver colony at 1st Brookside for the first time, led by Charlotte.

The headquarters now has heating but the convection heaters that were installed have proven to be largely ineffective so we are investigating the possibility of replacing them with ambi-rad heaters which heat people rather than the air.  We had the electrics replaced in the building when we had the heating installed so the only thing preventing us from getting them is cost.

1st Brookside needs three things:

• Adult helpers.  We have one Leader (Paul) for both Cubs and Scouts and rely on parents to help out at both as Paul isn’t allowed to run the sessions on his own.  Having only one warranted Leader means that when Paul goes on holiday or has to work, Cubs and Scouts will have to be cancelled.  We have avoided this so far thanks to Paul’s dedication and enough parents volunteering.  We need more adult helpers, especially those who are willing to train as a Leader.
• Children.  There are minimum and maximum ages for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts which means that children are moving up through the groups all the time.  When a Beaver moves up to Cubs or a Cub moves up to Scouts or a Scout moves up to Explorers, they need replacing to keep numbers at a viable level.  We need you to send your children to us!
• Money.  Money makes the world go round.  It also pays the bills.  The headquarters is a listed building and a draughty old chapel.  It’s a real asset for the group – it’s big, it’s in a good location and it’s ours to use when we need it.  But it’s also expensive to heat and maintain.  We need to install new heating, we need hot running water and a new floor.  We need lots of expensive things!

Cubs and Scouts are both doing a sponsored bike ride to raise money for the group.  The Cubs will be doing a 10 mile ride and Scouts will be doing a 26 mile ride.  If you would like to sponsor the Cubs and Scouts or just get more information about Beaver, Cubs and Scouts for your children or yourself, please contact us.

The post-AGM entertainment was provided by the Cubs and Scouts.  Cubs did a Britain’s Got Talent sketch and Scouts did a dance and a surreal … well, it defies explanation to be honest.  Here’s a video of the Britain’s Got Talent sketch:

Calling all Beavers!

1st Brookside Scouts now has a Beaver Colony!

Children aged 6-8 who are too young for Cubs can now come to Beavers on Thursdays between 5:30 and 6:30pm.

Beavers is a brand new group for 1st Brookside, made possible by the sad demise of the Stirchley Scout group.

As with Cubs and Scouts, we will accept children from anywhere in the area but our traditional catchment area is Brookside, Stirchley, Aqueduct and surrounding areas.

Wrekin Camp

Our Scouts spent the weekend at the Wrekin Scout camp.  The weather wasn’t great but it is October and the Scouts didn’t care if they got a bit cold and damp.  They stood on top of the Wrekin nice and dry and watched the rain rolling across Telford.

Scout Camp at the Wrekin

1st brookside Scouts are camping today and tomorrow at the Wrekin Camp.

They left the Scout hut this morning at 9am and will return tomorrow at 4pm.

Parents picking up children from the camp will need to be at the Wrekin Camp for 3pm on Sunday.

Cubs on Camp

Our Cubs are at a District camp this weekend in the grounds of a huge country estate in Shropshire.

Here are three of them waiting to be shown to their tent …

Scouts will be joining them tomorrow.

Cubs & Scouts litter pick at McDonalds

Around a dozen cubs and scouts from 1st Brookside were at McDonalds on the Forge Retail Park this morning for a litter pick.

Several bags of rubbish were collected from around the retail park and the children were rewarded by McDonalds with free food and drink.

Our scouts then held a fund-raising tombola and name the teddy bear competition, ably assisted by our Chairman and Secretary.

Thanks to all the parents, cubs, scouts and Leader, Paul, for helping out and to McDonalds for supervising, providing the equipment and food.

Supermarket Vouchers

A big thank you to everyone who gave their Sainsbury’s and Tesco vouchers to 1st Brookside.

Using the vouchers we got some new sports equipment and a new first aid box.

When the supermarkets start handing out the new sets of vouchers, please collect them for 1st Brookside Cubs & Scouts.  We always need new equipment and I’m sure we would all rather the supermarkets paid for it rather than having to ask parents for donations!

Summer Break and free spaces

1st Brookside Cubs & Scouts will be breaking up for the summer after their next session.

Cubs are breaking up this Thursday, 16th of July and Scouts are breaking up next Monday, 20th of July.

Scouts will be returning on Monday 14th September and Cubs will be returning on Thursday 17th September.

When we reconvene after the summer break, we will have the following places available:

• Cubs: 6
• Scouts: 4

If you would like your child to start either Cubs or Scouts after the summer break, please get in touch as soon as possible as places have been snapped up very quickly in the last few months.