News - Latest News
- AquaCamp, 18-20 June 2010
Scouts from 1st King Alfred, Watchfield & Shrivenham and Stanford in the Vale enjoyed two warm (mostly!) and sunny days of water activities at this year's AquqCamp at Linch Hill Leisure Centre over the weekend 18-20 June.
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They were amongst the 230 Scouts from across the County who were able to try their hand at canoeing, sailing, pulling (rowing), rafting and other wet activities laid on by the large team of instructors and helpers.
- 21/06/10 - 12:08am
- District Patrol Camp, May 2010
The early May Bank Holiday at Youlbury Scout Activity Centre was once again the focus for the annual KA District Patrol Camping Competition. Fifty Six Scouts from 5 of the Troops set up their Patrol camps (mostly without adult help, of course!) and spent the weekend impressing the judges on the smartness of their tent pitching, the tidyness of their sites, the quality of their fire areas, kitchens and gadgets and of course their team spirit. One of the main challenges was to prepare a 3 course meal on wood fires and present their meals in style for the Camp Banquet competition.
The Scouts did well and showed a good standard of camping and other Patrol skills. At the end of the weekend, the winners of the Camping Trophy were 1st King Alfred "Merlins" with Watchfield & Shrivenham "Brandon and the Machines" runners-up with Stanford "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" in third place.
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In the Camp Banquet competition W&S "Brandon and the Machines" came out as the champion chefs, with W&S "Owls" in second place and Stanford's "Mr FLAP" in third place.
The weather was mostly kind, although it decided to rain just before the tents were taken down, thus ensuring several days of drying in halls and garages was necessary!
- 21/06/10 - 12:21am
- St George's Scouting Celebrations at Shrivenham
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A sunny day, 578 Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Leaders helpers and friends and the prospect of six hours of fun and entertainment.
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That's what lay ahead for the District on 25th April when they arrived in their droves for the St George's Scouting Celebrations at Shrivenham, this year hosted by Watchfield & Shrivenham Scouts and the Defence Capability Centre at the Defence Academy.
The celebrations started with a St George's Service in a huge hall surrounded by boats and tanks and was conducted by the Defence Academy Padre Paul Swinn and Shrivenham's parish vicar Richard Hancock. Wantage Silver band were on hand to accompany the hymns. The collection, which raised £300, was shared between "Help for Heroes" and the Oxfordshire 2011 World Jamboree Contingent funds.
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Then everyone outside where Academy Sgt Major Stuart Simpson got everyone 'fell in' and marching off on the grand Parade. The Salute was taken by Station CO Wing Commander Steve Scott, the Head of the Centre Ms Kathy Clarke and our DC Gill Sharpe (plus other dignitaries from Scouting, Guiding and local organisations).
There was some apprehension as the parade marched off into the distance and came to a halt by a large, empty open grassy space half way across the College, but why? The answer soon became clear as an aeroplane was spotted in the sky (at 5,000 ft apparently), then, to everyone's surprise, out jumped members of the Royal Navy Raiders Parachute Display Team! So that was what the large "X" was for on the grass! And they all landed pretty much on target after which the team was inspected by the CO and then chatted to the assembled youngsters.
The Defence Academy caterers then did an amazing job serving up over 350 hot chicken nuggets 'n' chips for the youngsters and 200 plus curries 'n' rice in around a quarter of an hour! The good weather allowed the diners to sit out on the grass and enjoy their lunch.
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Then, an afternoon during which groups moved between bases including "hands on" tanks and guns (for climbing over, in and under!), a computer-based battle simulation exercise, aircraft and helicopters, plus go-karts and bottle rockets, mini-olympics, team challenges and orienteering. In fact, 3 hours packed with fun and excitement.
So, all in all a fantastic District Day. This was the first of the "Round the District" St George's events that District Commissioner Gill Sharpe wants the Groups to put on each year, and Watchfield and Shrivenham Scouts were pleased to host the 2010 event. Thanks go to the Defence Academy and the Defence Capability Centre in particular for going all-out to entertain us on the day. It was a lot of hard work and our thanks go to the DCC staff and others who volunteered to give up their Sunday afternoon for the Scouts. Also special thanks to the local W&S Scout planning team of Dave Read (GSL) and his eager Leaders, Andrew Churchill, their Liaison Officer for their many weeks of hard work planning the day, and the other Groups who put on or helped run some of the outdoor activity bases.
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- 14/05/10 - 10:11am
- Grove Cubs go hiking
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10 Sixers and Seconders from the 2 Grove Cub Packs braved the horrendous Easter weather to go on a 10km hike from Grove Scout hut, out through the Challows and back down through Childrey.
The hike took place on the morning of Saturday 3rd April and the Cubs were joined by 1 Scout, 4 leaders and 4 parents. The purpose of the hike was to not only climb the hill at Childrey, but to allow a bonding opportunity for the Sixers and Seconders outside of the normal pack environment.
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Whilst the route plan had been undertaken by the leaders in advance, it was the Cubs who navigated the way around the chosen route on the day itself. Leaders giving a gentle nudge in the right direction as we all wanted to get back for lunch. A well earned rest break was taken by the duck pond in Childrey.
There were not many takers for the Kendal Mint Cake, the more traditional sweets went down well and gave encouragement for the second half of the hike.
Brian Stovold joined us for the last stretch back from Challow to Grove along the canal tow path and he was able to share his knowledge of the canal with all present which gave an interesting twist to the last few kilometres and distracted some from their tired legs and aching feet.
We finished the route in a little over 3 hours, only a few minutes later than planned for the waiting parents - a couple of blisters and some sore feet, but no other problems.
Thankfully the gods were on our side with the weather and it stayed dry, but torrential rain over the previous few days made the paths very wet and muddy and no of us escaped unscathed - although no one was as muddy as Fred! Everyone made it back safe having had fun on the day and learning a few new navigation skills along the way. The Cubs were pleased to know this counted as an official Hikes Away – well done to all.
Paul Steptoe
CSL / Akela
Falcons Cub Pack
- 11/04/10 - 11:43pm
- District Swimming Gala 2010 - Results!
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Well done to 1st King Alfred Colony, Stanford in the Vale Pack and Watchfield and Shrivenham Troop for their successes in this years District Swimming Gala.
As always the competitive spirit came to the fore, especially amongst the supporters on the pool side and this year could be the noisiest ever!
Only one Colony competed for the Beaver trophies which was a bit disappointing as the number of Beaver events were increased this year. (When will County stop picking dates that clash with our gala!) This of course guaranteed them winning first place but that did not stop the two teams from battling for the honour amongst themselves.
A record entry of 11 teams across every Pack in the District caused some events to be run in three heats, after the first five events the results were very close but Stanford “Sharks” pulled out an incredible lead over the latter part of the gala and ended up worthy winners, two teams tied for 2nd place giving an indication of how close the competition was.
The Troop events were won by Watchfield and Shrivenham “Alpha” team but the final positions could not be decided until after the last race was finished. The top three teams being within three points of each other almost all of the way through.
The full results are shown below:-
Beavers
Position
Team
Points
1
1KA Nemo
28
2
1KA Bubbles
22
Cubs
Position
Team
Points
1
Stanford Sharks
35
=2
Faringdon
26
=2
4th KA
26
4
W&S Flying Fishes
23
5
W&S Sharks
19
6
Grove Jaguar Green
18
7
1st KA
14
8
Grove Jaguar Blue
13
9
Grove Falcons
11
10
Stanford Dolphins
9
11
Cuckhamsley
7
Scouts
Position
Team
Points
1
W&S Alpha
30
2
Faringdon
28
3
4th KA
27
4
Stanford in the Vale
17
5
W&S Bravo
14
6
Grove Seagulls
7
Well done to all who took part, we hope everyone enjoyed it and we hope to see you again next year. Don’t forget to put your Group names on the trophies!
Thanks must go to the intrepid Gala Crew who made it all run smoothly. It is quite a complex operation making sure that we know who is swimming; getting them into the right lanes, timing and scoring each event and finally making sure the certificates are available. This year they were over a dozen people carrying out various roles and we could not have done it without them. – Thank you.
Unfortunately this year was the last gala for the main organiser, Derek Hillbeck, who is moving away from the area with his job. Although he will stay in touch he thinks that a 160 mile trip back to run the Gala is a little bit too demanding so we are looking for volunteers to help deliver the Gala in 2011. If you know of anyone who fancies a challenge please let Gill know.
As always we strive to do better next time so if you can think of any way we can improve the format or running of the gala please feed this back to the District Team via your Group Scout Leader as we are always happy to take on board good ideas and suggestions.
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- 03/04/10 - 05:30pm