April update

We had another packed month in April with camps, expeditions, badge work and taking part in the Oxford Spires District St George's Day Parade.

Our camping season is now well and truly under way with both the Land Scouts and Sea Scouts holding weekend camps at Youlbury in April.

The Land Scouts held a tracking and survival camp on the weekend of 8-10th April, and the following week the Sea Scouts held their back-to-basics Spring camp, learning camping skills such as cooking on open fires.

The Sea Scouts woke up to snow on the first morning of their Spring camp at Youlbury.

On Saturday 16th, some of the older Land Scouts took part in an expedition from Kidlington Scout Centre in Blenheim Road to Youlbury as part of their Expedition Challenge.

The Land Scouts' expedition had a cold, wet start...

but the sun was shining by the time they reached Youlbury...

and they were soon busy preparing their evening meal...

with leader Andrew Davies showing the Scouts how it's done.

What's been happening in our regular meetings?

Mowgli Cubs spent an evening cooking on a campfire to get ready for their camp in May and visited Kidlington Fire Station

Jacala Cubs have been working towards their Skills Challenge by learning how to stay fit and healthy, and spent two weeks working towards their Communicator badge

Land Scouts had a go at making their own leather woggles

Sea Scouts continued building their Scouting Skills after Spring camp and some of the older Scouts have been sailing at Dorchester Sailing Club, working towards the Youth Sailing Scheme

The leaders, Scouts and parents have also been extremely busy getting the boat base ready for the new season on the water. The Sea Scouts will hold their Tuesday night meetings at the boat base in Wolvercote from now until September.

The heavy pulling boats are back in the water ready for the start of the boating season.

Explorer Scouts took a bike ride from the Scout centre around the villages surrounding Kidlington and held a very successful fundraising quiz night at Yarnton Road football club.

Date for the diary
Monday 6th June: Kidlington Scout Group's AGM and Open Evening

Explorer Scouts' fundraising quiz

Gordo Explorer Scouts hosted a fantastic quiz night at Yarnton Road football club on 23rd April.

There were nine rounds of questions as well as a picture quiz, with a very impressive range of prizes up for grabs.

The event was really well supported, and special thanks to Kidlington FC for the use of the club. 

Well done Gordo - we're already looking forward to the next one!

The winning team with their many prizes!

What have we been up to in March?

Several of our units took part in District and County events this month, and our regular meetings included open-fire and indoor cooking, world record attempts, a Cub pack forum and a visit from orthodontists.

District and County events

Sea Scouts - District Rush Hockey Tournament, 18th March

Seven Sea Scouts joined 10 other teams from Spires District to take part in a hockey tournament at Oxford Hawks Hockey Club in North Oxford Although our team didn't make it to the final, they won two matches, drew one and lost one. Well done all!

Jacala and Mowgli Cubs - District Treasure Hunt, 20th March
Both of our cub packs took part in the district treasure hunt around Thame, where they worked in small teams to solve clues.

Gordo Explorer Scouts - CESAW County Camp
Our Explorer Scouts joined others from around the county at Horley for a great weekend of activities that included its own colour run.

Photos from the CESAW Facebook page

At some of our regular meetings....

Jacala Cubs held a Pack Forum to find out what the Cubs would like to do.

Mowgli Cubs had a visit from the Oxford Orthodontic Clinic to learn all about oral hygiene and how much sugar is in food and drink.

 

The Sea Scouts had a wide game evening at Youlbury.

The Land Scouts learned how not to burn breakfast.

Coming up

Quiz night: Sat 23rd April 7pm (quiz starts 7:30), Yarnton Road Football Club - All welcome!

Teams of 4-6 people. Entry fee: £25 per team. No need to book.

For more info, contact: Will Mason, gordo.explorerscouts@gmail.com 

Please come along and help Gordo Explorer Scouts raise funds for new camping kit.

Fancy getting involved?

There are plenty of opportunities to join our team of adult helpers, whether you're looking to open your own Scout troop or can occasionally cut the grass at the Scout Centre!

Visit our website for more information.

Co-op donation to the Scout Group

Ever wondered what happens to all the 5ps paid for supermarket carrier bags?

Well, if you've bought a bag in a Midcounties Co-op store in Kidlington in the last few months, your money has been split between Kidlington's Girlguiding and Scout groups.

Mark Corbett, District Manager of Midcounties Cooperative Food, presented two cheques for £2450 to the Girlguiding and Scout groups on Monday 29th February and Wednesday 2nd March.

At the same time, Mark took the opportunity to talk to members of the two groups about the importance of buying Fairtrade products as part of Fairtrade fortnight.

Both Mowgli Cubs and the Land Scout Troop attended the talk on 2nd March, and were joined by Group Scout Leader Andew Innes and District Commissioner Anna Weekes. Everyone learnt how Fairtrade products have grown from just a handful of products to thousands over the last twenty years, and why choosing to buy Fairtrade products makes a difference to farmers in poorer countries.

The Cubs and Scouts asked some great questions and got to try some Fairtrade chocolate.

Midcounties Co-op chose Kidlington Girlguiding and Scout groups as their fundraising partners almost a year ago. Originally the partnership was planned to last for 12 months, but we were delighted to hear this week that it will continue until December 2016.

Over the last couple of years, the Scout Group has put all its fundraising efforts into raising money for a new cesspit at its Blenheim Road HQ. The old one was letting in groundwater and costing hundreds of pounds a year to empty. Knowing there would be extra money from this fundraising partnership meant we could go ahead with installing a new cesspit at the end of 2015, and can now look at other ways to improve our facilities and equipment.

Read more about the fundraising partnership at the Kidlington Scout Group website.

A hiking kind of a weekend

This weekend has had a bit of a theme for our Group. Gordo Explorer Scout unit took part in the 18 mile Winter Challenge hike along the Ridgeway, and Jacala Cub Pack held a sleepover and hike to complete their Navigator badge.

The team completed the 18 mile challenge in 6 hours 40 minutes

Jacala Cubs learnt about map features before setting off on their 7 mile hike

Oxford Gang Show

There were some brilliant performances from our members at the Gang Show at Radley College Theatre, including fantastic singing and hilarious sketches. And the Kidlington members in the audience were by far the most supportive (and by supportive, I mean loudest).

Jacala go diving

What better way to spend a January afternoon than learning to scuba dive? Jacala Cubs had a brilliant time at a taster session at Radley College on 24th January.