3rd Hampton Hill Scout Group

Please see the attached letter detailing next spring’s National Smallbore Rifle Association’s Youth Proficiency Scheme which teaches Scouts all about the safe use of rifles (and pistols if you’re lucky).

3rd Hampton Hill excel at target shooting and this course will give your Scout or newly joined cub all they need to know about this sport. All students will then be eligible for direct entry into the tournaments we compete in throughout the year, including the Nationals where we did so well this autumn. Places fill fast so get your application in now.

In an exciting evening’s swimming with 12 troops competing 3rd Hampton Hill’s valiant swimmers retained the gala trophy making three wins in the last four years after never having excelled at all in previous years. Our junior team of Ruth, Jamie A and Ben M won the 12 and under section with both Jamie and Ben winning their heats and Ben winning in the breaststroke final, Jamie getting a good 2nd. Ruth also made the finals and improved on her place in the heats by taking 3rd place. All three made up the relay team and won both the heat and final by a good margin.

In the senior section there was some strong competition from 2nd Whitton for our team of Alex, Alice and Tate. Alice and Alex won their heats impressively and all three swimmers reached the finals. Alex won his final, Alice was just piped in her final by the 2nd Whitton Scout who it has to be said was surprised to have been pushed so hard and Tate managed a strong 3rd place in his final. All was set up for a very exciting relay final against 2nd Whitton’s team, however much to everyone’s disappointment they were disqualified for an error in the heats leaving us to win an anticlimactic final by a country mile. Once again we won the 14 and under section and this combined with the younger teams victory meant only one overall result.

Our thanks go especially to Sheila and Tony for their assistance with team selection and timekeeping on the evening and to Salim for being willing to uphold the honour of 3HH in the adult race and save me the embarrassment of coming last! Well done to our impressive team who would have taken the overall trophy with our without 2nd Whitton being in the relay (to whom we send our commiserations).

It only seems 5 minutes since we were all away for the 2008 camps, but just a quick note to advise you of the planned 2009 Scout Camp dates in case you want to get them in your diary:

Easter Camp. 14 - 18 April 2009. Hopefully at Bentley Copse near Shere in Surrey.

Summer Camp. 25 July - 1 August 2009. Hopefully at Tolmers in Hertfordshire.

(In the unlikely event that we can’t secure places at the sites during these weeks there is a slight chance that we might have to adjust the dates - but we’re pretty confident that they should be OK)

In addition there will of course be a range of other opportunities to get away under canvas during the year. In particular, the Richmond Upon Thames District’s tri-annual Twickeree event has come around again and will be held from Friday evening 19th through to Sunday 21st June 2009 at Marble Hill Park.

More details to follow…

Regards Paul, John and Simon

As part of the ‘Faith Partnership Award’, we are lucky enough to visit … Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha which is in Alice Way, Hanworth Road, Hounslow, Middlesex TW3 3UA.

Date : Tues 18th November 2008 7pm-8pm. Joint Meeting for Both Scout Troops. Full Scout Uniform must be worn.

Please arrive promptly – allowing plenty of travel time since the roads can get a bit busy and we’d like to make a prompt start. On arrival please congregate in the car park. DO NOT go straight in unless you are late. All visitors must cover their head when inside the temple; we’d suggest that you use a hat, scarf or shawl. Please also be aware that all visitors will need to remove their shoes (storage is provided) and wash their hands on arrival.

Invite and a map to print out is attached.

Mark

The Scouts enjoyed their annual Fires and Fireworks evening last Friday. Quite a few sausages and marshmallows were ‘lightly grilled’ over open fires :). Well done to the Scouts for getting their fires going quickly despite the slightly damp conditions.

A Big Thanks to Richard and Ben for safely letting off all the fantastic Fireworks for us.

A special thanks also to Danny from Taps Newsagents in the High Street for supplying us with a great selection of very entertaining and enjoyable fireworks.

Don’t forget that the New Troop Starts this Tuesday 11th November 2008! Meeting time is 7pm - 9pm. Don’t be late.

We were also fortunate to receive a ‘Start Up Grant’ of £100 from The Scout Association Grants Board. This Board helps with ‘Development’ and supports such things as the creation of new Sections. The money will be put to good use to support both Troops with additional resources.

Scouts, if you’d like to take part in this event, which we are past winners of, please see the attached rules and regs. In short you’ll need to get a team of up to four together (no more than one PL and one APL per team), select a menu as guided by the rules, preferably prepare the meal with your team as a trial in advance and then do it all for real on the day.

Please read the rules carefully so you understand what you need to do, for example compiling a list of kit you’ll need from the 3HH campstore and from home, as well as ensuring receipts for your shopping are taken with you on the day. If you’d like to do this then please get a team together and return the attached form to me ASAP.

Please note, collection of equipment from 3HH and transport to and from the event will have to be carried out by Scout parents as the leadership team and rest of the troop will be at the St James Church leaf sweep that day.

3rd Hampton Hill boasted it’s biggest ever team at this year’s National Scout Air Championships and came away with it’s best ever result!

The event was held at the world centre of smallbore shooting in Bisley, Surrey on the 18th and 19th October 2008 and ended up with rewards beyond all expectation. Our team of 12 Scouts, one Young Leader and seven adults took part in the standard disciplines of 6-yard rifle and pistol along with the knockout competition and the challenging field target against an entry of over 700 Scouts.

Along with this our team members also took part in the optional small and full-bore shooting, own pistol and rifle competitions and the biathlon involving running and shooting; two activities that are not usually associated.

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Those scouts who didn’t attend the Bisley NRSA competition spent the evening at Twickenham Rifle and Pistol club’s 10 metre indoor ranges.

The range is far longer than the one in our own HQ and proved a pretty tricky challenge for everyone! We had a cracking time, with some real improvements in the scout’s performance after some keen instruction from Simon F and Les (and a stark reminder to the scout leader to go and get some stronger glasses ).

Many thanks to all of those at the club who hosted our visit, and especially to Simon F and Mel for coming down to act as range officers for us.

Hi all, just a quick reminder on the programme for the next few weeks:

* Next Friday we’re swimming at Hampton Pool, between 7 and 9pm. This will be a swimming gala selection session, swimming staged badge session or just a fun swim for those that want. The cost is no more than £3.

* The following Friday 31st October is half term and therefore no Scouts

* Friday 7th November will be our first night in the split troop format, although will be a joint evening of fires and fireworks at the HQ. Please bring what you want to cook.

As for the swimming gala, we need a team of minimum six Scouts to see if we can retain the trophy. Of necessity the team must comprise of 3 x “12 and unders” and 3 x “14 and unders” so all Scouts are welcome to trial. We’ll also need a parent or two to assist at both the gala and at the practice evening if possible. Please see attached info.

We’ll be meeting in the very near future to decide and confirm the two troops and will advise everyone soon after where they’ll be. Early indications are that everyone will end up on their preferred evening.

The 3HH Scouts were pleased to host a visit from representatives of the Hampton Hill & Fulwell Safer Neighbourhoods police team: PC Rhys and PCSO Lisa.

The scouts split into two smaller groups to discuss issues such as “stop and search” and personal safety / bullying. The officers also did some bicycle security marking for us and had a go at fingerprinting some of the scouts (the evidence of which went home with the scouts!).

Many thanks to Rhys and Lisa for their time.

Hi all, as indicated by email, here is the information required for all Scouts going to our troop evening at Twickenham Rifle and Pistol Club. You’ll need to take with you on the evening a completed Permission Form and £3. You’ll also need to make your own way there and a MAP is attached.

A quick reminder that we have invited the Hampton Hill & Fulwell Safer Neighbourhoods police team to join us at Scouts this coming Friday. As well as having the chance to get to meet them, the Police Officers will also spend some time discussing issues such as stop and search as well as personal safety.

While with us we’re hoping that they’ll also be able to do some bike marking for anyone who wants it done. If you’d like to get you bike marked up - and as a result, increase the chances of getting it back again if stolen in the future - then please just bring it along with you on Friday (and make sure that you know your home post code!!)

With the full results still awaited, we are not yet aware of how well our teams did this Sunday beyond knowing that we didn’t win overall. 3rd Hampton Hill did however prove their mettle with all 12 participants turning up and walking the course for the day.

Our three PLs leading the team did really well with Alex’s team completing the course, Elliott’s team being forced to stop one base short much to their frustration and Gavin being a couple of bases short of completion which for him was a real achievement considering he started the day quite unwell.

All of our Scouts were winners as none of them gave up, all of them remained in good form and whatever their achievement their spirit makes me proud and showed true Scouting values. The team members were Will W, Will H, Tom H, Ruth, Tate, Rory, Ben M, Eddy, Sam S.

Scouts and Parents: Don’t forget we have an important evening this Friday 26 Sept. There is the Christian Aid Tea Party and also the discussion about how we will move to having Two Scout Troops!

See the earlier post for more information. See you there!