3rd Hampton Hill Scout Group

Admittedly a touch belated … but we’re delighted to share the photos from this ever favourite of Scout activities.

Do you think that you might be able to do any better next year?!

The Scouts have been coming up with some proposed names for the new troops. As you can see there was a mix of traditional and more modern options…

Do you have great ideas? If so, please let us know by adding a comment below. It’s simple.

Hi all, please find attached the autumn term programme. All information is in the letters so I won’t go into details here except to highlight our Troop split discussion evening (letter attached) for all parents on Friday 26th September where we’ll be serving refreshments with monies raised going to Christian Aid.

For those taking part in the National Scout Air Rifle Championships (practice starting on Thursday 18th September), please find attached the information letter and permission to shoot form required by all.

Dayprowl is on Sunday 5th October and as such there’s very little time to get your application in for this day hike with the focus on fun. We had a lot of interest from the Scouts for this one so please download the form and return ASAP.

The forms for the swimming gala and cooking competition will follow in due course as will information about the Sikh temple visit.

The Scouts held their Summer camp deep in the New Forest at the wonderful Ferny Crofts. We got very muddy in the bomb hole, celebrated two birthdays, made a pilgrimage to the home of Scouting on Brownsea to renew our promise, built sandcastles on the beach before munching through fish & chips, and got camouflaged up by soldiers at Beaulieu.

In between we lit the odd fire, climbed very high towers, went for a bike ride, tried using a sextant, cooked over open fires using just aluminium foil instead of pans and learnt to build rafts that then fell to bits… whoops!

A selection of photos have been added – with more to come soon. Just click to see what we got up to.

It was a fast paced and intensive week. We’ve never before run such a large Scout camp: 2 minibuses, 2 transit vans stuffed full of kit, 26 scouts, 2 young leaders, an average of 6 adults per day, and a couple of other children tagging along for the ride. (We also chomped through 592 rashers of bacon, lots of sausages and tons of cake )

Everyone was thoroughly done in by the time we came home. Let’s just say there must have been a fair number of bathrooms in Hampton Hill sporting a new tide mark the night that we came home!

Massive thanks to all the leaders and supporters who came along to make the week possible. Well done on pulling together a first rate camp. But mostly, well done to the Scouts for making the most of the time on camp.

Simon

Hi all. To avoid that last minute flurry of phone calls over the next couple of days, I’ve summarised all the Scout camp information below.

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Hi all, just before we break up for the summer, we thought you’d like to know about some incredibly important and exciting breaking news……

Everyone knows from the pleas for help that have appeared from the Troop repeatedly in recent months that we’ve been struggling with the Troop at the size it is with the feed through from two Cub packs only exacerbating the problem. We’ve put in place various processes and procedures to control things but being victims of our own success, we still continue to grow and could be starting the autumn term with a troop size of 50! Unbelievably and after much discussion we have agreed to open a second Troop night on Tuesdays from 7 – 9pm and our target is to begin after the October half term.

We’ll still need some buy in from you our parents to both make this possible and support our gallant leaders and we’ll be letting you know more details when we start again on Friday 12th September.

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The search is over, the competition won and a new Superscout has been crowned for 2008. The Scouts had to compete in a number of disciplines, some sporting, some mental and ones of accuracy.

In the under 12s the placings were:
3rd Will W 41 points
2nd Tom H 44 points
1st Rosie J with 48 points

And in the 14 and under:
3rd Alice CB with 39 points
2nd Alex L with 42 points
1st Ramy C with 46 points

So the overall winner and congratulations for being the first female winner of Superscout is Rosie J.

A team of Scouts comprising Jack O, Will H, Ben T and Tom H being the designers and constructors of the best water rocket at troop nights, represented us at the above competition. This was an excellent evening with beautiful weather and despite feeling somewhat intimidated by the size and complexity of the competition we did ourselves proud with our basic (but efficient) launcher and single-stage rocket.

Apart from recording the longest time the rocket stayed in the air, the object is to land your rocket in a 10m wide zone some 65 metres away which gives 30 bonus seconds. There were adjoining 15m wide landing zones in front and behind the target zone giving an additional 15 and 20 seconds respectively. With our first launch, we pressurised the rocket to 60psi before pulling the release and were rewarded with a beautifully parabolic flight which flew over the main target zone, landing in the next one over. 50psi saw our second flight also just overfly the main target zone, but our third shot at 45psi landed spot on.

We didn’t win any awards on the night but are reasonably sure that we embarrassed quite a few much more professional looking outfits. For full results when published and photos etc, please follow this link. Thanks to Fiona and Darrell for being there ‘just in case’ and to all our supporters.

Report from star reporter Fiona J.

Well, the final result was that we got to both finals, but unfortunately lost out each time.

Admittedly (and unbiased of course), the under 12′s were robbed. They were 1-0 up when Richmond North scored a goal, but as their player was in the box, it should have been disallowed. We had all been strictly told not to argue with the ref at the beginning of the tournament, so neither the boys, nor parents argued about the decision. Our team were so stunned that it wasn’t long before another goal went in. Still, considering it was the only game we lost, and having never played together before the boys all did really well. The wind was a factor in the game as it was so strong and astro turf makes the ball move faster anyway. They were all stars – particularly Nick C for turning up with 20 minutes notice, as unfortunately Jack P was in Farnborough for the day. Ramy C was a great goalie and Rhiannon N was a star (she plays for Hampton youth) so was a very useful player. Robin and Archie J contributed as well – they all had a great day.

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In preparation for the annual NPL Water Rockets competition, 3HH Scouts squeezed some last minute practice into their programme and choose the winning rocket.

Massive fun was had by all. You can click on the photo to see more of what we go up to!

Hi all, a few reminders for you and some important information regarding a change in the planned programme.

Firstly to the programme changes – we’ve had to swap round the hike planned for next Friday 27th June with Superscout. Superscout, the ultimate challenge for Scouts is now next Friday 27th June so Mark will have to bring the trophy back. As usual one of the activities will be air rifle shooting and your Scout MUST return a signed permission to shoot form or they will not be able to undertake this particular discipline and will lose a large chunk of possible marks.

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Congratulations to all the Scouts who took part in last weekend’s Richmond District Water Activities camp; it was a great success in every respect (apart from me forgetting to pack the benches … many thanks to Wend for going back to fetch them from the HQ!).

The weekend was roasting hot with the much threatened rain holding off. Yippee. The Scouts tried their hands at kayaking, raft building, dragon boat racing and dinghy sailing on the TYM lagoon as well as pulling (aka rowing) on the Thames – all of which involved various degrees of getting wet and sloshing around in soaking shoes.

Everyone tells me that they had a great time, and of particular note was the success that Andrew O and Rory B enjoyed by being part of the winning Dragon Boat team during the evening’s competition. A cracking performance indeed given that there were about 140 scouts in attendance.

Hats off to Jamie B as well for deciding to still come along despite having a nasty gash in his knee which prevented him for doing some of the “no option but to get utterly soaking” sessions such as kayaking, dingy sailing and the floaty post-build bit of the raft making.

As a result, I will be arranging to present those who took part with their Dragon Boat and Canoeing activity badges. Additionally with a little extra work one evening at the boating centre in Richmond, we can also nail the Pulling (rowing) badge as well. Well done to all!

You can click on the photo above to see more of what we got up to at the Water Camp.

Huge thanks to Ian for co-leading the weekend and to Wend for ferrying all the personal kit. Without them, the weekend simply wouldn’t have happened.

Simon

A quick reminder to all Beavers and Scouts that there will be no meetings on Friday 4 July.

This is because most of us will be at Borough Camp!

Eight talented 3HH scouts competed in the District Scouts Sports at Kingsmeadow Stadium. It was a brilliant evening; the weather was warm and sunny and we all had a fantastic time. 3HH dominated many of the track events, and also did very well in the field events.

Presentations were made to all those athletes who came first in their events. Then we waited expectantly for the overall results. Our 12+U’s: Will, James, Robin and Archie came 2nd. Our 14+U’s: Elliott, Mark, Tate and Alex came 1st. And overall 3HH WON for the first time ever!!! Well done everyone and Maccy D’s all round I think.

Thanks to Steve Mason (minibus driver and wellie lob organiser) and Fiona Jones (starter).

Sheila Lloyd
3HH Team manager (!)

For the full gripping account read on: (more…)

3HH’s Scouts are very used to lighting fires at any opportunity – be it in the rain, snow or sunshine. But this time we took away their matches!

In the finest traditions of Ray Mears, we decided to try lighting our fires using a range of novel and previously untested methods.

Activities includes: lighting fires with wire wool and 9V batteries; shaving magnesium blocks; striking Swedish army fire steels; flints; making our own charcloth tinder; and the best of all … conjuring fire from a “birds nest” of dried grass and glowing embers as demonstrated here by Oscar!

(If you look through the photos very carefully you might, in the best tradition of the Where’s Wally books, find a Group Scout Leader hiding somewhere as well. )

Calling all scouts who are eligible to be explorers within the next 12 months i.e. anyone aged 13 and over.

The District are hold an event to give you the opportunity to meet the explorers and leaders from the majority of units across the District, get involved in some activities, find out about what is on offer as well as just have a good time.

It is on the 21 June 2008 from 1 – 6 PM at the 3rd Hampton HQ, 59 Percy Road Hampton.

Parents are also invited to accompany the scouts, especially as there will be a talk from some camping / hiking equipment suppliers, that are also mountain leader trained, as to what personal equipment is necessary to get the most out of activities etc and also the opportunity to purchase/order the appropriate kit.

If you think that you might plan to go along then please let one of the Scout leadership team know so that we can help the Explorers plan the catering etc….

Where: Walton Firs Scout Campsite in Cobham

When: Scouts/Explorers & YL’s from Friday 4-6th July & Cubs from Saturday 5-6th July

This is a fab camp where Cubs, Scouts & Guides from the whole of Richmond district, come together for a weekend of fun and games.

Each group runs either a sporting tournament, football, rounders, volleyball etc., or a fun activity climbing, Zip Wire, branding etc., as well as the on-site activities, archery, air rifle (Scouts only), adventure course, etc., and a traditional Scout campfire.

The cost of the camp will be:

• £22 for Cubs (Saturday night only)
• £27 for Scouts or Explorers
• £15 for Young Leaders

If you’d like to come along, please fill in the application form and return soonest.

Hi all, most of you will have received a letter in recent weeks asking for help to run certain ‘extra-curricular’ activities for the remainder of the summer term as the leadership team needs extra help.

I’m pleased to report that we have had sufficient numbers of volunteers to enable these activities to go ahead so please all get your entry forms in ASAP!

We started the Fitness Challenge Badge last term but only had one Scout return their exercise sheet. As we’re continuing the theme this term with evenings on food and health, if you want the badge you MUST complete the exercise routine for the specified period and return the attached sheet to Scouts. Tonight you’ll be getting a food log as well to keep a record of the food you eat for a week and this too needs to be returned to Scouts for the badge.

Finally, the programme for the coming weeks shows water rockets as an activity. Firstly, please send in your scout with 2 litre fizzy drink bottles and any materials you may think will help construction of wings, fins, (estate agent boards are excellent!) parachutes etc and secondly if we have anyone with a plumbing bent or an interest in rockets, please do come along and help.

Paul

This year’s summer camp will be from Saturday 23rd to Saturday 30th August. It will be held at Ferny Crofts campsite in the New Forest, a large and varied camp with wooded sites, open fields, ponds and a wide range of excellent activities buried deep in the heart of Hampshire.

During the week we’ll visit Beaulieu Motor Museum with it’s legendary world record breakers like Bluebird and Golden Arrow as well as housing the James Bond collection of boats and cars. In addition we’ll be taking a boat trip over to Brownsea Island – the historic birthplace of Scouting…

There will be bundles of onsite activities as well including: 60ft climbing wall, high ropes treetops course, mountain biking, crate stacking, raft building, mega zipwire … and the list goes on.

For more information and the sign up slip, please see the attached flyer.

Hi all, attached to this post are the summer term programme, newsletter and programme information. I will issue activity letters once organisers are known for each event, although the Great Parent Scout Cookout Challenge information is here and should be downloaded ASAP so you can start planning.