15/07/09 - A Hectic Weekend in Hertfordshire!

After a Summer programme of activities based around a circus theme, it seemed appropriate to arrange a camp based on similar lines. Looking around the internet for suitable camp sites to hold it, we stumbled upon Tolmers (Cuffley / Potters Bar) who were advertising a weekend District Camp based on exactly the same theme for just £25 - perfect!

Eventually our booking was accepted and with a total of 7 scouts and 3 leaders we were off. Regular updates were available indicating the number of activities that would be available over the weekend. First there were 33, then 66 and finally 100!

On the Thursday night myself and Alan went down to a very dark Stores (after the Group Exec Meeting) to collect all of our kit. Hopefully we wouldn't miss anything and everything we picked would work as there was no time to check or test it. Paul and I had booked Friday off work to get the final bits ready. This included shopping for the food on a budget of £10 per person and packing.

Alan is an 'old hat' at this and knocked up a quick menu (but without quantities - Argh!). This is the first camp I'd organised, so the stress had started getting to me at this point. Paul came with me, to Costco, to get our bulk items. He was a great help as while I was flustering he was working out quantities, stretching the budget and keeping a tally of how much we'd spent and how much left to buy there was. Smaller items were purchased from Tesco, leaving £4.50 of the budget for anything that run out (Note to self - Scouts drown food in Ketchup!).

Then once I'd packed my personal items, it was time to pack the car. The plan was for me to take the 2 other Leaders and 1 Scout in my Voyager along with all the kit. Despite the size of the car, it wouldn't all fit, and so Paul volunteered to take his car. His was loaded with all the food (which was quite considerable in size bearing in mind how many of us there were!).

Finally we were on our way. The final Leaders Briefing Pack had documented which camp site different groups were on, but 1st South Hornchurch didn't get a mention. It was at this point I realised it was Herts' District Centenary Camp and we were effectively 'gate crashing' (formally) their party. Oops! The parking was well organised but as we arrived after 1600 no vehicles were allowed on site. Our designated car-park was a field at the end of a very long mud track on what appeared to be quite a distance from the site. How were we going to get all the kit to the site!?

A brisk walk to the top and we found some of the Crew who knew where we were. Our site was the Green Sub Camp right next to the Sub Camp Leaders' caravan! A little later they turned up and introduced themselves (some of whom turned out to be the people we'd spoken to in the first place!). The sites seemed to be of a fixed size (which I wasn't made aware of) so whilst our neighbours were quite tightly packed, we had loads of room. I didn't get the impression we were treated any better than anyone else, but I would say we must have had the best site there: We had our own fire-pit (not everyone did), our long site ran North/South so everybody's tent was bathed in sunlight from about 0900 to 1600, our nearest water tap was only 20 steps away, the wood pile was only 2 minutes walk away, 3 emergency Portaloos were within easy walking distance (but not too close for obvious reasons), and the car park we parked in was little more than 5 minutes walk away! Woo-hoo!

The Plan for the weekend looked like this:

As the Scouts arrived the tents went up. Alan and I shared a large Cubs tent with the food. Paul slept alone in his own Tee-Pee and the Scouts shared three hiking tents. Once settled in, there was a chance to get orientated to the site before supper. The Leaders Briefing included a few new rules including the wearing of event scarves 100% of the time for security reasons (which meant the Scouts were free to roam safely and un-chaperoned) and instructions on what to do if the on-site air-ambulance took off or landed. Supper consisted of hotdog sausages (the stoves worked!). After a bit of a fire, everyone turned in without complaint around 2300.

Approximately 1800 visitors stayed over the weekend with an additional c.1000 Beavers and Leaders joining on Saturday!

Saturday morning's wake up call came in the form of pots and pans being banged and the tent being whacked. The Leaders were making the most of a lay-in while the Scouts were up with the Sun and what we guessed meant they were hungry! We eventually got up, even before the birds, and broke out the cereal and bacon rolls for breakfast. Looking round some groups had some amazing kit. One that particularly stood out was a fully fitted all-in-one army field kitchen that had been lifted off the back of a truck by it's own lifting-gear and put in place. They must have some really successful fund-raising activities! Once cleaned up we were off the to opening ceremony at the huge stage that had been rigged up. Once the site was formally declared open, the Scouts were free to go on any of the 80 (the remainder 20 were designated Cubs and/or Beavers or Explorers only) out of 100 activities that they wanted to, for as many times as they wanted for free. This included:

At 1300 the activities closed and the Scouts found themselves heading back to camp where lunch was almost ready for them. Lunch was a variety of soups to choose from and ripped French Stick. Again, once fed and watered, the activities restarted and the Scouts were off. Although the morning was dry and warm, the afternoon saw half a dozen or so downpours which only seemed to last between 1 & 2 minutes. Not that the Scouts were too bothered as most were wet from the activities anyway! Then at 1700 the activities closed for the day and the Scouts returned. We then rallied to join the parade (each sub-camp lined up behind a vehicle) to the central stage to say goodbye to the Beavers. Lots of people were dressed as clowns, carrying banners or making as much noise as possible with home made instruments. Once the Beavers had left it was time for dinner. Tonight's menu consisted of spaghetti bolognese followed by fruit and/or biscuits. This meal was huge and many had seconds! After tidying up, the girls got ready for the evening's disco while the boys said they'd "make do". At this point the weather was decidedly wetter with fine to heavy rain alternating into the night. Again the Scouts seemed unbothered and toddled off to the camp fire. They didn't seem to be there long before they were back and ready to go to the OUTDOOR disco with a live band. Even though still raining they had a great time. Towards the end of the evening, some amazing fireworks were let off into the rain. Nothing seemed to be a "damp squib" in the weather; even our own camp fire continued to roar! Once the activities had ceased for the evening, we sat under he trees for a bit and had a laugh & chat. Before long it was 2330-ish, the Scouts were ready to turn in and the leaders put out the fire before turning in themselves. That night, the rain was very heavy, but nobody moaned or got wet. In fact, it was quite warm with most only saying they wore a base layer of clothes over night.

Sunday morning wasn't cold but was wet and soggy. It looked like we'd seen the back of the rain. The only time our rain-sensors (heads) detected something it turned out to be drips off the trees! Breakfast was cereal and sausage sandwiches. These seemed to be a favourite although more bread, sugar & Ketchup needed to be purchased to satisfy their tastes and appetites. This was the final day of activities. The Scouts were off having fun and the Leaders were out there enjoying some of the activities themselves. The Leaders' absolute favourite being the Waltza fairground ride, shortly followed by an inflatable wrecking ball game where 4 people stood on inflatable platforms and swung a large inflatable wrecking ball at each other trying to knock off their opponent!

At 1300 all activities had closed and the Scouts came back for lunch which was Pot Noodle (this is good for the last day because if you're packed, there's no washing up to do as the most anyone needs is a fork (which can be licked clean)! By this time the sun was blazing and the tents were almost dry. After the closing ceremony everything was packed away and the tents taken down. The cars were packed and while the Scouts were waiting to be collected we all ate any remaining fruit, crisps, drinks and biscuits while playing some very funny games of Animal Snap. After the last Scout had left, within 30 seconds we were off ourselves.

A great time was had by all. My personal thanks go to Alan and Paul for all their support on my very first nervously organised camp. Thanks guys - without you, I'm sure things would not have been a success to the magnitude they were.

Mark Aldridge, ASL Somers Troop

15/05/09 - Fun and Frolics at Group Family Camp

Thriftwood braced itself in readiness last weekend as the largest 1st Souths Posse in recent history descended upon the scout campsite. Numbering over 90 people, this particular gaggle wasn't your ordinary bunch of campers, oh no, the majority weren't beavers, cubs or scouts, but instead were wholly unsuspecting and highly trusting mums, dads and siblings. Add to that a bunch of leaders and helpers plus a raft of youngens from the group and we were set for a fun filled action packed weekend of hilarity and high jinks!

On arrival the cosily proportioned campsite was quickly filled with shiny new tents of mammoth proportions, whilst the air was filled with the quiet hum of air bed pumps. Once something resembling a disorganised tent sale had been achieved it was time for the real fun to begin. The lighting of the "Lantern of Life" signaled the beginning of many parent's first ever wide game experience and, after half an hour running into trees and tripping over roots, one they'll want to re-live time and time again we're sure. And after all that fervent activity, it was time for people to warm their tootsies by the fire and ponder upon the delights yet to ensue.

Saturday dawned and many awoke to the soothing sounds of children screaming or dad's farting, both leading to the same end - springing forth and seizing the day! Fuelled by a top notch cooked brekky from the highly able and experienced catering team of Roger, Hazel, Colin, Big Gill and Little Gill our happy campers simply didn't stop. With finely tuned pedal go-karts, the dark and dank cave maze and the ear bleedingly exciting cresta run all programmed in there was hardly time to draw breath. Chuck in some rounders, cork guns and archery and frankly it was hard to see where anyone could possibly fit in a shower...yet some still did, including one or two "leaders", mentioning no names...

Sunday came around all to quick for some and after a few more death defying goes on the cresta run it was time to strike camp and say our farewells. But had we put our member's families off camping for life and sent them running for the hills? Well, we'll let them tell you what they thought:

"Thanks For a brilliant camp, great food and great fun, lets have more - every year if not more often." Alec and Faith Sargeant

"A very big thank you for an excellent weekend, please can you thank everyone that arranged this.  A lot of work must have gone into this but it's greatly appreciated."  The Spendlove Family

"Thank you all so much for a lovely weekend. We all enjoyed family camp so much, the food was lovely and the staff were helpful and friendly. We loved all the activities that you planned for us and really enjoyed giving everything a go. We look forward to another year when we can hopefully do it all again and if we do could we do some water sports please!!! Thanks again for a very well organised weekend, you all did a really good job."  Lisa, Paul and Matthew Cook

"The Brewsters would like to say a huge thank you, to all involved for the fantastic family camp weekend.  Even though we are thoroughly exhausted, we had a brill time and the weekend will be remembered for years to come, and that was down to the excellent planning, organisation, delicious food and dedication from all involved.  Once again a massive thank you, please pass on our gratitude to all who made the weekend so memorable."  The Brewsters

05/10/08 - Tasty Treats in Store for Scouts

Good news readers - our hardy scouts no longer need to eat dirt when out in the wilderness thanks to the purchase of 6 new Pocket Rocket stoves! These high powered lightweight beasts have been purchased, at a bargain basement price, using Jack Petchey money recently awarded to the Group. They'll complement the new lightweight tents bought for the troop earlier this year and ensure that some gut wrenchingly good combinations can keep our chaps going that extra mile!

13/04/08

06/01/08 - Grant Success for Group!

2007 ended on a happy note for 1st South Hornchurch with the news that we had received a whapping £500 grant! The grant was from Barclays in association with the local radio station Time 107.5 FM. The group received the joint top prize, along with three other community projects at a presentation ceremony attended by Kevin on the 18th December. The money will be used to buy new lightweight hiking tents for the Scout section that will enable the whole troop to go hiking together...lovely! Thanks go to Lindsey for finding the grant opportunity and of course Barclays and Time FM for the dosh!

Kevin with Time FM's Jodie Schubert

06/01/08 - Quiz and Karaoke Make Bank Balance Okey Dokey!

Ears are still a ringing this New Year thanks to the 1st Souths Christmas Party and Karaoke event at McGovern Hall on Saturday 8th December. Parents, leaders and youngsters alike flocked to the venue for an evening of singing, dancing and, most importantly of all, fundraising. The shindiggery was enjoyed by all and who knows, we may have even unearthed some new X-Factor contestants...eek! The event was not only a good hoot but also raised over £300 for the group - money that will be enable us to keep scouting in 2008!

Following the success of the Quiz Night in February, the group decided to treat their eagerly awaiting supporters to another one on the 17th November. Once again the evening was a great success with minds being stretched to near breaking point! A few drinky poos and the obligatory raffle with top quality prizes ensured that over £350 was made for the group.

A big thank you to everyone who supported these events and to all those who helped with their organisation...keep your eyes on the Upcoming Events page for details of future dates for your diary! 

07/10/07 - 1st Souths Bags its Youngest Recruit Yet!

Congratulations to Kevin and his good lady wife Rosslyn on the news of their forthcoming sprog. Yes the Stork is expected to deliver a bundle of joy on the 14th April 2008 - start the sweep stakes now folks. At T minus 6 months, surely baby Cooper must be the Group's youngest member to date!

29/05/07 - We're Going on a Bear Hunt...

Bob the Bear is set to make an appearance at the Elm Park Fiesta this coming Saturday. The event, which spreads out across the town centre, is set to start at 12:00 noon with a range of entertainment, activities, displays and competitions. The Scouts will be celebrating Elm Park and 100 Years of Scouting with pasta pioneering, songs and games.

The theme of the Fiesta this year is "The Beach" so why not show your support for Elm Park and 1st South Hornchurch by getting yourself down to the Broadway on Saturday afternoon. Bermuda shorts, grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts a must!

Don't forget - you can't go round it...