On 26th March our Cubs had a productive evening making cafes (out of fruit juice cartons) for the local bird life and planting some Spring flowers in our newly built raised flowerbed (constructed by our very own Baloo).

These pictures show what can be achieved within an hour or so and plenty of enthusiasm. There are plenty of little jobs that need to be done on the HQ building, our woodland and campsite, so please do contact the Hut Warden if you'd like to help in any way - every little helps!

Thursday 19th March 2015 saw the first, and possibly last performance by the 1st Camelsdale Cubs Sinfonia, with their emotional and stirring rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. 

The video speaks for itself so there is no need for this reporter to elaborate, which gives me time to visit the doctor about a nasty case of tinnitus.

They also listened intently to the inspirational story of Sadako, a little girl who was 2 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. When she was diagnosed with leukaemia, aged 11, she decided to start making origami cranes so that she could wish to get well. It is an ancient legend in Japan that if you make 1,000 origami cranes your wish is granted. Sadly she died before she could make all 1,000. Instead of making origami cranes – which had proved tricky for Nakama Scouts and Explorers, puzzling over the instructions for a long time - we decided to make something more simple, Koi Karp.

The Cubs then learned a few facts about Japan by playing a run-a-round quiz. We put some posters up around the hut and the Cubs had to dash between the posters to answer the questions on a diverse range of subjects such as population, the speed of the bullet train, the number of earthquakes each year and the national sport (127million, 320km/h, 1500, and Sumo wrestling if you’re interested!)

A hilarious end to the evening was a chopsticks challenge – a race to move uncooked pasta tubes from one end of the hut to the other using only a pair of chopsticks.  Whilst for some Cubs it was the first time they had used chopsticks, everyone warmed to the challenge and developed their own chopsticks technique.  After only a short time, pasta was zooming from one end of the hut to the other, and the end result was very close.  The Cubs got to take their chopsticks home, along with their Daruma Dolls and origami Koi, as a souvenir of the evening they were visited by the World Scout Jamboree’s Japan in a Box.

During the weekend of the 14th and 15th March the Camelsdale Senior Scouts hiked across the Brecon Beacons, closely followed by leaders Steve Rose, Mike Scott, Pete Dorrington and Dave Record. 

Just an every day hike? Not quite ... at roughly 32 miles through snow on the first day these scouts should be congratulated on an incredible achievement in terrain they throw at the SAS for training. We can be confident that those moving on to Duke of Edinburgh award will walk it ... so to speak.

A personal note from Pete - "I genuinely have never been so impressed with a group of scouts. Their behaviour was fantastic and their determination was incredible. They are a credit to their parents and the leaders. Well done to all involved for the planning of a brilliant weekend."

Huge thanks from all parents to the leaders who organised and looked after our scouts, and, in time, I'm sure the scouts would say thank you as well. Once the aches and pains have subsided!

On Saturday 7th March 2015, 49 scouts and were presented with the Chief Scout’s Gold Award by guest of honour Dame Penelope Keith.  The awards were hosted by Haslemere district and took place at Woolmer Hill School.  Also present was the Mayor of Haslemere Councillor Penny Bradley, County Commissioner Roxanna Rostock and  Acting District Commissioner, Frank Kitchener.

Congratulations to the Camelsdale scouts receiving the award:

Rachel Daniels
Tiffany Jones
James Lye
Connor Skuthe-Cooke
Jacob Smy
Livvy Stockdale

The evening started with a reception where scouts spent several minutes with scout leaders, chatting about the highlight of their scouting career.  As soon as the large table of refreshments was cleared by hungry scouts, the presentations began.  

In her welcome address, Roxanna Bostock commented how pleased she was that many of the scouts had chosen Scoutabout as their highlight.  The scouts were also praised for their smartness at the presentation!!  She also reminded the scouts to make sure that they mentioned this prestigious award on their CV’s for future employment.

After the awards had been presented by Dame Penelope Keith, a photo gallery of the activities of the scout groups throughout the County was shown, followed by a video presentation on Explorer Scouts, introduced by Chief Scout Bear Grylls who also congratulated the scouts on their achievement.  



With three girls and three boys on the list and that the evening coincided (almost) with International Women's Day (http://www.internationalwomensday.com/) we can be proud of our equal opportunities and achievements at 1st Camelsdale Scouts (Cubs and Beavers an' all). See what UK Scouts are saying about Women in Scouting.




For information on achieving the Chief Scout’s gold Award, the highest award in the scout section, check out this link:

http://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/212/chief-scouts-gold-award/

For those interested in moving onto Explorer Scouts, check out this link

http://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/2942/introduction-to-explorers

Cubs (and a couple of Scouts) were out in force this weekend digging up and transplanting beech saplings along the line of the new hedge. Once they got the hang of it, the youngsters did a great job buoyed on by the lovely sunny weather and some home baked cookies donated by one of the Mums. Highlight of the morning for some of them was the discovery of a manhole cover under the leaf mould. Imaginations ran riot …!