See what we did at Bears Wood

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After a surprisingly short journey squashed into the minibus, we arrived at Bears Wood campsite on the outskirts of Croydon on a chilly Friday evening.

There was some initial shock at just how cold it was inside the hut during flag-break and investitures, but the scouts warmed up after they explored the whole site with a game of capture the flag. They were welcomed back to much warmer hall by a roaring fire and mugs of hot chocolate.

One good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast later, we faced the outside. I think they describe the weather on Saturday as ‘wintery’ – waterproofs were going to be required!

First two activities were mini quads and bungee-run.

After lunch, the scouts tried the trust wall – where one scout traversed each side of a climbing wall, where each ‘hold’ could only be used on one side of the wall at a time; the assault course and the blind trail (one scout attached to a guide rope, the others blindfolded carrying cups of water).

The whole group played laser-tag until it got dark, before retreating to the hut for some impromptu fort-building in the hall and sock-drying in front of the fire.

Christmas dinner for 23

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We held a Camp Carol-fire round their splendid terraced camp fire circle before topping-up with mince pies and hot chocolate.

Sunday arrived with brilliant blue skies, so after breakfast we went out for a mini orienteering course before even more mince pies, silly games, secret santa and striking camp.

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Good bye until next year!

Merry Christmas!

Scouts Chrismas Card

Can we wish everyone involved in Scouting at the 4th

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Without the time and efforts of the young people, parents and adult volunteers Scouting would not happen,

so thank you for joining in.

Here’s to a great 2014

GSL Paul (Bosun) and the Leadership Team

Christmas Camp at Bears Wood

Snow Camping

We are off to Bears Wood Campsite near Croydon for our Christmas Camp this weekend.

In addition to a packed programme of

  • Quad bikes
  • Bungee Run
  • Laser Tag
  • Archery
  • Orienteering
  • Games

We will be cooking Christmas dinner and singing carols around the camp fire.

In anticipation we have produced the 4th Sevenoaks Christmas Carol-Book.  Print out a copy and limber up those vocal chords!

Download your copy below.

4th Sevenoaks Christmas Carols

 

Remembrance Sunday

Spitfire fly-past
Spitfire fly-past

Thank you everyone for coming out to show your support for our armed forces, past and present.

Just a few photos this year.

Our thoughts are with Akela

RichardE_sml

As you have probably heard by now, Richard was involved in a serious accident last month when a tree fell on him as he was travelling to work on his motorbike during the storm at the start of half term.

Since then he has been in Intensive Care at Kings College Hospital whilst they try and stabilise his many injuries before they can transfer him to a specialist unit for further assessment and rehabilitation. So far he has made good progress and we are hopeful he will be out of Intensive Care soon. He will obviously be out of action for quite some time but also, potentially, be a long way from home too. This will place a great strain on him, his children and friends.

Richard has done so much, for so many in his years in Scouting and I feel it would be a nice gesture if we, as a Scout Group, could make a collection in order to do something special to support Richard during his recovery.

We would also like to send him messages from everyone that wishes to. He knows so many are thinking of him but it would be lovely to collect all these wishes together. The simplest way to do this will be to send an email with your message to 4thsevenoaks at gmail dot com, please title the subject “message for Richard”. We will collect them together and ensure they all reach him.

If you feel that you could spare any amount towards our collection, could you please send your donation in an envelope marked ‘Richard’ to our treasurer Jo Brookbank or give it to any of the leaders. I know it would be very much appreciated.

Update [19/11/2013] from Steph:

Hi everyone, I have just got back from the hospital to see Richard and the good news is that he has had the tracheotomy removed and is now only on positive air pressure to help support his lungs. He is also due to be moved to a neurological ward tomorrow which will hopefully be much quieter and enable him to get some sleep.

Update [23/11/13] from Michael:

Richard has now been transferred to Pembury, however this will only be temporary until a bed is available at a specialist spinal injuries unit which could be anything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.  The visiting hours at the hospital are very flexible, and Richard would appreciate anyone relieving his boredom!

Update [11/12/13] from Michael:

Richard is in good spirits and looking forward to being transferred to Stoke Mandeville at the end of the week – he is not a big fan of the food in Pembury.  Stoke Manderville, with its internationally acclaimed spinal injuries unit, is the best place to help Richard with his rehabilitation.  One of his target for 2014 is to be able to visit us on 7Mag7 in May.

No news on visiting arrangements yet.

Fireworks Night This Friday!

Fireworks on Friday

Just a few days until the fireworks!

The gates open at 6:45pm with the first part of the firework show at 7:30 and the huge bonfire at 8pm.

Food-wise, there will be hot-dogs and burgers for sale, along with soft drinks, tea, coffee and popcorn.

Gate prices are £4.50 per person or a family of 4 (inc 2 or 3 children) for £14.

See you there!

Gathering of Ghouls!

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The beavers and cubs had their Halloween party last night, and what a gruesome gathering it was!

Despite the fearsome sight, the ghouls set aside their differences and enjoyed a selection of party games including the now-traditional bobbing for chocolate in flour.

The evening ended with a nice selection of party food and a test-run of our new popcorn machine!

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Scouts Compete in County Cooking Competition

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A team of scouts competed in the “Ministry of Food”  cooking competition run by Kent Scouts today.

Their menu was

  • Home made garlic bread with a yoghurt dip
  • Salmon fish cakes served with green beans and carrots batons
  • Banana chocolate upside down pudding served with a rich chocolate sauce.

In the face of some stiff competition from well practiced teams, we came a creditable 3rd place.  Well done to Maggie, Francesca, Anthony and JJ.  With what we have learned this year, next time we will do even better!

The official photos from the event will appear on www.kentscoutsupportteam.org.uk in due course.