Scouting and Me review 2022

 Last year we decided to do a bit of a review of the year unlike previous years and I am inclined to devote a bit of time to that this time.

The year has seen some health challenges not least around mid January through February with major maigraines and what can only be described as electrical discharges around my head and face that reduced some planned time scouting away.

I did however continue exploring the woods, meeting people and helping out in the community in various ways all of which have helped deal with some of the long term effects of not just the pandemic but having contracted it myself.

We looked on this blog a bit the places I had visited when I was younger and got the bug for all this with the skills and lessons I have learned along the way.

Uniform was renewed too from quality suppliers.

I wrote about modern day scouting on this blog, the challenges, the sterling work of all in it running the programs and how the War in Ukraine has had an effect too not just in Ukraine but with refugees living here.

This blog beyond the "And me" always looks outwards and this year I contributed not just on a monthly basis to Gilwell aiding the Scout Association nationally in its work but with the Squirrel appeal for our four to six year olds that were established in their Dreys last year.

I also contributed to our own scouts, here in the Potteries North district in a number of ways enjoying seeing them taking part in community life, something that cheers me up no end.

Overall in excess of £500 was raised through the Santa appeal through peoples generosity locally in December which was amazing and testiment to how we feel about Scouts.

Here's to Twenty Twenty Three!

If you go camping at Christmas

 

If You Go Camping at Christmas

A poem by Chris James, Head of Brand and Ambassadors, Scout Association.

If you go camping at Christmas

You’re courting disaster and ruin.

Your mince pies will freeze, and so will your cheese

Which will create problems when chewin’.

As for going to the loo, I’m telling you,

You don’t know the trouble it’ll bring.  

Because when you go, you’ll vanish in snow

And they won’t find you until spring.

If you go camping at Christmas,

You’ll sleep under oak, under willow.

But you won’t feel so jolly, when you find some holly

Has popped your inflatable pillow.

When you play a board game, it won’t be the same,

You know there are bound to be dramas.

You’ll find Colonel Mustard in a pint of cold custard,

And Scrabble tiles in your pyjamas.

If you go camping at Christmas,

There’s nowhere to hang up your stocking.

You’ll mix up a cold slug, with an earplug

And you won’t hear Santa come knocking.

There’s no chimney to climb down,

There’s no room to lie down; Santa’s bound to be late.

But will he get there, before all the air

has escaped and you entirely deflate?

If you go camping at Christmas,

You might feel a little bit distant.

When friends try to call, there’s no reception at all,

And your wi-fi will be non-existent.

If you go camping at Christmas,

People might think you’re a little bit quirky.

What trouble they’ll say, on Christmas

They’ll have when defrosting their turkey.  

But think of the peace and the magic,

You’ll have all the world to yourself.

They'll think you’re bobbins, singing carols with robins

While the squirrels all wish you good health.

You’ll find you won’t need any presents,

Because you’ll have all the stars in the sky,

Gleaming like sapphires or embers from campfires;

That’s better than socks and a tie.

So if you go camping this Christmas,

Maybe you’re onto a winner.

With snow in the wood, it could do you some good,

If you like instant noodles for dinner.

Source: scouts.org.

A few things from Christmas and some thoughts

 Today is the first post Christmas edition on this blog so in with the everyday things of value such as a diary for next year were a couple of what today people would see as "vintage" publications not that in my mind they are more than a few minutes away.

 

The 1980's were an interesting decade although it took a while for things to really change and they show a bit within each.

Around the late 1980's we saw the development of commercial activity centres and holidays such as PGL as incomes for some at least did rise and there was interest in the mass media around Challenges of endurance.

That made its way into scouting as did the increased awareness of the need to assess risks and concerns around safeguarding which still reverberate around anything in young people were being addressed.

We're all for adventure but can do without cavalier make it up as we go along attitudes that can easily lead to dangerous situations developing.

Increasingly more use of specialist centres with instructors crept in.

The early 80's were in lots of ways a run on from the 70's with the only thing that would of appealed to a cub then was the advent of affordable personal computing from either having access to a parents TRS 80 to perhaps getting a Sinclair ZX81 which at the time was the cheapest personal computer going to the BBC Micros that were for a long time the standard in UK education.

This was reflected in scouting by Information Technology awards and badges scouting offered around this time.

Cubs uniform didn't change much before the changes around 2000's that saw the old style clothe cap go for a branded baseball cap and more widespread long trouser wearing.

As we got into the second decade of this century, the annual stopped presumably for financial reasons although many children's publications especially at under elevens in the UK still have annuals so children are used to and expect them from parents and grand parents.

Scouts win QE II Platinum Jubilee Award for Volunteering

On Wednesday December 21st, the award winners of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award for Volunteering were announced.

This is a special, new award to commemorate the late HM The Queen and her Platinum Jubilee of this year that celebrates the excellent work done by national charities and their volunteers to give young people skills and opportunities.

In considering the awards the panel chaired by Martyn Lewis CBE focused on the impact the charities had on young people aged 16–25, and how much they involved volunteers in their work.

His Majesty The King, Charles III personally approved the award as one of his first acts as Monarch.

One on the twenty bodies awarded it was Scouts.

Scouts has been involved from the start in volunteering, specifically through the programs offered the opportunities for its younger members to themselves volunteer either in scouts or other organizations and in recent years Explorers have helped to combat isolation and loneliness in care homes through the Pandemic, help and raise funds for foodbanks enabling people who'd struggle the opportunity of  getting something to eat and help staff at vaccination centres amongst many things.

I know having helped young volunteers out in their training in other organizations the enthusiasm, committment and care so many of them put into their work.

The Chief Scout Bear Grylls said: ‘This award shows how Scout volunteers make all the difference in their communities. Our 16–25-year-olds are our shining lights – inspiring us with their commitment, kindness and care for communities and their planet. Giving a little time as a volunteer to help as a Young Leader, driver, trustee, chair, treasurer, or simply doing the catering at Cub camp, will have a long-lasting, positive impact on young people’s lives and help them gain vital skills for life.’

I could not agree more so congratulations on gaining this Award.

Carols

Today's unscheduled post remains on this side of Christmas and something young or old many of us do and have strong memories of from our younger days.

The singing of often quite traditional Christmas Carols that may go back to Victorian times where much of our modern day christmas originates that touch on the the Nativity and life of Jesus Christ is something many of us do and in scouting it is by no means uncommon for Groups to host a Carol Service or to join in a municipal one.

Earlier in the month our local Scout Camp centre hosted an event which given all we endoured throught the pandemic I am sure was much appreciated because time spent together singing carols is so much fun.

Christmas Pause Edition

 It's the usual thing on this blog that we take a break over the christmas period not least cos there's a lot of things I am involved making Christmas which is more important  ultimately than keeping a schedule all year around.

Weather here is starting improve making being out safer from the very cold conditions we've had over the last week or so meaning I can get back to exploring which is really what I really love although perhaps unlike some today I was brought up on more a wrap up and get on with it approach than those who seldom go out under their own steam as it were.

Cub or not, we were a hardy set of lads back then when many of our folks didn't have a car never mind the numbers we have per household today so no cold weather lifts.

Regular posts will pause from today until after Boxing Day where we'll pick up from where we were and possibly look back at the year.

Thank you for reading this blog this year and may I wish every reader a very happy Christmas.

Organizing the Christmas Post

 

A great tradition has returned in a good number of Scout Groups this year as we, with care, emerge out of the Covid era with all its restrictions on what we could do especially at this time of year.

Running a Santa post in your area where christmas cards would be collected and distibuted using your whole membership colonies of beavers, packs of Cubs and so on for a fee was a common way of both raising awareness of scouting and also of fundraising .

Here Scouts in Arbroath, Scotland are pictured with their collection boxes and storage systems to do the job most efficiently.

Fresh posts on this blog should pause on Monday as we move towards Christmas Day and resume around Boxing Day as we exit the year that was twenty twenty-two.

A date with Mr. Claus

 

Fun for cubs when Santa puts an appearence in at a special get together with lots of santa hats and maybe a sing-song too.

When you're this old the rituals of Christmas, passed from generation to generation are things you really look forward to being almost magical and this is much true in cubs as it is at school and home.

It's everything.

Santa arrives!

 It's a pretty cold weekend here needing me to be well wrapped up with tempertures well below freezing ready for a long established childhood ritual that's a part of the countdown for Christmas.

In many communities one S. Claus makes appearences, often posing the question just how come he can do it as you see him in different places on the same day!

It's a magical ability he has.

Here he was spotted out doing a thing I was brought up, raising funds for the local scout group, with the Explorers at the front ringing the bells to announce his presence apart from a loud sound system.

The explorers were followed by scouts, cubs and beavers with helpers clearing enjoying themselves as we all waved.

For me Santa makes christmas so time outdoors, very well wrapped up is well worth it beyond ones donation to our group.

Christmas camp

We may be in the build up to a very busy and exciting time but that doesn't mean things in Scouting are winding down.

It's not unknown for a scout group to run a Christmas themed camp for Cubs where there would be a mixture of of out of doors activities such as competitions and sports activity apart from the amazing cooking by camp fire.

Somehow that from the earliest years makes a big impression on you and it never goes away.

In addition arts and crafts with a christmas theme may be run such as making your very own christmas cards, decorations and yes, a christmas stocking.

You can't beat a well run camp!

Post 800 - What this blog is all about

Today, resisting my tendency to hyphenate that first word, is a special day in the history of this blog because it is the day we mark its eight hundreth post in just over five years of existance.

Its history goes back to my earliest days on Tumblr with people sadly no longer on there and battles fought and lost over accounts before totally breaking free some two and a quarter years ago.

It's really about three things that intersect with each other, one being scouting in all is forms in the past, often as I and no doubt others recall it.

That was a start point to the original tumblr form of which, thank heavens, posts were stored here for safe keeping and often expanded upon, looking at old programs, units, publications and yes, the uniforms!

Then there's scouting related activity by me, exploring places, meeting people very much in the spirit of a cub, learning and learning about new things as very much a "forever boy" informed by the past, going forward with the modern world.

And finally, as news presenters are want to say, it's about modern scouting, the sections of modern scouts, the activities and events they run today, the things I help raise funds for to aid modern day scouts in the official movement and discussion of some the issues that pertain to it.

It's all here because SCOUTS MATTER.

It's here because IT'S THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN MY LIFE

It's here because IT'S YOU

It's here because LIFE'S AN ADVENTURE and YOU CAN JOIN IT

Advent in scouts

 Today, I'm doing something a little different  from the past here.

Different scouts organizations around the World do things differently when it comes to things the celebrate and also how they go about fund raising.

In Finland, a part of Europe collectively termed Scandinavia, Scouts and Guides publish an advent calendar which they sell typically in malls or on high streets from late November to today.

This years design shows an idylic lapland Christmas with reindeer, bears, snow and a christmas tree.

Often the spouse of a Finnish President is presented with it.

Generally most of the funds help found the programs run by Scouts and Guides in the country.

In this country depending on the age groups, they may look at the Christmas story and make christmas arts and crafts or take part in community carolling.

Time for a pause

 Not been the best week for medium to longish hikes with fog, rain and lowish temperatures here but taking a breather, having a warm drink and cake has its appeals trust me.

At appears on of the Explorer Scouts is straightening his neckerchief, starting with the time honoured way of folding it before reapplying it around your neck and pushing it through the woggle.

I've been a bit busy doing things for Dad as he's been a bit unwell with a virus but he's on the mend now thankfully.