Welcome to the website of the 1st Burstow Scouts
Past Events
This year has been like no other. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the
year has been full of challenges to deliver Scouting to the Young People
in a safe way.
We met virtually using Zoom. We had Scavenger Hunts, Easter Hat
parades, Quizzes and Escape Rooms.
We hiked to the moon with the BBC, some walking indoors and some
rambling outside.
Badgework for the Beavers included the Experiment Badge, the Cubs
their Scientist, and the Scouts learnt all about the weather to complete
their Meteorologist Badge.
We are very proud to say that Shere Khan, otherwise known as Joseph,
filled his time working on his Platinum Chief Scout Award. This has
included him planning an evening for the Beaver and Cub sections on
the theme of Community.
On Saturday 18th to Sunday 19th July, we held our first ever virtual
camp, to celebrate the Scout Group’s 110th Birthday. During camp we
made party hats, pioneered an adventure playground and made a Zip
Wire for our Rubber Ducks. We also went for local walks, completing a
Scavenger Hunt, where we had to find items which started with each
letter in Happy Birthday.
We had a fantastic camp fire over Zoom; each sub camp (family) did an
act to entertain us, including jokes, songs, skits and an amazing dance
using glow sticks. We played party games, including the chocolate game
and a race with balloons between your knees. We also baked cakes
using a can of fizzy drink and decorated them for the birthday. 110
candles were shared between the sub camps so that we could blow out
110 candles at the party on Sunday.
I
n September we had a couple of special visitors on Zoom. The first,
Hayley from the Forensic Experience. Hayley was a Forensic
Investigator with the Metropolitan Police for 14 years. She told us about
her work and how to collect evidence from crime scenes. We learnt that
every person has unique finger prints from birth, including identical twins,
who share the same DNA. She sent us a chart to help us decode our
fingerprints using the 9 patterns.
The second was with Conrad Burdekin, a children’s writer and poet. He
used to live in Africa and told us the tale of the tortoise and the birds.
We helped tell the story by making suggestions. TWe learnt a lot and
had great fun at both meetings.
In September, we returned to Face-to-Face meetings at the Scout Hall,
after just over 6 months of Virtual Scouting The meetings were limited on
numbers and were held outside,It was lovely to see the young
people back at Face-to-Face meetings and we are enjoying
Scouting, even with the added restrictions.
The Scouts started their Circus Skills Badge, which included
juggling balls, twirling ribbons, spinning pois, spinning
diablos, spinning plates and manipulating a devil stick.
The Cubs started work on their Road Safety Badge,
including learning the Green Cross Code and reading
and recognising road signs. The Beavers started on
their Wild West Challenge Badge. They herded
‘cattle’, played horse shoes and made Native American
head dresses.
In January, we had a visit from Rob Trent. Rob Trent is a talented
Mouth Painter and is a member of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists.
This is a group of disabled artists who are unable to use their hands.
Rob paints beautiful pictures by holding his paintbrush in his teeth.
During March we had a virtual visit form Sally and Don from the Guide
Dogs Organisation. We learnt about their works and the role Guide
Dogs play in the lives of a blind person. We held a deaf awareness
evening looking at sign language and ways of communicating. We
also had a great Parent’s evening with the Beavers and Cubs making
stress balls under the guidance of Bekka Smith and the Scouts made
their own lava lamps while been instructed by the very capable
Gemma Bentley.
Over 200 badges have been earned this year.
Andrew Cunningham has completed his Wood Badge.